Market Commentaries are listed with the most current article appearing first. Scroll down for older articles. Market Commentaries are published every quarter. To read an article click the title or the "more" button.

October 2008
Before we turn to a discussion of the current chaos on Wall Street, we want to address the question that is no doubt uppermost in your mind: What about the money you have entrusted us to manage for you? First, we believe your money...

July 2008 - “Unsettling Times”
We thought the first quarter of the year was ugly and were encouraged as the stock market bounced back in April. Suffice it to say our joy was short-lived as the market declined in both May and June. There’s no way...

April 2008 - “What if No One Wants Your Assets?”
Any way you look at the first quarter of 2008 it was not pretty. Stock markets throughout the world were down, with formerly high flying markets in India and China off about twice as much as the U.S. market. That was small solace...

January 2008 - “Contrarian Call?”
The major story of 2007 was the meltdown of financial markets due to problems relating to subprime mortgages. Nothing dominated investors’ concerns more than the impact on the economy of rising mortgage defaults resulting...

October 2007 - “A Crazy Quarter”
What happened? The stock market moved higher in July. The Dow briefly reached 14,000. Private equity buyouts continued to propel the stock market higher. There were, however, more than a few signs of excessive...

July 2007 - “Good Quarter but Amber Light Ahead”
Stock market returns last quarter were stellar, but risks still abound and caution is certainly appropriate. The market rallied in the first half of the second quarter pushing the Dow to record levels. This rally was followed...

April 2007 - “Returns First—Taxes Second”
With the April 15 tax filing deadline fast approaching, this seems like a good time to focus on what we think is the right balance between tax and investment considerations. Too frequently...

January 2007 - “A Very Good Year”
2006 was a surprisingly good year for the stock market. Total returns exceeded the expectations of most analysts. The rally which started in the third quarter was propelled by stable interest rates, an expectation...

October 2006 - “A Strong Quarter—Why?”
The stock market just completed a very strong quarter. This followed a very weak second quarter and a robust first quarter. Which quarter represents reality and why has the market rallied so much in the last two months? We think...

July 2006 - “Yet Another Fad Exposed”
In the 17 years we have been writing the Market Commentary there is one recurring theme — the penchant for investors to pursue the latest investment fads. Tech stocks, biotech, precious metals, oil, hedge funds, real estate, international stocks, you name it, the list is almost endless. Invariably...

April 2006 - “Climbing a Wall of Worry”
Given all of the dismal news and grim prognostications, the performance of the stock market during the first quarter of 2006 has been a bit of surprise to many people. Despite ...

January 2006 - “Reasons for Hope”
Stock market performance in 2005 was similar to 2004. There was little movement in the broad market averages for the first ten months of the year followed by a small year end rally. Broad market averages were up slightly for 2005, but...

October 2005 - “Bubbles and Leverage”
Imagine it is March 2000 again. Tech stocks are running wild and there is seemingly easy money to be made. You decide to take advantage of this boom by buying tech stocks equal to 2 times your available capital...

July 2005 - “A Bigger Universe”
We have always considered ourselves value investment managers, a seemingly vanishing breed as the 1990’s drew to a close. With today's stock market stuck in neutral gear, this seems like an appropriate time...

April 2005 - “Dividends Count”
Last quarter once again the stock market made lots of moves that resulted in little change in the averages (they were down slightly for the quarter). Buffeted by rising oil prices, concerns about inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty investors couldn’t seem to decide...

January 2005 - “Worry du jour”
The state of the U.S. economy is reflected in thousands of different economic statistics, most of which are continually changing. However investors have a tendency to over simplify things and thus become fixated on one or two at a time. Recently...

October 2004 - “Seesaw”
The stock market despite daily ups and downs, some of which have been in triple digits, is as of today about where it was at the start of the year. We commented in April about the tug of war between...

July 2004 - “Invented Fears”
In addition to ongoing worries about domestic terrorism and international unrest, over the last quarter the stock market has been fixated on two major fears: inflation and what the Fed's reaction will be in setting interest rates. While rising inflation and interest rates have historically...

April 2004 - “Tug of War”
Stock market performance during the first quarter of 2004 can best be described as an economic and geopolitical tug of war. Both vying to push the market up or down. 2004 began on an upbeat note...

January 2004 - “Renewed Confidence”
In early March who would have thought that in December we would be wrapping up a year of strong economic growth, continued low inflation and interest rates, and one of the strongest performances by the stock market since the heady days of the late 1990’s? Yet...