The Hubris Of The Bulls
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 I spend a good portion of my time trying to figure out the mood of the market. That isn’t just so I can bet against it although that is the proper strategy at times. John Maynard Keynes likened the fluctuation of stock .. read more
Batten Down The Hatches
Back in November I wrote a weekly commentary that I called Looking For Silver Linings. The market had been taking a beating in the post election period and I wasn’t feeling particularly good about my forecasting skills. I had written a commentary just two weeks before arguing that the election really didn’t matter that much .. read more
Morons & Oxymorons
American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. That’s the title of the recently passed legislation to avoid the so called “fiscal cliff”. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It isn’t a true oxymoron since that term is generally reserved for things that are surprisingly true and paradoxical but it certainly fits the more common, .. read more
The Economy Is Not The Market
The financial press this year has been filled with stories about the economic slowdown in China and the debt crisis in Europe. Opinions on Chinese growth this year have ranged from dire (a hard landing involving a growth rate most countries would still envy) to bad but not as dire (a soft landing). All the .. read more
Correction On The Horizon
I’m traveling today (and a little under the weather to boot) so this will be a fairly short update. I’ve spent the last week visiting clients and potential clients in Augusta, GA and Asheville, NC and before I get started, I’d just like to thank our representatives Larry Hogue and Bob Williams in Augusta and .. read more
Things We Think We Know
“It ain’t so much the things we don’t know that get us into trouble. It’s the things we know that just ain’t so.” Mark Twain I’ve been writing some more optimistic commentaries recently – or maybe just less pessimistic – and the response has been interesting to say the least. I don’t remember so many .. read more
Expectations
JP Morgan reported their widely anticipated earnings Friday and the losses from the London Whale trading fiasco were huge. The firm had initially pegged the losses at $1 to 2 billion but the quarterly report showed the total has bulged to $5.8 billion. And according to the CFO there may be additional losses of $700 .. read more
A Welter Of Worries
It is said that bull markets climb a wall of worry but if that were true, then Wall and Broad should look like downtown Pamplona in July with market bears gored, trampled, spindled, mutilated and wrapped around the buttonwood tree. The list of worries for investors seems to grow by the day with slowing Chinese .. read more
