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And the Winner Is...
The annual awards season for the entertainment industry has begun and will kick into high gear over the next two months. It has not been without some controversy already, as the acting and directing nominee lists for the 87th Academy Awards (to be presented on February 22nd) were criticized for a lack of diversity.
Is the Party Over?
Every year it seems to be the same. January arrives and with it the winter blahs set in. The excitement of Christmas Day has passed. The celebration of New Year?s is but a memory. We?re putting away all the holiday decorations. What a pain (literally)! And, forgive me for a parochial slip; the Lions, once again, are out of the football playoff picture and off TV.
A ?Living in the Moment? Guide to Investing
New Year?s Eve is all about partying for a large percentage of the world?s population, but it has a different meaning to me. Don?t get me wrong. I?ve gone to my share of NYE parties, including doing the Times Square thing in 2000 (highly recommended!). But over the years I?ve shifted away from celebrating that way.
Is the Grinch Stealing Investors Christmas?
It was 1957. My Mom settled down with my brothers, sister, and me and began to read. It was a book by one of my favorites, Dr. Seuss. Unless you have spent the time since then living in a van down by the river, youve either read the book (or had it read to you), seen the TV cartoon account (1966) or Jim Carrey in Ron Howards motion picture version (2000) of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Even the song has been a hit!
Who Should Go to the Bowls?
When I was a kid there were just four year-end college football bowl games. Today there are 39. Perhaps the title of this piece should be Do we need holiday football bowls at all? But I guess they wouldnt produce them unless there was a demand for them from the cities, hoping to get some travelers, to the sponsors, hoping to get some attention, to the teams, seeking to cap a successful season, and to the fans, who are just looking to have some fun and experience a last hurrah for this years heroes.
Why Cant Investing Be as Simple as Going from Here to There?
After traveling more than 20,000 miles over the last month, my mind is overflowing with strong impressions gained from my travels. The richness of the culture, the beauty of the lands, and the friendliness of the people in Australia and New Zealand cannot be overstated. As Americans, we tend to think of ourselves as the youngest kid on the block with a freshness and youthfulness that puts Europes stodginess to shame. Yet down under there is a land as big as the USA with a history half as long and economies just in the earliest stages of expansion.
How Moving Average Strategies Can Really Work
In a previous article, Paul Allen explored the universe of moving average crossover (MAC) strategies. In his thorough and even-handed analysis, Allen concluded that MAC strategies can effectively decrease periodic drawdowns in portfolios but can materially underperform during bull markets. In this article, we propose how to improve MAC strategies so that they may perform better during bull markets and still provide protection during bear markets.
Can You Panic and Still be an Investor?
Quite a week we just had, regardless of asset class. By Wednesday the Dow had fallen 688 points by mid-day, thanks to a 480-point morning decline. The problem was a lack of liquiditya buyers strike (no buyers in the market)as we used to call it. In response, stocks fell, as did commodities (with the exception of gold) and yields plunged on bonds.
Can The Market Make A Comeback?
Although Im a Detroit Lions fan and thoroughly enjoyed my teams rare, 19-to-7 triumph over Green Bays football team last month, Ive always respected the Packers. (Maybe because as a Lions season ticket holder since the 80s, I probably have seen the Lions lose to them more than anyone else.) They epitomize what football is all about.
Is Profiting in the Stock Market Based on Illusions?
When I was a child, I was fascinated with magic and magicians. I read scores of books, learned loads of tricks, and put on magic shows (ten-cent admission) in our basement. My favorite part was the illusions (I once worked a part of a summer vacation mastering a very convincing floating wand).
How Do You Anticipate the Unexpected?
It always seems to begin the same. A News Flash scrolls across the lower portion of our TV screens. Or the music trumpets a change is coming on the radio. (For those always plugged in on their phones or iPods, though, I have no idea how they learn about anything!)
Coming Down from a Rocky Mountain High?
It was a little after 6 AM as the plane rose from the tarmac of Denver International Airport Saturday morning. Out the windows on the right the sun was just peeking above the horizon. The warm glow of the early morning light washed quickly across the prairie. The land was golden and flat.
Whos Mr. Excitement and Whats He Got To Do With Stocks?
Born here in Detroit in 1934, he died just short of 50 years later after lying in a coma for nine years. In 1975 he had a heart attack on stage while singing his hit single Lonely Teardrops, reportedly as he mouthed the lyric My heart is crying. Much earlier a royalty dispute between his managers had led Barry Gordy to split and form Hitsville USA (Motown records). Mr. Excitement, as he was known, thrilled fans worldwide doing the splits and sip sliding across the stage while he sang R&B and soul throughout the fifties, sixties, and seventies.
Do You REALLY Know How to Tie Your Shoes?
This morning, for the fourth time, I had to interrupt my workout to re-tie my shoe. My trainer, John Zilli, joked that I was simply stalling. But not wanting to trip on my shoe laces as I headed to the treadmill, I dropped to one knee, yet again, and tied my laces.
The Rise of E-Commerce in Asia
Its no surprise that Asiahome to two of the worlds most populous countriesholds great potential for e-commerce. Much of this growth has been driven by the fact that e-commerce, particularly in India and China, has helped serve as a bridge between what people want and what people can get offline. This is especially true for those who live outside major urban areas.
Where’s Molly?
It was after midnight. While the sky was clear and the stars were sparkling, there was no moonlight as the moon was new. I walked briskly down the street, but after a long day of sales presentations and meetings, inside I was tired and dragging. On each side of me dark houses loomed. There were no street lights.
Break Away or Break Down?
After multiple weeks of travel, my family threw a trip-postponed birthday party for me Friday night, but it was really just an excuse to have a family get-together. My 92-year-old mom, brother, sister, niece and nephew were there. My wife set up the party of mostly hamburgers, ice cream and cake, with plenty of birthday cards being given.
Behavioral Finance and the Bond Market
Over the last decade the concept of behavioral finance has received increased recognition in both the academic world and with investors. Modern Portfolio Theory makes three distinct assumptions: investors are rational, markets are efficient, and expected returns are purely a function of risk. In contrast, followers of behavioral finance generally believe investors are less than perfect and subject to many emotional biases. Said differently, behavioral finance differs from traditional finance in that it focuses on how investors actually behave, rather than theorizing how they should behave.
Is This an Andy Hardy Kind of Market?
With Mickey Rooney?s death over the weekend (at age 93, after accumulating show business credits spanning 10 decades), I got to thinking about the Andy Hardy movie series that propelled Mickey at the ripe old age of 16 into stardom. In the 50?s the TV screen was awash with black and white classics of the 30?s and 40?s. Like the Great Depression generation, many of the baby boomers binged on Andy Hardy movies long before Walking Dead, Breaking Bad or House of Cards.
Asia's E-Commerce Trends
by Jerry Shih of Matthews Asia,
On a recent research trip, I went to Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Melbourne and spoke with Internet companies in industries as diverse as automotives, travel and real estate. I also met with several e-commerce companies with varying Internet penetration rates. As growth rates for new Internet users across parts of Asia level off, comparing these firms offered me an interesting glimpse into the potential opportunities and challenges facing the region's newer Internet firms.
A Slip and Fall?
Despite last week?s vernal equinox, signaling the first day of spring on Thursday, another arctic blast is hitting the Midwest yet again this week, and cabin fever has become an epidemic. So many of my friends and family are singing the same refrain; ?When will this winter be over??
Where's the Plane?
In another example of life duplicating the media, it seems like most people here and abroad have been consumed by watching a real life episode of Lost for the last week. The question of what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has quickly soared to the opening spot on all of the network news shows, much as Lost and its Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 climbed quickly to the top of the ratings. At CNN it appears that the network of late can report on nothing else!
How Can You Find an Expert Whose Decisions You Can Trust?
Recently a family member visited the doctor to determine if she needed her gall bladder removed. Since she?d been having some pain, we assumed the answer would be ?yes.? But, of course, we wanted an expert opinion, so we went to a surgeon that has done more than 6,000 removals.
Interest Rate Outlook - "Old Normal"
Contrary to a popular belief that interest rates are destined to rise significantly, at ICON we believe we may be re-entering the "old normal" where the U.S. Treasury 10-year yield remains between 2%-4% for an extended period of time. As can be seen in the following chart of interest rates since 1871, with a few exceptions this is where interest rates traded prior to the mid-1960s. From this perspective, the late 1970s appear to be unusual and the decline of the last 32 years is simply a return to normal, where rates can remain for many years in a setting of slower growth and low inflation.
Investors at the Car Wash?
It?s been a rough winter, but here in Detroit (and I suspect in your town, too, if it?s been hit by the near constant winter storms this year) you can be assured of one thing ? when the snow stops and the clouds part and sunshine floods the sparkling, newly fallen snow in the fields, while the streets, in contrast, get grayer, then black as soot as the traffic returns ? then, I will bet you, the lines will grow long at your neighborhood carwash.
Coasting?
This year in the stock market I feel that most investors (and commentators) are focusing on walking the daily, hourly and, perhaps, even second to second ups and downs of the major market indexes. They?re measuring their progress each day, like using the foot-long ruler to measure a coastline. As with most things in life, with the stock market it is often better to get a broader perspective ? see the forest not just the trees. When you do that, it?s apparent that last week was a probable turning point, or at least a notable one.
Watching the Polar Bear
With temperatures hovering around zero and wind chills in the negative teens, I cant think of any better label for Fridays stock market sell off than a "polar bear". Here in Michigan at the Detroit Zoo, one of the nations finest, we have a rather unique polar bear exhibit. Visitors to the zoo can actually walk through tunnels interspersed throughout the polar bear environment created in the exhibit. At one point you are underneath the big furry creatures as they swim about. It is a beautiful sight.
Are Stocks On Thin Ice?
I love the weather! Just as it is a reliable conversation starter (everyone has an opinion on it), it provides seemingly unlimited analogies to the financial markets for me to write about. Thats because while many attempt to forecast both, the weather and the markets are moved by an endless stream of random events.
Gaining Perspective
This weekend we were honored to have Steve Finn, the owner of our largest custodian, Trust Company of America, and his lovely wife, Kelly, join us for our annual Holiday Party (see more about the party in the "Whats Happening" section). On Sunday, at a post-party brunch, Kelly (who studied art at the International Academy of Art in Nice, France, and at the Brera Art Academy in Milan, Italy and has many years of patient craftsmanship with oil paint and easel) was telling us about how she goes about creating her exquisite paintings.
Entrepreneurship in Asia
by Jerry Shih of Matthews Asia,
Using Silicon Valley as a yardstick to measure the success of Asias entrepreneurs is an interesting exercise. But it offers little insight into the development of more creative processes in Asia. Many policymakers in the region have declared innovation to be a national, strategic prioritycreating policies aimed at spurring growth to increase R&D expenditure, attract knowledge-intensive foreign direct investment and building more skilled labor pools. This month, Jerry Shih, CFA, takes a look at what changes are occurring around Asia to build more robust start-up ecosystems.
Surviving a Road Trip
The earnings and economic news never seem to quit. And every position, and each action be it buy, sell or hold has commentators and gurus voicing an opinion on every side of the subject. For many investors, it is impossible to sort out the right direction to be heading in, let alone whether you should be on the entrance or the exit ramp for the investments making up your portfolio.
More Summer Storms?
dont know about your part of the country but I think this summer has been the wettest in some time around Detroit. We have had soooo much rain. Our Great Lakes began the year well below their long-term average depth. After months of rain, all of the Great Lakes are now above their levels from last year, and nearby Lake Ontario has gained ten inches in height in just the last month. Ontario is 11? higher than one year ago and 5? ABOVE the century average. Yet its previous below average condition had existed for years and had been worsening quite a change!
Asia's Startup Incubators
by Jerry Shih of Matthews Asia,
As some of our readers may already know, Matthews Asia is headquartered in San Francisco and just north of Silicon Valley, home to some of the worlds largest technology corporations as well as a hotbed for tech startups. The rise of Silicon Valley has been bolstered by its connections to nearby Stanford University as well as to the emergence of the areas venture capital industry on Sand Hill Road since the 1970s. This energy and entrepreneurial culture has helped create many innovative ventures that have disrupted traditional businesses.
Predictions
Last Tuesday night was a special night. I was having some out of state friends that I had not seen for over a year meet my wife and me for dinner. I picked out an outstanding restaurant with a wide deck perched on the tip of one of Michigans gorgeous fresh water lakes. I got the last table available for the 6:30 p.m. seating.
Perfect
Normally, May is a perfect time to visit New York City. The snow is gone, spring is in the air, Broadway readies for its Tony celebration, and people just seem friendlier. While there were plenty of friendly vibes from the populace when I visited on company business last week, and it is a super season on Broadway (Motown and Kinky Boots look to lead the list of new musicals they were terrific), the weather was abysmal cold and very rainy. They even had snow in parts of New York as the weekend began.
Results 51–100
of 132 found.
