Insights on markets, emergent trends, history, innovation, risk management, global economics, strategy, policy, and other topics that catch our attention. Inspired by ongoing research, conversations and events. Written and edited by Osbon Capital Management and published every Thursday morning.
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Too much time is spent talking about price. Fundamentals are ultimately what drive equity prices higher over time. To say this another way, a company’s stock price can’t continue to rise unless it continues to be successful. The famous quote by Warren Buffett is, “In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run (...)
Set it and forget it?
Finally, investing is fun again. The stock market is up more than 100 percent over the last four years. Bonds continue their 30-year record of positive returns. Gold’s been on a long winning streak and real estate is back on the rise. As the good times just keep rolling along, is it time to “set it and forget it” with…
Small changes, big impact
Does one percent matter? If you’re watching the balance in your portfolio for one year, the difference between an eight percent return and a seven percent return can be a fair amount of money, but won’t really change your life. But maintain that difference for a generation and the impact will really get your attention. Let’s let the numbers speak…
Why do asset allocations change?
Good question, and one asked recently by a potential client. When should asset allocations change in a portfolio? The when, why and how of allocation changes should be as transparent as indexing itself, and it is. When life changes Although it can be tempting to tinker with asset allocations to try to outsmart the markets, there are really only two…
Year 5: Buffett leads in wager against hedge funds
Five years ago Warren Buffett made a big bet, not to enrich himself, but to prove a point. He wagered that an unmanaged S&P 500 index fund would outperform hedge funds handpicked by the Wall Street firm Protége Partners. We’re now at the halfway point in the 10-year bet and Buffett is in the lead. The score at halftime: Buffett…
Team Osbon prepares for The RBC Decathlon
Family, philanthropy, and fitness are all great passions for me. So when registration opened for a fantastic event that combines all three, I was at the front of the sign-up line. On July 28 this summer, my son Max and I will throw ourselves into The RBC Decathlon, where we’ll compete in ten athletic events while raising money for the…
2012: Despite the headlines, a strong year
Fiscal cliff, high unemployment, euro crisis, stalled economy, divisive election, Congressional gridlock, US debt downgrade, nuclear threat. If you watched the news in 2012, you’d be convinced it was a dismal year for the markets. But it wasn’t. Quite the contrary. The investment performance numbers are in for 2012, and they tell a far better story than you might think….
Fidelity joins index club?
What’s this? Fidelity, one the largest active investment management companies has index investments? It sure does. Fidelity’s Spartan 500 Index fund, with $48 billion in assets under management, is the flagship in the Spartan family of 14 index mutual funds. What’s going on? Is Fidelity going passive? The fund war – fight or join Fidelity, which built its business on stock-picking for…
Lifetime employment
Some people want to work forever. I’m one of them. In investment management, a field where jumping from firm to firm in search of higher compensation is the accepted norm, lifetime employment is the rare exception. With all my job changes behind me, I intend to spend the rest of my career working hard at Osbon Capital. I think that’s…
Let’s do something. Now.
We all feel grief and despair and perhaps helplessness in the wake the Newtown massacre last week. How can these mass slaughters happen, over and over again? How bad will the next one be? What can be done? Anything? For me, it’s finally time to start talking and start acting. Silence is not a solution I guess this one finally…
