The Harvester – Winter 2007/2008
“Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time” – Aristotle There is one thing that is consistent about the markets; people forget the pain and agony of past bubbles only to create new bubbles. Does anyone remember the mid-80’s when many people were concerned […]
The Harvester – Fall 2007
“May You Live in Interesting Times” – Unknown Author To say the last few months have been interesting is an understatement. Even though the stock market today is pretty much where it was at the end of June, the ride has been bumpy. The primary cause of this volatility was the meltdown of the sub-prime […]
The Harvester – Summer 2007
Half-Time Report With the stock market recently reaching new highs (THOR clients were at new highs back in May of 2003!), we thought it would be a good time to take a step back and review what THOR’s expectations were for 2007 and where we are today. In our newsletter dated December 21, 2006, we […]
The Harvester – Spring 2007
“If you lend money to someone who doesn’t qualify to borrow money in the first place, why the surprise when they don’t pay?” – Ed Yardeni, economist Ed’s recent quote about mortgage lenders hits the nail on the head. The financial media recently has been full of stories about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. […]
The Harvester – Winter 2006/2007
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy As in 1994, when the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, this past election was a peaceful revolution with opposite results – the Democrats took control of the House and the Senate. During the campaign, there was quite […]
The Harvester – Fall 2006
“For mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge. But for the security of the future, I would do everything.” – James Abram Garfield Given the three dollar per gallon gas prices we saw earlier this year, who would have thought we would ever see a gallon […]
The Harvester – Summer 2006
“Nothing Endures but Change” – Heraclitus This is always true when talking about the U.S. tax code. Life would be so much simpler (and our newsletters would be more entertaining!!) if Congress just implemented a flat or sales tax. Instead, they tinker with the tax code to gain political advantage. And now we must write […]
The Harvester – Spring 2006
“Be not the first by whom the new are tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside!” – Alexander Pope A new tax-free retirement plan became available on January 1 of this year. On that date and at any time thereafter – but before December 31, 2010 when the provision enacting the Roth […]
The Harvester – Fall 2005
“The market is like a beautiful woman – always fascinating, always mystifying.” – Edward Johnson III We concur with this statement. The investment arena is a great area for analysis by psychologists. Time and time again, people let their emotions dictate their investment decisions. Our experience shows us that this leads to poor investment decisions […]
The Harvester – Spring 2002
“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence” – Abigail Adams It was in January of 2000 when our UPS deliveryman told us it was his last day on the job (he had 9 years under his belt at UPS). He quit because he was […]