By mid-November, the stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 price index, had recovered from the post-September 11th sell-off, and was higher than its level just prior to the attacks. The rebound occurred amidst the release of data that almost certainly confirmed that the U.S. economy had entered recession. It remains to be seen […]

During the sustained boom times of the 1980s, many people may have come to believe that there was no need to prepare for “tough times.” The 1990-91 recession was a harsh reminder that prosperity is not guaranteed, and that it is prudent to save for the proverbial rainy day. More recently, the belief that technology

How times have changed. The first chart below is a reprint of a chart that appeared in this space in December 1999, when we warned “these trends are simply not sustainable.” Underneath it is the same picture one year later. Some investors were painfully reminded that nothing grows to the sky (or, conversely, that everything

Investors often ask us for our view of what the market is going to do. We are tempted to respond that, if we knew, we wouldn’t be showing up to work five days a week. The fact of the matter is, no one knows what the future holds. While some prognosticators gain temporary notoriety for

What a difference a year makes. The percentage changes in various stock price indexes from March 16, 2000, to March 15, 2001, were as shown in the accompanying table. All of the broad indexes are below their historical peaks and the prices of high-flying tech stocks, which had risen far beyond any standard of value,

It is said that there are three remaining groups of people in the world who still believe that markets do not work: the North Koreans, the Cubans, and the stock pickers. We are inclined to agree. However, too many investors still spend their time pondering the next hot stocks or wondering whether they should hire

Occasionally, our Professional Asset Management clients ask us why they should continue to hold gold, which as an investment has been dismal since the early 1980s relative to other assets. Our response is that this has been a period of remarkable economic growth and modest price inflation, so gold has been neglected. However, we would

We have received many inquiries recently regarding our Professional Asset Management (PAM) program. Callers frequently ask for our “total returns.” The entire premise of PAM, and of the INVESTMENT GUIDE is that each investor is unique with regard to their personal circumstances (i.e. age, children, financial goals, etc.) and tolerance for risk. It is therefore

Suppose you were in the market for a new automobile, and further suppose that, because you had very little time, you wanted to hire an agent to find the best car for your circumstances at the best price. Would you hire someone who was also being paid a commission by Ford to sell their cars?