Market 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.

“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…

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it…

Those persons are happiest in this restless and mutable world who are in love with change, who delight in what is new simply because it differs from what is old; who rejoice in every innovation, and find a strange alert pleasure in all that is, and that has never been done before. – Agnes Repplier…

It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark. – Warren Buffet The second quarter of 2019 proved to be quite interesting for investors.  The first quarter rally continued into April only to be followed by a scary drop in May precipitated by aggressive trade rhetoric and recessionary fears.  U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell came quickly…

Whoso would be a man, must be a non-conformist…Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. – Ralph Waldo Emerson After the disastrous decline of the fourth quarter compounded by a dismal December, the first quarter provided welcome relief to beleaguered equity holders.  In the face of ongoing concerns including a…

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear. – Mark Twain What a difference a quarter makes; from the highs of September the market plumbed new lows in December!  As of our last missive, we had expected early 4th quarter negativity to give way to a year-end rally.  Instead, the…

Volatility continued to be a significant factor in the second quarter of 2018. Surprisingly, REIT’s rallied strongly and along with small cap domestic stocks led the way as we reached the half-way mark of 2018. The rally in REIT’s is of particular note because of the continued upward trend in interest rates and may reflect…

The first quarter of 2018 certainly proved to be significantly more dramatic than 2017! Following a very strong January, the market tanked in February, down 10% descending rapidly into correction territory. However, despite global trade concerns, markets managed to stage a comeback in March, ultimately ending the quarter just below break-even. Source: Dimensional Fund Advisors…

Well, 2017 is in the history books. In many ways it was a banner year, and yet due to declining volatility throughout the year there was little market drama of note. Rather, the market simply marched higher and higher throughout the year with nary a 3% decline to be found. The S&P 500 moved up…