Blog

  Defying Gravity The S&P 500 rallied 4.59% over the last month.This rally continues to mystify conventional thinking— that is, for those that believe market reactions should be conventional. [i] Conventional thinking goes something like this: Earnings continue to… More >>

  The unemployment figures came out last week and they were certainly less than anticipated—an increase of 148,000 in nonfarm payrolls in September compared to the expectation of 185,000. [i] This is troubling and reflects a continuing deterioration of job growth. Take a… More >>

  Multiple Expansion?Weekly Market Commentary 10-21-2013Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company As markets return to "normal" and participants attempt to discount and anticipate future events, it’s worth taking a look at what fundamentally drives value. Earnings growth is… More >>

  Life Goes On!Weekly Market Commentary 10-14-2013Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company We are in full circus mode with Congress doing exactly what we hoped they wouldn't: take the "full faith and credit" of the United States to the brink of its capacity. More >>

  Weekly Market Commentary 10-7-2013 Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company As we discussed in last week’s blog, most government shutdowns don't come with extreme long-term consequences. Just take a look at market action for last week. [i] Source: Google Finance… More >>

  Wake Up-It's the EconomyWeekly Market Commentary 9-30-2013Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company By the time you get this we will likely be hours away from another government shutdown. Although we humans suffer from "present bias" (events that happen now seem more… More >>

  Slow Economy 3 Fed 0 Weekly CEO Commentary 9-23-2013 Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company   This week the Fed blinked and decided to continue their purchase of 85 billion in mortgage and treasury bonds as part of their non-traditional monetary policy (QE3). The… More >>

One Year Early: Lame Duck?Weekly CEO Commentary 9-16-2013Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company American politics had a very strange week. The President went from a go-it-alone war President, to a collaborator with Congress, and ended with our country being lectured by… More >>

  Can higher rates lead to more jobs?Weekly CEO Commentary 9-10-2013Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company The trend in jobs continues to disappoint and suggest a very sluggish economy in the months to come. The US economy added only 169,000 jobs in August, and the… More >>

  Turmoil Part ___?Weekly CEO Commentary 9-3-2013Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company We had a spate of economic data released last week some suggesting continued growth: Auto sales are expected to rise broadly in August, and are estimated to be an increase of 13%… More >>