Putting Things in Perspective by Reviewing 30-year Trends

Recently, we have been asked our opinion about gold. More specifically, should we be buying a lot of it? The conventional wisdom is that the Federal Reserve is printing a lot of money and the Obama administration is running massive budget deficits, both of which are going to make the dollar worth less, if not…

November 2009 Investment Commentary

The third quarter of 2009 showed positive economic growth for the first time in over a year.  Gross Domestic Product was reported to have increased 3.5% in the quarter ending September 30th.  However, most of the reported “growth” could be attributed to government stimulus.  It is estimated the “Cash for Clunkers” program contributed to approximately…

October 2009 Investment Commentary

Almost 80 years ago, after the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression, Congress enacted the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. The 1933 Act required companies to provide better information to investors. It was meant to prohibit misrepresentation and fraud (can…

August 2009 Investment Commentary

The stock market enjoyed another positive month, rallying over 7% during July. It has increased over 40% since the market bottom on March 9th. Interestingly enough, it is still down over 35% from the market peak in October, 2007. This illustrates how important it is to avoid the investing “torpedoes”. When your investments decline by…

July 2009 Investment Commentary

“Green Shoots”. Ben Bernanke used this phrase once to describe positive signs that the economy is improving (green shoots are those things that come up out of the ground in the spring and soon turn into flowers). It has become one of the most overused phrases since “Where’s the beef?” And in the month of…