Today’s higher than expected August CPI report, rattled the market dramatically, causing the Nasdaq to drop by 5.2%, the S&P 500 by 4.3%, and the Dow to drop by 4%.  This was the biggest down day since June of 2020 and the 8th daily decline of greater than 3% on the year.  The recent decline...Read More

Markets have had a nice rally since the mid-June lows, as signs that inflation has peaked have investors a bit more optimistic that the Federal Reserve won’t have to raise rates as far.  I’m definitely in the camp that the inflation growth rate has peaked and the signs of it are quite pervasive.  With that...Read More

Value After Hours S04 E27: Small Value is Quality, Energy in Food, Financials and the Consumer  Read More

When you are in the midst of a bear market, all the news is bad.  You are usually either in or about to be in a recession. Analysts that kept telling you to buy stocks at 50% higher prices, now tell you to sell the same stocks despite them being dramatically cheaper.  Economic data gets...Read More

During bear markets, it is not uncommon for market participants to be focused on if there could be another 10-15% downside, regardless of the fact that the market is far cheaper than it has been in several years when they were willing to invest aggressively.  Bear markets bring out the biggest pessimists, peddling the most...Read More

  Today’s CPI inflation data came in hot at 8.3%, down slightly from the previous report, but higher than expectations. Inflation is rampant in all the key areas that impact our daily lives such as food, energy, shelter and transportation.  The sting of higher prices and the disruption emerging from the Chinese lockdowns has the...Read More

What a terrible month for the equity markets.  As I write this, the Nasdaq looks set to close down 12.% for April, which is its worst monthly performance since October of 2008, which was when we were seeing some of the worst developments of the Financial Crisis.  The index is now down more than 23%...Read More

Historically, it has made reasonable sense for retirees to have a sizable allocation to bonds.  A minimum of 40% was certainly not uncommon.  The logic behind this was that retirees regularly draw from their accounts and are less comfortable with the enhanced volatility that stocks can at times provide.  The supposedly steady income from the...Read More

Continued pressure on bond yields and bad economic data out of China and Europe scared the market today, causing a 3% selloff.  While it is a large point drop, it would only qualify as the 342nd largest percentage drop in history.  Stocks got off to a torrid start to the year and it shouldn’t be...Read More

Well that was one heck of a week.  While I certainly was not smart enough to predict the results of the election, it has had a profound impact on my expectations for us as investors.  For the last 7 years, I’ve been one of the most vocal advocates of financial stocks that I am aware...Read More