Instead of drawing from the latest headlines on the current state of the economy or stock market, I am providing some longer term perspectives from professionals whom I admire.
“Come 2010, only 16 cents of every dollar of global economic growth will come from the U.S., nearly half the level of 1980. While GDP is tied to the American consumer, S&P profits are boosted just as much by corporate spending and overseas growth.”
– Kopin Tan, Barron’s, December 19, 2009
“Advocates of the new normal cite the large U.S. indebtedness as one of the factors behind slow future growth. However, there’s a vast cache of unused purchasing power in the rapidly growing middle classes in emerging economies, especially India and China. These rising middle classes represent the largest untapped markets the world has ever known and will drive demand in the next decade. And they want quality goods and brand names that are produced by firms based in the U.S.”
– Jeremy J. Siegel, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, December 2009
“What do you think the best year for the market has been since 1942? The answer is 1954. In 1954, the Dow, counting dividends, was up 50%. Now if you look at 1954, we were in a recession a good bit of that time. The recession started in July of 1953. Unemployment peaked in September of 1954. So until November of 1954 you hadn’t seen an uptick in the employment figure. And the employment figure more than doubled during that period. It was the best year there was for the market. So it’s a terrible mistake to look at what’s going on in the economy today and then decide whether to buy or sell stocks based on it.”
– Warren Buffett, CNBC Town Hall Event at Columbia University, November 12, 2009
“Don’t run with the herd. Being surrounded by people who are doing the same thing as you offers a false sense of protection. Being a loner is extremely uncomfortable, but it’s far better.”
– Bob Rodriquez, First Pacific Advisors, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance November 2009
1099s
1099s (taxable accounts) and 1099Rs (retirement accounts) have gone out later this year than in the past. The IRS extended the deadline until February 15th for financial institutions to mail them out. If you have not received your tax reporting documents from TD Ameritrade, then please don’t hesitate to call the office and we can forward you a copy.
Quotes
“Income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf.”
Will Rogers, humorist
“Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.”
Sam Ewing, humorist
Tony Moeller, President
Integrity Investment Advisors
12721 Metcalf, #202
Overland Park, KS 66213
tmoeller@iia-kc.com
913-897-2074
The information listed in this commentary is a compilation of various publicly available sources and is for informational purposes only. It is not a recommendation or solicitation of any particular investment or strategy. A risk of loss is involved with investments in the stock and bond markets.
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