2018 and older

The global oil landscape is changing very quickly. In the 80’s there existed an organization that could send fear into the minds of investors and world leaders: OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (focus on the exporting part). OPEC…

As the ink dries on this letter, lawmakers have just resolved the government shutdown, and once again raised the debt ceiling limit – the 74th time since 1962!  Not surprisingly, this latest Washington crisis generated additional market volatility, which in turn…

For much of the last year the media published an endless stream of news that was worrisome to investors.  It started with the fiscal challenges of Europe and its banking crisis.  In the fall, the U.S. elections worked investors into a…

It seems like a long time ago that we were subject to an apparently endless stream of news about the implications of our nation going over the Fiscal Cliff. These stories made people feel that the markets were staring face first…

2012 was a great surprise for many.  Daily headlines of financial disarray in Europe, the buildup to the Presidential election, and the final hours of the Fiscal Cliff drama, made for a year’s worth of good TV and a great deal…

What a difference a quarter makes!  It was a volatile start to the year, caused largely by the lack of direction in the political world, particularly Europe.  After government institutions demonstrated their intent to do whatever it takes in the near…

We closed out midyear of 2012 with investors once again feeling that sense of exhaustion fueled this past quarter by the lingering demons of 2011.  Although most of the 2011 demons were economic in nature those of 2012 seemed to be…

In what is somewhat of a surprise following last year’s incredibly volatile market, the start of 2012 has been encouragingly positive and calm.  The first quarter closed with gains in equity markets both at home and abroad.  In the U.S. the…

In what is somewhat of a surprise following last year’s incredibly volatile market, the start of 2012 has been encouragingly positive and calm.  The first quarter closed with gains in equity markets both at home and abroad.  In the U.S. the…

2011 will best be remembered as a year in which several major trends emerged in the global financial markets: the dramatic increase in market volatility, the downgrading of the creditworthiness of the developed world, and investors’ need for assets that produce…