By Ned MONTAG, CEO Many activities in the natural world are strongly influenced by cycles, primarily the 24-hour and 365-day intervals. Pick a date well into the future, ask a naturalist to predict the behavior of the plants and animals … Read More
Through September 30th, the returns for the various indices are as follows: As the market returns did weaken for the quarter, the major indices are still on the positive side for the year. In general, stock investors weren’t happy with … Read More
by CHRISTINE R. QUILLIAN, CFA, CFP® Finance 101 teaches us that higher interest rates (borrowing costs) should result in lower stock prices. Loftier yields are viewed as a double headwind for stocks: first, higher financing costs hurt earnings by … Read More
by Ned Montag, CEO Mark Twain has many great quotes. Among them is: “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Twain knew that mathematically accurate numbers could give false impressions, either on their own or by a clever soul … Read More
Let’s begin by noting the 2023 second quarter market numbers, as of the quarter’s close of June 30th. An especially revealing statistic was the FANG+ index (Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google, and other tech/growth bellwethers) which was up over 70% … Read More
by Olga Lee, CFA, Portfolio Manager The 2023 stock market started strong with most equity markets up as investors cheered that the end to the Fed tightening cycle was in sight. January and February were up across most indices. However, … Read More
Let’s begin by noting the 2023 first quarter’s market numbers, as of the quarter’s close of March 31st: Equity Investors — A Focus on Earnings Growth The stock market displayed resilience in the first quarter of 2023 even … Read More
by Randy Loving, CFA, MONTAG Portfolio Manager Historically how the Fed impacts the banking industry The Federal Reserve started raising rates on March 17th of 2022. Historically, there is a one-year lag between a change in monetary policy and … Read More
Date: March 14, 2023 From: MONTAG Staff MONTAG staff worked through the weekend to determine possible fallout and client impact from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (Ticker: SIVB). We want to share with clients and others what we consider … Read More
by: Benjamin Harris, CFA, Portfolio Manager Last year, US stocks had their worst calendar year return since the Great Recession year of 2008 and the 7th worst year in the last 97 years. This follows 2021, when U.S. stocks … Read More