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Newsletter Archives
July 2008 Sometimes the best offense is a good defense
Successful investors
over the full market cycle, both up and down, tend to be those who play
good defense when a market is in a correction like the one we’ve been
experiencing of late.
I like to tell folks that the best money you make in the market is the
money you don’t lose during a correction and the math really bears this
out (no pun intended).
January 2008 Investing
in Tough Times
The stock markets
have been selling off very heavily over the last several weeks and I
know from experience that this sort of sell off and all the heavy media
attention it attracts tends to make investors anxious and
worried. So, I wanted to touch base with everyone to assess
what’s happening, what we’re doing about it, and why I believe it will
all come out okay.
December 2007 Investors
Challenged in 2007
During the first half of the year, euphoria reigned in the markets
based largely on speculation about mergers and acquisitions (M & A)
strategies. Hedge funds and other institutional investors were pouring
money into the market chasing these M & A expectations and the
market indices ran up nicely. Meanwhile, the ominous matter of a
collapsing residential real estate market went largely ignored.
Besides, the party was going so well and the wine was so very fine.
Finally in late July the black horsemen of sub prime mortgages crashed
into the party and the revelers were cut down on the dance floor.
August 2007 Opps,
they've done it again!
The securities
markets have been making some wild moves, both up and down, recently
and all of this volatility is getting a lot of attention in the media.
At times like these, I like to touch base with everyone and share what
I see is going on.
In the “ElephantWatch” newsletter last
year, I discussed the dominant role of institutional investors and
hedge funds in the current market place.Well, once again, some of this crowd has
gotten into trouble and the markets are reacting.
July 2007 The World is Flat
Although stock
prices generally rallied last quarter, a pretty severe pull back
occurred in the bond markets. That caused virtually all bonds and bond
funds to decline in value for the first time in almost a year. It
seems that the fixed income markets have gotten pretty nervous, in part
because of serious concern about the health of mortgage backed
securities, especially those backed by mortgages to sub prime borrowers.
March 2007 May
we all live in interesting times!
As I began to
compose this quarter’s newsletter, a popup alert from the Wall Street
Journal appeared on my screen announcing that the Dow Jones Industrial
Average was down for the quarter for the first time since June
2005. The actual decline was quite small and this alert reflects
the general tendency of the financial media to over hype what’s
happening to the Dow. No serious money manager pays much
attention to the Dow because it’s composed of only 30 companies, most
of which are old mature blue chip stocks which don’t reflect very
accurately what the economy or the market as a whole is doing.
The real question is, what does a moderating of the
stock market imply for our investments going forward?
December 2006 Farewell
to 2006
As 2006 draws to a
close, I would like to thank you all personally for
the special trust and confidence you have placed in me as your
investment advisor. 2006 has been a very busy year for Eagle
Wealth Management with much to be thankful for and for many lessons
learned which we can apply going forward.
One lesson learned was an old lesson...
September 2006 Is
this market giving us another sucker
rally?
One of the most
profound experiences I had in this business was in the late summer and
early fall of 2000: the S&P 500 index made a run at its all time
high much as the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been doing
lately. Technology stocks were on the rise, cheered on by
broadcast analysts. I became swept up in this enthusiasm and positioned
my clients into portfolios of the most popular growth stocks of that
time to help them enjoy the good ride up in wealth.
But there were warning signs out…
August 2006 Elephant
Watch
A reminder to
keep an eye on the herd
and be patient!
The stock markets have been pretty
bumpy the last
few months and that reminds us of the importance of patience and
discipline in our investment process. Since May 10th, all the
indexes are down, with the small capitalization stocks down the most at
about 12% over this period. The softening of the real estate
markets and the general concern about the pace of consumer spending has
created a decidedly cautious tone for investors.
The large institutional investors, which I like to
refer to as the elephants, are the primary drivers in the securities
markets...
July 2006 Lessons
Learned:
Prologue
I think there are some important lessons
to be learned from what’s been happening at Winn Dixie Stores. For
anyone
unfamiliar with Winn Dixie Stores, they are a large, publicly-traded,
supermarket
chain with a substantial network of stores throughout much of the
southeastern United States...
June 2006 Why
am I starting a newsletter?
A primary goal of this newsletter is to
share the process behind what I am doing, what I am researching and
learning,
and how I am applying all of this to each client’s wealth management
goals...
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