U-Turns

U-Turns For the last 18 months, single data points have regularly surprised the markets in both directions, inciting highly uncertain investors to project forward a “changed” economic outlook. This has led to rapid whipsaws of both bond and stock prices, and this past week was no exception. The CPI report triggered a substantial decline in […]
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Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them

Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them The topic here is hydrocarbons. Oil prices are creating the latest market conundrum. West Texas Intermediate is approaching the $90 level and is up double digits over the last couple of weeks. One might think that is bullish for the economy (better economy = more demand = […]
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Keep Calm and Carry On

Keep Calm and Carry On “God is Great, Beer is Good, and People are Crazy.” Country music fans will surely recognize the lyrics from Billy Currington’s famous song. These words come to mind because the first half of this year was absolutely crazy and had us thinking about drinking on more than a few occasions. […]
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One More For The Road

One More for the Road As we enter July, with Jay Powell singing a hawkish tune, we expect the market to be very focused on one question: Are interest rates going higher? The answer lies in the inflation data yet to be reported. If inflation fails to get better, then interest rates are likely heading […]
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Bottom’s Up!

Bottoms Up! In his classic 1934 book “Security Analysis”, Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing (and a mentor to Warren Buffet), said something to the effect that in the short run the stock market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. Eighty-nine years later, that comment still […]
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Nothing to See Here… Move Along…

To be honest, we’re getting pretty tired of dealing with market fireworks every time the Fed provides a hint of what they are going to do next. Traders are logically obsessed, but investors need not be dragged into this obsession. This week was a perfect example. The market twitched wildly to the perception of a […]
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