CKBlog

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

2015 Market Review

As we entered 2015 we believed that the US equity markets were “fully” valued and that the European markets showed better equity values. We also believed that traditional fixed income would not be a winning investment. In addition, we believed that investors should avoid emerging markets’ debt and equities. We continued to maintain exposure to US equities principally (1) through managers who bought equities which they believed were undervalued compared to their intrinsic value (in some cases by an estimated 30%) and (2) through two proprietary strategies: (a) one of which purchases companies’ equities which are valued 25% lower than the average market price earnings ratio but have above average growth prospects; and (b) the other identifies high quality companies which have increased dividends consistently over the last 10 years. Interestingly enough, 2015 proved to be one of the “worst best” years in terms of the performance of major asset classes ...

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Topic: The Market

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Market Unrest

This past week, after moving sideways for almost six months, the world’s equity markets have plunged. Well, plunged is a bit dramatic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is “in correction,” since technically it is down over 10% since the market high in May 2015. Many other markets, especially equities in emerging markets, are down more than 10%. Volatility is up, commodities in general are down. Bonds have rallied from very low interest rates. Gold has even moved higher (a sign of market instability or possibly enhanced inflation)!

Read on: Market Unrest

Topic: The Market

Monday, January 12, 2015

2014 Market Review

It may be surprising that in a year where the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both up more than 10%, 2014 was a challenging year for the global investor.

Read on: 2014 Market Review

Topic: The Market