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Is This an Andy Hardy Kind of Market?
With Mickey Rooney?s death over the weekend (at age 93, after accumulating show business credits spanning 10 decades), I got to thinking about the Andy Hardy movie series that propelled Mickey at the ripe old age of 16 into stardom. In the 50?s the TV screen was awash with black and white classics of the 30?s and 40?s. Like the Great Depression generation, many of the baby boomers binged on Andy Hardy movies long before Walking Dead, Breaking Bad or House of Cards.
A Slip and Fall?
Despite last week?s vernal equinox, signaling the first day of spring on Thursday, another arctic blast is hitting the Midwest yet again this week, and cabin fever has become an epidemic. So many of my friends and family are singing the same refrain; ?When will this winter be over??
Where's the Plane?
In another example of life duplicating the media, it seems like most people here and abroad have been consumed by watching a real life episode of Lost for the last week. The question of what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has quickly soared to the opening spot on all of the network news shows, much as Lost and its Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 climbed quickly to the top of the ratings. At CNN it appears that the network of late can report on nothing else!
How Can You Find an Expert Whose Decisions You Can Trust?
Recently a family member visited the doctor to determine if she needed her gall bladder removed. Since she?d been having some pain, we assumed the answer would be ?yes.? But, of course, we wanted an expert opinion, so we went to a surgeon that has done more than 6,000 removals.
Investors at the Car Wash?
It?s been a rough winter, but here in Detroit (and I suspect in your town, too, if it?s been hit by the near constant winter storms this year) you can be assured of one thing ? when the snow stops and the clouds part and sunshine floods the sparkling, newly fallen snow in the fields, while the streets, in contrast, get grayer, then black as soot as the traffic returns ? then, I will bet you, the lines will grow long at your neighborhood carwash.
Coasting?
This year in the stock market I feel that most investors (and commentators) are focusing on walking the daily, hourly and, perhaps, even second to second ups and downs of the major market indexes. They?re measuring their progress each day, like using the foot-long ruler to measure a coastline. As with most things in life, with the stock market it is often better to get a broader perspective ? see the forest not just the trees. When you do that, it?s apparent that last week was a probable turning point, or at least a notable one.
Watching the Polar Bear
With temperatures hovering around zero and wind chills in the negative teens, I cant think of any better label for Fridays stock market sell off than a "polar bear". Here in Michigan at the Detroit Zoo, one of the nations finest, we have a rather unique polar bear exhibit. Visitors to the zoo can actually walk through tunnels interspersed throughout the polar bear environment created in the exhibit. At one point you are underneath the big furry creatures as they swim about. It is a beautiful sight.
Are Stocks On Thin Ice?
I love the weather! Just as it is a reliable conversation starter (everyone has an opinion on it), it provides seemingly unlimited analogies to the financial markets for me to write about. Thats because while many attempt to forecast both, the weather and the markets are moved by an endless stream of random events.
Gaining Perspective
This weekend we were honored to have Steve Finn, the owner of our largest custodian, Trust Company of America, and his lovely wife, Kelly, join us for our annual Holiday Party (see more about the party in the "Whats Happening" section). On Sunday, at a post-party brunch, Kelly (who studied art at the International Academy of Art in Nice, France, and at the Brera Art Academy in Milan, Italy and has many years of patient craftsmanship with oil paint and easel) was telling us about how she goes about creating her exquisite paintings.
Surviving a Road Trip
The earnings and economic news never seem to quit. And every position, and each action be it buy, sell or hold has commentators and gurus voicing an opinion on every side of the subject. For many investors, it is impossible to sort out the right direction to be heading in, let alone whether you should be on the entrance or the exit ramp for the investments making up your portfolio.
More Summer Storms?
dont know about your part of the country but I think this summer has been the wettest in some time around Detroit. We have had soooo much rain. Our Great Lakes began the year well below their long-term average depth. After months of rain, all of the Great Lakes are now above their levels from last year, and nearby Lake Ontario has gained ten inches in height in just the last month. Ontario is 11? higher than one year ago and 5? ABOVE the century average. Yet its previous below average condition had existed for years and had been worsening quite a change!
Predictions
Last Tuesday night was a special night. I was having some out of state friends that I had not seen for over a year meet my wife and me for dinner. I picked out an outstanding restaurant with a wide deck perched on the tip of one of Michigans gorgeous fresh water lakes. I got the last table available for the 6:30 p.m. seating.
Perfect
Normally, May is a perfect time to visit New York City. The snow is gone, spring is in the air, Broadway readies for its Tony celebration, and people just seem friendlier. While there were plenty of friendly vibes from the populace when I visited on company business last week, and it is a super season on Broadway (Motown and Kinky Boots look to lead the list of new musicals they were terrific), the weather was abysmal cold and very rainy. They even had snow in parts of New York as the weekend began.
Is Your Investing One Dimensional?
At the National Association of Active Investment Managers (NAAIM) Uncommon Knowledge Conference in Denver last week, a reporter from Financial Planning magazine asked us, What is active investing? Many confuse the phrase with the simple act of running a mutual fund populated with stock picks within the strict guidelines of a prospectus, as opposed to running an index fund, where the manager simply buys and holds the shares making up a particular stock or bond index.
Twins
Any thoughts that the stock market was going to extend its rally were also shortened last week by a truly horrendous jobs report. In an economy that needs 250,000 new jobs each month just to replace retirees, we only had slightly more than 80,000 in March. The economists expectations were bunched around 200,000, so the disappointment in the air was palpable when the market opened and swiftly sank 150 points on the Dow Industrials.
Finally
With a headline like that, I could be talking about my Law School Alma Mater, the University of Michigan, making it back into the Final Four for the first time since 1993 by beating the University of Florida in the NCAA South Regional basketball Finals yesterday. Or it could be the exclamation of most Michiganders with the first sunshine-filled days this weekend since spring had sprung earlier in March (yes, the ice also finished melting on our lake this weekfinally).
Throw the Book at Him
On February 2, Ground Hog Day, Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow forecasting, and as legend has it an early spring. Yet on the first day of spring, I looked out my back window at a lake still more than half frozen with my view partially obscured by a wicked little snow flurry. So much for forecasts!
Spring Thaw
The first thing you notice when you are landing at Detroit Metro Airport in the winter after two weeks in the Caribbean is whether or not there is snow on the ground. I am pleased to report that other than a few clumps left by the snow plows or swept by the wind into the empty furrows and fenced-in corners of a farmer's field, the six inches that covered everything when I left have largely disappeared.
Is This Market "For the Birds"?
Last week, the stock market hit one of those gusts of headwind that seemed to stop the 2013 rally in its tracks and push it backward. When that happens, as it is again today, it is like watching the gull traverse just a few feet in front of us on the beach. What happens in the short run can be progress or retreat.
Is Love in the Air?
This week includes Valentine's Day, the day millions worldwide exchange cards, letters, candy, flowers and other gifts with the center of their affection. Surely there must be a study of Valentine's Day. But search as I might, I could not find a single study of the influence of this fabled day on our financial markets. I did find one in Australia that dared to show that the chances for an up or down day in their stock market were, what else, 50-50. Could it truly be that we had finally found a seasonal event that was dare I say it random?
Are We There Yet?
Last week we talked about the numerous commentators urging investors to buy the dips. We pointed out that many of them (unlike many of the Flexible Plan strategies) were under invested during the stock market rally that began last November and thus were simply trying to finally get on the market band wagon.
Taking a Dip?
In the cold Midwest in January, the only talk of dips tends to be at Super Bowl parties or during the annual Polar Bear Club celebrations when a few hardy, scantily clad individuals jump into the frigid winter waters. Of course, in the summer those dips are much more inviting, following which a double "dipped" cone from the ice cream parlor has plenty to recommend it. But tune in to any financial news program or pick up your favorite financial read and you'll see that dips are all the rage. In this case, the reference is to "buying on dips."
Breaking Away
With the college and the NBA seasons now in full stride, these breakaways are on full display every day of the week and most hours of the day throughout television land. Not to be outdone, the stock market staged its only breakaway last week as it broke out above its post-correction high and scored a new market-rally highpoint. As the chart illustrates, this has been a hard fought victory. The market made the just-broken highs back in September. Since then, uncertainty sustained by an election and impending fiscal cliff had formed a nearly impenetrable defense.
New Ice
Last week, the immediate snap-back reversal we were expecting lasted 3 days and then the rebound to new short-term highs that we also spoke about occurred as well. While it is always difficult in the very short term to tell if we are back on track, to me it looks like we remain pointing higher, expecting some short-term dips along the way.
Stock Market Rocket
I know that if you spent any time during the holidays around children eight or older, you probably saw some pretty amazing electronic toys, communication, and entertainment devices. But 50-some years ago one of the best toys in the world was...a rubber band. Today the snap of the rubber band holds a different meaning to me. It symbolizes what I believe has been happening in our stock market.
Cliff Diving
A "fiscal" cliff potentially to be caused not by the confluence of divers, swirling ocean and towering cliffs, but by a huge impending tax increase and self-imposed unspecified cuts that must be made automatically at year end to essential defense and social welfare programs, all to deal with a tidal wave of government spending, resulting in a nation drowning in debt.
Up, Then Down
Five losses in a row for my Detroit Lions, and every one a heartbreakerin most of the games they led by at least ten points at one time. Getting ahead but still losing is a pattern that is not restricted to sports, but is also encountered in investing. It's surprising that conventional stock market investing has not seemingly developed any effective ways to counter it. Yet with profits in most of our strategies so far this year, it's important to seek to do so.
Seasonal Rallies and Fiscal Cliffs
Black Fridaythat term used to be reserved for days that major crashes began in the stock market. Fortunately, we saw anything but last week as stocks soared to their best week in months. The market followed through once again on the pre- and post-Thanksgiving positive seasonality pattern that we reported on last week.
When is the Turkey Supposed to Arrive?
This Thanksgiving week historically has not been a turkey in the markets. Since 1950, stocks have advanced the day before and after the holiday 76% of the time. Yet, this year the turkey in the financial markets seems to have arrived early. Stocks as measured by the S&P 500 Index have fallen 5.1% since the Tuesday Election Day close.
October Surprises
Ever since President Lyndon Johnson announced on October 30, 1968 that he was halting the bombing of North Vietnam and intensifying talks with the Viet Cong, there has been fear or hope for an October Surprise in Presidential election years. Back then, it was believed the intention was to help Johnson's Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, win the Presidency. And it almost did, as Humphrey quickly moved up in the polls, although losing six days later by a narrow 0.7% of the popular vote.
Uncertainty Reigns
Since I last wrote this column we have had a couple of election year debates that have settled one issue: the race for the White House is not settled. Going into the debates, many commentators were declaring the race over. The appearance that the re-election of Barack Obama was a fait accompli gave the financial markets a sense of certainty with regard to one of the biggest question marks that had been overhanging the markets all year. If there is one certainty to trading the financial markets it is that investors hate uncertainty. It invariably leads to lower stock prices.
Nothing's Perfect
On September 21, the Apple iPhone 5 made its debut simultaneously on four continents. Its first weekend saw over five million in sales! And the current inventory was sold out within a week a perfect product introduction. Wellnot quite. Soon articles like iPhone 5?s Biggest Problems started showing up, talking about scratching, chipped exteriors, lens flares and others. Then there were complaints about its faulty Maps application that even drew a rare corporate apology last week. It just proves the point of this weeks Hotline: Nothings Perfect.
The Beginning of Fall Blues
I only have time for a short note today. It's probably a reflection of the shorter days that fall ushers in or maybe the increased pace of business that the end of summer vacations seems to ignite. Speaking of seasons, the market weakness we saw last week is just what our Political Seasonality Index has been suggesting that the stock market might have in store for us in this period.
Shock and Awe
Almost twenty years ago, the US initiated a campaign of "Shock and Awe" with its bombing campaign on the Iraqi capital city of Bagdad. I bring this up because some commentators are comparing the Federal Reserve announcement made last week (not to mention the shocking new Arab unrest and murder of our Ambassador!) to the "Shock and Awe" of the first day of the Iraq War. What made it "Shock and Awe" was that the new Fed policy differed, according to John Carney at CNBC, in three ways from past Fed actions.
Mondays!
In 1965, John Phillips penned Monday, Monday for the first album released by The Mamas and the Papas. The song was a melancholy downer. But it is perfect for summing up the experience for most investors over the last ten years. As you can see, if one had only invested on Mondays, the result would have fallen significantly short of investments for the full market period.
Results 51–100
of 103 found.
