“It can be easy to get swept up into catastrophizing the situation once your thoughts become negative…remind yourself that there are many other potential outcomes.” – Amy Morin There have been six economic recessions in the United States in the past quarter century. Our most recent experience of economic tempest and tumult however, has been unique. Economic downturns result in the loss of jobs and thus a lowering of incomes....
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“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” -John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States Investors may not be currently celebrating all aspects of the current state of their lives, but it would be understandable if they were to pause to tap their pocketbooks an extra time or two...
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“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” - John F. Kennedy November may not have included Christmas, but it certainly left investors feeling thankful. The best single month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1987. The best November for the S&P 500 since 1928. The DJIA was up an eye watering 12.14% for the...
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“When we make the unfamiliar familiar, make the unknown known, make the uncomfortable comfortable…we can then expect the unexpected” – James K. Glassman The writer of the article in Friday, October 30th’s Wall Street Journal was clearly mystified. Even the headline for the article was mystifying. “Pandemic Brings New Restrictions on Restaurants and Retailers as Demand is Rising”. The article went onto include the following passages. “Surge in U.S. Coronavirus...
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“Don’t try hard to explain, but try hard to prove it.” – Abhiyanda B Observers of the market have long been divided between those who believe the stock market is a mirror reflecting the image of the state of the economic and financial environment to the world, the fundamentalists, and those who believe the market ultimately contains within itself its own explanation of market movements, the technicians. Fundamentalists speak in...
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“The high demand for the asset is generated by the public memory of high past returns, and the optimism those high returns generate for the future. The feedback can amplify positive forces affecting the market…” -Robert Shiller The headlines of the stories detailing the stock market’s return in the month of August are the material of which investor’s fondest summer dreams are made. “Best Five Month Stretch in 82...
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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” Alphonse Karr, “A Tour Round My Garden” Most investors have experienced a journey this past seven months resembling a round trip returning them to where they were at the onset of the year. Since the March 22nd market lows, portfolios with a 60/40 equity-bond allocation have generated a 30% return thereby, thankfully, resulting in their having...
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“It is wiser to find out than to suppose.” - Mark Twain The morning’s Wall Street Journal is a sort of caricature of how similar our current perception of reality resembles that of a clam shell, joined together with a modest amount of membrane but more separate that together. The Dow Jones Industrial futures indicate an opening (this is written prior to the market open on July 6th) positive 382...
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