Weekly Commentary

Spending For Spending Weekly CEO Commentary 2-25-13 Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company It’s apparent we are facing $85 billion in cuts to government spending. As I mentioned in last week’s blog, there appears to be too wide of a gap for an immediate political solution. So, can our economy sustain and grow without as much […]

  Handicapping Sequestration Weekly CEO Commentary 2-19-13 Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company It simply amazes me how much we have to talk about government fiscal policy and the market moving forces it creates. Just as a recap, the list of the times the US Government has been in a fiscal debate during these last two […]

Beating (Low) Expectations Weekly Market Commentary 2-11-13 Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company As we have written about previously, beyond the noise of headlines, what really drives stock prices is earnings. The S&P 500 has been approaching all-time highs, and as of last Friday, according to FactSet, 72% of S&P 500 companies reported better earnings than […]

Policy Errors, Part II Weekly CEO Commentary 2-4-13 Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company It’s official: the threat of massive cuts in spending with the fiscal cliff created a contraction in our economy. According to the Financial Times, GDP as reported this last week contracted by 0.1%, which is a drop from positive growth of 3.1% […]

Measuring Sleepless NightsWeekly CEO Commentary 1-28-13Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company I was recently asked by a client to explain what standard deviation is as it relates to investments and what’s a good number. Two things struck me about the questions. One, it’s a great question that merits an answer, and the other is a reminder […]

  American ConsumerismWeekly CEO Commentary 1-22-13Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company If the S&P 500 is any guide, the American Economy is back on track. Reuters reported that we hit a five-year high on the index last week, and it also appears we will not have a nasty showdown over the debt limit in the coming […]

Diversification Finally!Weekly CEO Commentary 1-14-13Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company For the last couple of years, investors that followed the easiest thing in finance, diversification, were not properly rewarded. In fact, a heavy emphasis on US Large Cap stocks was a fairly rewarding experience. From January 2009 to December 2011, the S&P 500 had an annualized […]

  Precisely InaccurateWeekly CEO Commentary 1-7-13 Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company This is the time of year when firms roll out their predictions for 2013. Honestly, if they were so accurate they wouldn’t need clients, nor would they share their information. It would be too valuable. However, firms understand one thing about investors; they love […]

  All The Times I Thought I Should Sell: PanicWeekly CEO Commentary 12-31-12Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company As of this writing (Sunday Night) the Political Class in this country has failed to come to terms with over 500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that will take place throughout 2013. This chart below from […]

  Really? Weekly CEO Commentary 12-24-12Tim Phillips, CEO—Phillips & Company While I was traveling through India in April I snapped the photo you see on the header of this blog. I’ve looked at it several times over the course of this year and I finally figured out what his expression suggests: Really?! I can only […]