Investment Management

A Sample Of One – Politics and Investing

What The Markets Don’t Care About

Oct 2, 2019 - John Osbon ( 6 mins to read)

For the second time in twenty years, talk of impeachment is in the air. Like last time, impeachment probably will happen, likely followed quickly by acquittal. The whole show could be over by the end of the year, according to the Speaker of the House. The markets have greeted this news with a giant yawn. Why isn't impeachment more of an event for markets? What are markets saying about the curre...

Investment Anniversaries: What We Can Learn from Historic Days

Sep 18, 2019 - John Osbon ( 4 mins to read)

Not all investment days are created equal. There’s something about the start of Fall today that brings anniversaries to mind. Many people believe August, September and October are cursed times to invest, that stock plunges are inevitable and imminent. A closer look shows that important anniversaries are spread randomly throughout the year; surges and crashes know no calendar. Let’s take a close...

Financial Repair Continues

It's Fannie and Freddie's Turn

Sep 11, 2019 - Max Osbon ( 4 mins to read)

Our two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been in the news this month with positive comments. Their stocks and other securities have responded with a sharp jump, indicating hope that we will return to a healthy mortgage market and get the government largely out of the mortgage business. The securities are officially worthless but speculators are betting that they will be worth a...

Stocks Are Alive and Kicking

Investors Can Keep Investing in Stocks

Aug 19, 2019 - John Osbon ( 5 mins to read)

Forty years ago a Business Week cover story announced the "Death of Equities." The Dow was at 867. In the years since, as the Dow has risen 30x, we’ve seen other forecasts for the tragic demise of stocks, all wrong. In 1979, the doomsayers pointed to inflation and high taxes as the forces that would kill stocks. Healthy skepticism is valuable but consuming too much media-driven skepticism can h...

Look at What They Do, Not What They Say

Positive news out of Congress contrary to the major headlines

Aug 6, 2019 - John Osbon ( 5 mins to read)

One piece of good news got buried in last week’s falling stock prices and the rush to safety in the bond market. This Bloomberg headline from last Friday says it best: Trump Has Signed Budget and Debt-Limit Legislation. Why is this such good news and what impact does it have on your financial and investment life? Aside from the messy political rhetoric, here’s what happened and here’s how we ca...

Too Concentrated in One Stock?

Advantages For Holders Of Large Single Positions

Jul 16, 2019 - John Osbon ( 1 minute to read)

***We took this article off of the public site because it discusses a partnership structure. It's a valuable topic, however, the partnership this article alludes to is not allowed to advertise. Their legal team asked us to take it down for their own compliance purposes.*** Please contact us directly if you have any questions. - Osbon Capital Management  

Productivity Part Two

The US economy is growing steadily

Jun 26, 2019 - John Osbon ( 6 mins to read)

Last week Max Osbon wrote about the coming productivity surge. This week I am going to write about how good our current productivity is and the key productivity dates coming this Summer. Three days in July might reveal how productivity and the US economy are doing much better than the conventional wisdom believes. At Osbon Capital we are looking at the market reaction ahead of time rather than ...

The Hidden Productivity Boom

Jun 19, 2019 - Max Osbon ( 6 mins to read)

GDP growth is the clearest sign of a healthy economy, however it is difficult to grow GDP without population growth and productivity gains. With improving productivity, more people can do more things in less time and for less money. There are two kinds of productivity: labor and multi-factor. We need both kinds to grow. Both are thought to be at their limits now. The reality is quite different....

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Regulation is even harder

Jun 11, 2019 - John Osbon ( 6 mins to read)

Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren fired the first shot across the tech bow with a call on March 8th to "break up big tech." On June 3rd, the government entered the fray, announcing antitrust investigations into Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. Microsoft, the biggest tech company by market value, was a conspicuous non-mention. The four stocks had mixed price results from dow...