Posts by Bryan Taylor
2Q 2021 Cornerstone Commentary
Market risk tends to be poorly rewarded when market valuations are rich and interest rates are rising.” -John P. Hussman, Ph. D. Relative to Q1 of 2021, Q2 was decidedly anticlimactic! However, the positive news for investors was that the market continued to rally and did so in a decidedly undramatic fashion. Volatility declined to…
Read More1Q 2021 Cornerstone Commentary
There have been three great inventions since the beginning of time: fire, the wheel, and central banking. -Will Rogers The first quarter of 2021 witnessed a dramatic extension of the 2020 global equity rally. Led by smaller capitalization equities, virtually every sector of public equity markets moved higher during the quarter. Drama at the capitol,…
Read MoreIs GameStop a Game Changer?
The recent move in GameStop has raised eyebrows and set the social media world on fire. Like most fires, once the wind begins fanning the flames, the fire spreads and others begin to take notice! In today’s hyperconnected world, those “others” include FINRA, the SEC, stock exchanges, clearinghouses, and custodians. Of course, we wouldn’t want…
Read More4Q 2020 Cornerstone Commentary
We should never despair, our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new exertions and proportion our efforts to the exigency of the times. -George Washington Regardless of your political affiliation, the fourth quarter of 2020…
Read MoreElection Insights
Elections often seem momentous, and the presidential election of 2020 is certainly no exception. While it could be viewed by some as merely a referendum on President Trump’s general personality, to many voters this election is about much more than Trump vs Biden.
Read More3Q 2020 Cornerstone Commentary
The rally continues! The market continued to rally throughout the third quarter of 2020. Despite a pullback in mid-September, the broader equity market rallied more than 8% during the quarter.
Read More2Q 2020 Cornerstone Commentary
“The death of contrarians has been greatly exaggerated. The reason is that the crowd is the market for most of any cycle. You cannot be contrarian all the time, otherwise you end up simply fighting the tape the whole way up (or down), therefore being wildly wrong. -Barry Ritholtz The second quarter of 2020 started…
Read MoreAn Optimistic Assessment
A good general [or trader] plans in two ways: for an absolute victory and for an absolute defeat. The one enables him to squeeze the last ounce of success out of a triumph; the other keeps a failure from turning into a catastrophe. – Max Brand As the second quarter of 2020 comes to an…
Read MoreRelief Rally
You seldom get what you go after unless you know in advance what you want. Indecision has often given advantage to the other fellow because he did his thinking beforehand. – Maurice Switzer After experiencing a March many of us would rather forget, April was a welcome relief. During March, the viral curve was rising…
Read MoreReflections 4.17.20
In lieu of a typical commentary on markets and the economy, we thought something a bit different might be helpful. Consequently, we are sharing a few short thoughts on decision making in times of uncertainty. We all like to think we are rational and that we make rational decisions on a regular basis. Perhaps in…
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