During and after World War II, Allied forces established airbases across remote Pacific Islands, bringing with them food, medicine, tools, and machinery that the indigenous people had never encountered before.

For over eighteen years, we have maintained the same investment discipline and the same eight criteria for stock selection. We have deliberately sought opportunity in the sectors and structures the market has decided are too complicated, too cyclical, or simply no longer fashionable.

As we welcome a new year and its many possibilities, it’s important to reflect on where the markets and investor psychology sit on the pendulum of greed and despair.

Over the last four years, we have maintained that the U.S. middle-class consumer is on firmer ground than many believe. The first wave of inflation that seems to be receding is just that—the first wave of a set—and oil and gas companies are fundamentally well-positioned for the next decade.

In previous missives, we have gone into considerable detail regarding the historic ascent of index concentration, coupled with the heightened prevalence of passive investing.

The year 2008 and the subsequent Global Financial Crisis (GFC) stand as a watershed moment in the annals of our capitalist society. It was a bailout prompted by poor capital allocation, deficient risk management, and unchecked greed.