Market Commentary

Market Overview We started 2013 with a brief trip over the “fiscal cliff” followed by general concern over Washington bringing uncertainty to the economy and producing artificial crisis situations over the debt and budget debate.  By the end of the quarter, Congress was not able to come to agreement on a master plan to change…

The sequestration deadline has come and gone with most people probably thinking to themselves “now that wasn’t so bad.”  To take a phrase from PIMCO’s Mohamed El-Erian and use it in a different context, it feels as though we’re finally getting used to Washington’s “New Normal.”  We saw it with the Fiscal Cliff and we’ve…

Over the weekend finance ministers and central bank governors from the top 20 industrialized countries (G-20 countries) met to discuss financial topic relating to the global economy.  One of the primary areas of discussion was the recent devaluation in currencies, most recently with the British Sterling and the Japanese Yen.  The Yen has declined almost…

Our investment team was fortunate enough this past week to travel to Boston to attend Charles Schwab’s Investment Outlook 2013 Conference. It was a great opportunity to hear the economic and investment outlooks from some of the world’s leading portfolio managers. The trip also afforded our investment committee an opportunity to meet for an extended…

Following Apple’s mixed earnings report Wednesday night (revenue fell slightly short and earnings beat expectations), the stock price took a hit in after-hours trading which lasted through Friday, finishing the week at $443/share.  Although Apple’s earnings were a disappointment to most, there were many positive elements to the report and the sharp decline is primarily…

I never thought it would come to this, but after 18 months, our elected officials in Washington have waited to the very last minute and aren’t willing to negotiate a deal to stop our country from going over the “Fiscal Cliff”.  President Obama won’t budge on reforming entitlement programs which he desperately needs to do,…

Investors saw red during the 2nd quarter and it wasn’t from the fireworks, rather it was the never ending headlines that added to the volatility and made for a down quarter. The Dow was off – 2.5%, S&P 500 down – 3.3%, Nasdaq giving back the most – 5% and the Russell 2000 small-cap index…