When companies have excess cash on their balance sheet, they have a few buckets they can allocate towards. However as it relates to sharing that cash with stockholders, it all comes down to buybacks and dividends. Whereas companies have long returned cash to shareholders, momentum shifted earlier this decade towards share repurchases with corporate America … Continued
The unexpected victory of Donald Trump has been a reminder of the growing dissatisfaction many Americans have with the political establishment of this country. Even though we can look to history, which tells us elections and presidents don’t typically have a lasting impact on financial markets, many are questioning whether it will be different this … Continued
These were the three topics most of us were raised to believe should never be a part of polite conversation, but with a hard fought and contentious presidential election campaign just weeks away from completion, such taboo subjects are inevitably top of mind for many investors. And while every presidential cycle tests our emotions, particularly … Continued
The third quarter marked one of the least volatile market environments since 1971 as the S&P 500 did not move over 1% from close-to-close for 43 consecutive days. Few would have predicted such an outcome given Great Britain’s vote to leave the European Union two weeks before the quarter began, sparking a brief pullback and … Continued
It has been a tough couple of years for the hedge fund industry. The HFR Global Hedge Fund Index showed returns of -0.6% in 2014, -3.6% in 2015, and +0.8% through 8/31 of this year significantly underperforming the S&P 500 which returned +13.7%, +1.4%, and +7.8% during the same periods. This was not a case … Continued
Whether it’s the EU, ECB, FED, NAFTA, TPP, WTO, IMF, QE, ZIRP or now NIRP … the whole alphabet soup of established economic policy and international free trade seems to have come under intense scrutiny this year. While our own domestic election year politicking certainly plays an inflammatory role, we are struck by the far-reaching … Continued
When the Federal Reserve ended its stimulative bond buying program, commonly known as “Quantitative Easing”, some investors questioned whether the U.S. economy would be able to support itself without additional stimulus. Since that time, the economy has continued to grow, albeit at a slow pace, and global equity markets have slogged through a volatile period … Continued
A growing topic of conversation amongst many investors is how to properly think about their investment performance within context of the current environment of historically low interest rates and persistently low inflation. To answer that question, it is helpful to look back at the last forty years of history and incorporate that period’s steady decline … Continued
The British Are Leaving! The British Are Leaving! Following months of debate on the potential impact and ramifications of membership in the European Union, the people of the United Kingdom voted last night to ‘leave’ in a historic referendum. Global markets have responded significantly to the downside, a move exacerbated by poorly interpreted polling data … Continued
The decade leading up to the Great Depression was a period of significant technological advancement, broad cultural achievement and well-documented economic prosperity. Often overlooked, however, was that it was also a period of deep grief in the wake of World War I, the greatest trauma the world had known up until that moment. This unique combination … Continued