“The market may be bad, but I slept like a baby last night. I woke up every hour and cried” …. old stock market joke……. Where are we, at the end of January? If you’ve been reading this newsletter for the last year, I’ve been wishing for a healthy drop in the stock market. What’s  Continue Reading >

January 8, 2018 Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge.  Lao Tzu Where are we, at the end of December? It would have been hard to predict a year that was as great as 2017. The S&P 500 was up every single month and has risen for 14 consecutive months,  Continue Reading >

Where are we, at the end of November? November was another great month for the stock market in a long string of great months. Clients keep calling me and wondering when the good times will end. There are so many pundits out there (especially with specialized products to sell) who keep calling for the end  Continue Reading >

Where are we, at the end of October? First, let me apologize for being late with this newsletter. I had a bout with the flu for a few days. Here are the big takeaways from October: The bull market in stocks remains intact and it could go on for a long time The various sectors  Continue Reading >

Where are we, at the end of September? Some things flipped in September. In August, the stock and bond indexes were generally down and up, respectively, while in September the stock indexes were generally up sharply but the bonds were down. Our funds made very good money in August and “fairly” good money in September.  Continue Reading >

Where are we, at the end of August? It seems like every month I write about the seemingly contradictory market performance. This month, however, was especially crazy. All of this points to the importance of choosing market sectors that are working and avoiding sectors that aren’t. Selectivity is a sign of an aging bull market.  Continue Reading >

Where are we, as of the end of July? Last month I wrote about the seemingly contradictory market patters, with the Nasdaq (technology) down and other sectors up. This month the Nasdaq was a high flyer. There are, however, a couple of persistent trends: small company stocks are underachieving and should be avoided, while emerging  Continue Reading >

First, I apologize for being about a week later than I would like for a month-end account performance and commentary. I lost about a week to the 4th of July holiday. Last month I wrote about the seemingly contradictory market pattern. Among other things the small cap index was down over 2% while the Nasdaq  Continue Reading >

June 2, 2017 We are in an interesting, almost contradictory market pattern. In May, some sectors were up strongly, some were down and the broader indexes were up very modestly. A couple of things were telling: The small cap index was down over 2%, while the Nasdaq (technology) was up over 2%. The strongest areas  Continue Reading >

The Background As many of you know, we have tried utilizing numerous “alternative” funds over the years to attempt to diversify our stock market funds. We live in a world where bonds and bond funds have become ever more unreliable and vulnerable to low interest rates. With rates rising here in 2017, the situation has become  Continue Reading >