“Unprecedented”
In the first quarter of this year, the stock market saw an unprecedented decline – in terms of the speed and magnitude with which it took place. In the aftermath and ensuing months, the market then staged an unprecedented rebound from the lows. This was accompanied by an unprecedented amount of stimulus, from both the Fed and […]
The Great Lockdown
To say that investors just witnessed an historic quarter would be a huge understatement. In mid-February, the stock market hit an all-time record high. Just one month later people were asking if the U.S. was going to experience a repeat of the 1930s depression. Its hard to fathom how there could have been such an abrupt change of […]
The Wall of Worry (Redux)
In more than a few client meetings, we have found ourselves saying that if you only looked at the headlines and what was going on in the media/politics/geopolitical front, you would probably conclude that the stock market is doing horrible. But in fact, the market has continued to do quite well amidst a broader backdrop […]
From QE to QT
Investors will be glad to say goodbye to 2018, and especially the final month of last year, which turned out to be the worst December for the stock market since 1931. December is usually a solid month for the market historically, which is probably why so many investment managers were caught off balance by the […]
Quarterly Market Webcast – November 2018
Mid-term Election Jitters
Investors will recall that 2017 was a year characterized by an extreme lack of volatility in the stock market relative to historical norms. Coming into the current year, we said that investors should expect a pickup in volatility, and that the markets were overdue for a correction. Moreover, mid-term election years have historically exhibited greater […]
Quarterly Market Webcast – August 2018
Quarterly Market Webcast – May 2018
Of Tariffs and Trade Wars
When economists studied the Great Depression after the 1930s, one of the things that was cited as worsening the economic decline and prolonging the recession was the Smoot-Hawley tariffs. This protectionist trade policy was signed into law in 1930 and raised the tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to the U.S. Despite nearly 90 years […]
The Big Disconnect
One of the questions we hear in almost every client meeting of late is, “How can the market be going up when things are so bad out there?” Rather than try to identify and debate each item that could be referred to as ‘bad’, we think it would be more instructive to revisit market dynamics and the […]
