It has often been said that financial markets are an ongoing social experiment pitting fear against greed. As we reflect on the first quarter of 2008, it’s hard to disguise the fact that global markets remain in a season of unrest. In such times, it’s easy for a crisis of confidence to emerge that overshadows sound long-term thinking. To appease… Read More

The year that was 2007 is now one for the history books. To summarize, equities (represented by the S&P 500) finished this past year with a total return of 5.5%, while fixed income securities (as measured by the Lehman Aggregate Bond Index) gained a more impressive 7.0%. Interestingly, this was only the 8th time since 1900 (the beginning of our… Read More

As the third quarter began, investors seemed content watching both the Dow and the S&P 500 establish new alltime highs on the back of “merger mania”. The financial press seemed to cover this story almost point by point as major trading milestones were approached. However, by the middle of July, this attitude of passive optimism was overcome by the realization… Read More