Key Questions for the Long-Term Investor

By James McFarland, Senior Portfolio Manager. We strongly believe that focusing on what you can control can lead to a better investment experience. And whether you’ve been investing for decades or just getting started, at some point, you’ll likely ask yourself some of the questions below. Trying to answer them may be intimidating, but know…

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Stock Market Volatility

By Chris Perras, CFA, Chief Investment Officer. Investing requires patience and discipline, yet flexibility.  Volatility returned to the markets in 2018 as the Federal Reserve ramped up its interest rate increases and tightened monetary policy from late January through mid-December.   In the public investment markets, volatility is a given.  Volatility is not a four-letter word! …

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Stock Market Cycles – Bulls, Bears, Corrections, Oh My!

by Chris Perras, CFA, Chief Investment Officer. The financial press is constantly using terms such as “bull market”, “bear market”, “market correction”, and “recession”.  What do these terms mean, what characteristics do they hold for the asset prices, and most importantly, what do they mean for your portfolio? Overview: Bull versus Bear Markets The term…

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Stock Returns – Earnings Growth, Price/Earnings Ratio, and Dividends

by Chris Perras, CFA, Chief Investment Officer. There are three components of equity market returns over time.  They are 1) a company’s growth in earnings and free cash flow, 2) the change in valuation an investor pays for those earnings and free cash flow over time (P/E ratio), and 3) the dividend yield on a…

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Tuning Out the Noise

by James McFarland, Senior Portfolio Manager. For investors, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the relentless stream of information in the media. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of noise out there, and when talking head on TV are shouting non-stop, it can be easy to lose sight of your long-term investment goals.…

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The Power of Markets

charter financial analyst

by James McFarland, Senior Portfolio Manager. In 1958, economist Leonard Read published an essay entitled “I, Pencil: My Family Tree as Told to Leonard E. Read.” The essay, narrated from the point of view of a pencil, describes the “complex combination of miracles” necessary to create the commonplace writing tool that has been used for…

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