Brexit Referendum: The Day After!
After a late night of watching the Brexit referendum on BBC and the wild fluctuations in the Asian and US futures market, we wanted to express our thoughts: In the last week we saw the British pound rise only to collapse 8% so far this morning. This says to me there were some big winners […]
Thoughts from the front line!
We just returned from the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago today and wanted to share some thoughts from the conference. The most interesting discussions focused on what foreign investors are doing now because of negative interest rates around the globe. Many foreign investors (especially foreign insurance companies) are looking to buy higher yielding US investments. […]
The Federal Reserve has to raise rates – here is why!
The financial press loves to talk about whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in June, July or later this year. We think they will raise rates one more time either this month or next month. Why? Because they have to in order to save the money market industry. If you recall, we were […]
Optimism/Pessimism – Which is best in investing?
We have heard on occasion that THOR is not “optimistic” enough. From an investment standpoint, whether you’re optimistic or pessimistic is irrelevant. What is relevant is valuation – the price you pay for a security. When managing your money, our job is to be a realist and use common sense and not be emotional. We […]
Janet Yellen – The New “Candy Man”
Who can take a sunrise Sprinkle it with dew Cover it in chocolate And a miracle or two Janet Yellen (The candy man) Janet Yellen can (The candy man can) Janet Yellen can cause’ she Mixes it with free cash and Makes the world taste good The stock market has rebounded from its February lows […]
The Earnings Game Companies Play
If anyone watches CNBC, they will constantly hear that a company earned a certain number less “ex” one time charges. When they say that, CNBC is reporting earnings on what is called a “pro forma” basis. This is different than the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) rules for reporting financial information. Not only do pro […]
Is Gold the Answer to Negative Interest Rates?
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen in her recent address to Congress mentioned that negative interest rates are on the table. These comments come after the Federal Reserve, in January, asked US banks to stress test for negative interest rates. We believe this potential adjustment to interest rates by the Fed, along with moves by other […]
Thoughts on Current Stock Market Turmoil
With today’s stock market decline, many stocks and market indexes have lost all the gains achieved over the past few years. Some high growth areas like Biotech are down significantly (-30%) this year. In addition, volatility in 2015 and in the early part of 2016 has definitely come to the forefront as the Federal Reserve […]
Our Final Note on the Euro
About 3 years ago, we started writing about our concerns within Europe. At that time, we took a short position in the Euro given the myriad of problems we thought Europe was facing. Ten years ago, it would have been very difficult for individual investors to make money on the currency markets. However, with the […]
High Yield Bonds – The Canary in the Coal Mine?
High Yield Bonds – The Canary in the Coal Mine? The high yield bond market has shown continued weakness over the past six months. As an example, take a look at the pricing chart below for HYG, a popular high yield bond ETF. Part of the problem in the high yield bond market has been […]