March (Coronavirus) Madness

Monday, March 9th of this week marked the 11th anniversary of the stock   market bottom during the sub-prime mortgage crash of 2008-2009. So what did the stock market do Monday? It celebrated by falling 7% immediately upon the opening. Since March 9, 2009, we have experienced an 11-year bull market, possibly the longest bull market in history.…

Coronavirus Update

This past week has seen Coronavirus headlines proliferate faster than the Coronavirus itself. No one knows how far this contagion will spread…and we don’t mean to take lightly that it has already claimed some victims…but if it is anything like SARS, N1H1 (swine flu), or Ebola, there is a good chance it will be in…

Equities Survive Pandemic…So Far

OK, when we’re wrong, we’re wrong. A year ago, we predicted that Nicolas Maduro wouldn’t make it through the year as Venezuela’s leader. At the time, Venezuela had an inflation rate of 10,000%, and 85% of the population lived in poverty. Things are not much better today. But somehow Maduro is still making the rules…

Brief “War” a Mere Blip in this Bull Market

After ten years, the economic expansion in the United States continues.       Unemployment remains extremely low, and the holiday shopping season showed that the American consumer is in the mood to spend. And the stock market appears to “want” to go higher. Why do we say it seems to want to go higher? Look at what…

Hindsight is 2020

Here we are at the end of another decade, one that seems to have passed   rather quickly, as trite as that may sound. Ten years ago, our Investment   Commentary noted that the period of 2000–2009 resulted in a negative rate of return for the stock market. It’s rare that you experience any period of that…