Blog

  With all of the noise and turmoil in the third quarter, the S&P 500 ended with a small 1.2% gain. Between trade wars, oil disruptions, impeachment proceedings, and weakening domestic manufacturing data, it’s a wonder we didn’t experience more of a drawdown than… More >>

  The long-awaited throwdown of partisan politics, accountability, or retribution – depending on your point of view – has started. I’d dare not venture into the partisan outcomes, but rather focus our attention on the possible economic and market implications of this… More >>

  Ultimately, earnings growth matters. After all, investors only own the future. When you buy a stock, you’re purchasing a fractional share of future cash flow streams that the company generates from earnings and dividends. You’ve bought it at its current earnings, but… More >>

  Despite the shock and sharp rally in oil prices due to the Saudi Arabian oil facility attack, there is some underlying good news to consider at this stage of the cycle. [i] The majority of economic releases last week showed improvement from the previous period or… More >>

  Regardless of what economic, geopolitical, corporate, Trump tweet, or market-moving event occurs, all equity investors need to be prepared for risk. Risk is the underlying ingredient that creates excess returns over “risk-free” assets like government bonds. Here’s a… More >>

  For the first time since the middle of 2008 Financial Crisis, the S&P 500 Dividend Yield is greater than the yield on 5-, 10-, and 30-year treasuries. [i]     Simply put, stocks are paying more income than bonds which is pretty rare. Historically, bonds tend… More >>

  President Trump’s remarks concerning his ongoing trade war with China took on epic proportions last week as he simultaneously attacked the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the President of China Xi Jinping on Friday. [i]     Calling Chairman Xi an “enemy”… More >>

  Last week in our blog “What Else Can Go Wrong,” we accurately predicted several outcomes that would increase equity market volatility.  The S&P 500 did, in fact, post another quarter without any earnings growth, as corporate America officially enters an earnings… More >>

  The old adage of Murphy’s law states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” This probably applies to our current season of worry. Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi sums it up well with the following chart. [i]     It’s not surprising to see the equity… More >>

  While we believed a 50 basis-point rate cut was the best course of action, the Federal Reserve ended up cutting rates by the minimal 25 basis points. On July 31, the Fed said:  “In light of the implications of global developments for the economic outlook as well as… More >>