After a long Memorial Day weekend, investors came back to two very conflicting economic reports. First, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for March showed an average price decline in the U.S. of about 19% from a year ago. The other piece of news was the May consumer confidence report from the Conference Board. It was much better than expected with a reading of 54.9, and much of the confidence among those surveyed was about the future, not the present. (more…)

The equity markets gave back some of their gains last week, and frankly, it was about time after such an aggressive advance off of the March lows. As we suggested last week, “Neither bulls nor bears run in straight lines for too long. Eventually, they both get tired and need to catch their breath.” It seems that last week, with disappointing news on retail sales, gave the bulls that opportunity to take pause and reassess the market after such a strong advance. (more…)

When the stock markets were hitting their lows back in November and then again in March, we suggested that investors not get too carried away. Now the S&P 500 sits with a 37% gain a mere six weeks after it hit its March lows. Again, we suggest don’t get too carried away. (more…)

Our Chief Investment Officer Jonathan Scheid and I had the pleasure of enjoying dinner and a working session with one of our Investment Committee members, Dr. Harry Markowitz, last week. For readers who are unfamiliar with Dr. Markowitz, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1990 for his work on portfolio diversification. Suffice it to say, he is a very smart man, and I’m challenged every time I speak with him. (more…)