Industry sales of light vehicles increased 13.4% to 14.5 million units compared to 12.8 million in 2011. By any measure, this represented another year of strong recovery and was certainly a key factor in providing additional employment at both the OEM and supplier levels. Industry observers are expecting further gains in 2013. Rising sales also … Continued
Thomas Friedman, columnist for the New York Times, wrote an outstanding editorial, “More Risk-Taking, Less Poll-Taking”, in yesterday’s paper. The concluding paragraph, cited below, sums up the gist of the article and is worth reading and contemplating at length. Much wisdom regarding the improvement in our country’s fortunes rests in these words. ‘Obama has spent … Continued
While there is considerable disagreement as to how to address debt, taxes, spending and all of the other components of the “fiscal cliff”, there is a significant consensus supporting the idea that a growing economy would make finding solutions easier. There also seems to be general agreement that unemployment is a real problem. In other … Continued
After reading Bob Bilkie’s blog, “Again, “It’s the economy, stupid.”, I was inspired to do more research into the most recent election results. Bob’s blog made the argument that Republicans gained in numbers at the state level where they may have been more concerned about fiscal issues, but voted based on social issues at the … Continued
I can already hear my colleagues saying “non-partisan, yeah really?” Maybe they are right, but you should wait until the end. Partisanship, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I believe that we can all agree that the initial introduction of the fiscal cliff represented an effort to address the significant spread between … Continued
On December 11, 2012, Michigan became the 24th state to pass right-to-work legislation. On the surface, I support the legislation on the grounds that I believe less government is good and it gives power back to the individual. However, I also see the benefit of collective bargaining. For example, in circumstances where employees feel that … Continued
This is a business blog. I know. Stay on message. Know the boundaries. Alas, I cannot help myself. What happened in Connecticut this past Friday is so sacred that I fear I defile the angels just by mention. At services this weekend, I noted how our priest struggled with the issue, sighing that he spent … Continued
Nearly every trading day, some company announces operating results or other news that seem to differ markedly from consensus estimates or market expectations. This generally results in a sharp, virtually instantaneous swing in share prices. If the news is disappointing, there is often an immediate 5-10% drop in prices and if the news is good, … Continued
In intellectually preparing for a meeting with a prospective new client today, I was silently rehearsing my discussion points. I noted that clients must understand our “investment process” in order to support our efforts on their behalf. In that regard, I determined that it is best to reverse engineer the algorithm for our process and … Continued
From a macro perspective “follow the money” is a pretty good way to predict human behavior and an excellent way to explain human behavior. Right now market moves depend on which elected official, from which party, framed by which commentator, from which media outlet has just hit the air waves. Hence, last week we saw … Continued
I recently received a call from a client expressing concern about the outcome of the recent United States presidential election. And the fiscal cliff. And the problems in Europe. Etc. He feared that the outlook may have dimmed for investors in common stocks. As is often the case during emotionally charged periods, his suggestion was … Continued
“You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and … Continued
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