Luke (middle child) just finished his first basketball season a couple of weeks ago. During the games there was a flurry of activity up and down the court, but very little scoring. I find this analogous to the U.S. stock market this year. With all the (economic and political) headlines and announcements, three major U.S. stock indices (Dow Jones Industrials, S&P 500 and NASDAQ) are all just above breakeven as of the close of the market yesterday. Believe me, I truly enjoyed watching Luke play basketball and actually score. However, in the previous scenarios, it can be exciting and emotional at times, but in the end not much to record in the scorer’s column.
Separately, retailers said yesterday that store sales rose in February by the largest amount since November 2007. Also orders to U.S. factories in January posted their sharpest rise in four months. Overseas, both Greece and Spain had auctions for their respective countries five-year bonds and each was oversubscribed, with more buyers willing to buy more bonds than were put up for sale.
I find all of the above facts unexpected. First the U.S. news is surprising especially in light of the bad winter that affected a large portion of the country, which you would think would have dampened consumer spending. Also, I would not have anticipated such a strong appetite for Greek and Spanish bonds based upon all the negative news regarding their economies. This may be a sign that institutional investors are becoming somewhat more confident that these countries will find a way to turn their economies around and make good on their debt at least in the near term.
Buffettisms
“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
Warren Buffett can be controversial in many ways; however, his long-term investment results and common sense approach to investing are legendary. The following are two links to short articles where he shares some of his thoughts and insights that you may find of interest:
What you need to know about social security
The following is a link to a Kiplinger Magazine article on five interesting facts regarding social security benefits:
http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/what-you-need-to-know-about-social-security.html
Old habits die hard
South Koreans were told for decades to sacrifice everything to build the country’s economy, and it resulted in them becoming a nation of workaholics. In 2007 South Koreans worked an average of 2,316 hours versus 1,794 in the U.S. The situation has come to a point that the government issued a directive this year for workers to submit plans to their bosses to take 16 days off this year.
As admirable as the country’s work ethic is, South Korea’s productivity ranks below most other developed countries. As such, some executives believe that workers may need time off to recharge their batteries and spur creativity. Reminds you of the old nursery rhyme, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” and a burned out and less productive worker.
Quotes
“Sooner or later, we’re all going to let somebody down. We’re all going to screw up. But life is about how you come back from it, how you learn from it, and how you use it to make yourself a better, stronger person.”
Matthew J. Darnell, sports columnist
“If you don’t distinguish yourself from the crowd, you’ll just be the crowd.”
Rebecca Mark, executive
“Confidence is keeping your chin up; overconfidence is sticking your neck out.”
Author unknown
“The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”
Author Unknown
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.
If you enjoy the commentary and believe others may benefit or find it of interest, please feel free to forward it on. Also, interested individuals can contact us, and we will be happy to add them to our mailing list.
