Letter – 2010 Q4
The S&P 500 Index began the year at 1115.10 and ended it at 1257.64, for a price gain of 12.8% and a total return of 15.1%. Your account gained 16.4% for the year. Notably, when the S&P 500 declined 16% between April
Institutional sophistication. Individual attention.
The S&P 500 Index began the year at 1115.10 and ended it at 1257.64, for a price gain of 12.8% and a total return of 15.1%. Your account gained 16.4% for the year. Notably, when the S&P 500 declined 16% between April
The market had a surprisingly good third quarter, and so did we. I say “surprisingly” because there has been widespread fear of another autumn selloff, so the market did what it does best and confounded people – this time on the upside.
In our last letter, I said: “I don’t think it is a great time to be too much further out on the risk curve.” I guess that was an understatement. But we saw clouds gathering, pulled back accordingly, and maintained investments in
I ended my letter of July 2009 by outlining an “optimistic scenario” in which the S&P 500 could return to the 1200 level. Few believed it at the time. Well, we’re almost there. A lot of people still don’t believe it –
I ended my letter of July 2009 by outlining an “optimistic scenario” in which the S&P 500 could return to the 1200 level. Few believed it at the time. Well, we’re almost there. A lot of people still don’t believe it –
Everybody wants to know whether 2010 will be as good in the financial markets as 2009. After an earthquake, the seismograph tends to have smaller oscillations up and down. A calmer market and regression toward more normal returns strikes me as the
A year ago, things were dire. Few envisioned this much of a recovery in the financial markets. Yet stocks just had their best quarter since 1998. Many people have missed good returns as the stock market has climbed the so-called wall of
Chrysler and GM bankrupt. Swine flu alarms. Socialism. North Korean and Iranian nukes. Not the sort of things that one associates with a stock market rally. But beginning in early March, rally it did. The government has been pumping money into the
Summary: We emphasized capital preservation during the extreme weakness in January and February, and gradually began to move assets back into the market in March. This resulted in both outperformance and much lower volatility. For the quarter, the total return on the
The best thing I can say about 2008 is that it is over. The second best thing I can say is that we were fairly defensive, and even though our results are disappointing in absolute terms, they are better than most broad-based