I recently returned from Edinburgh, Scotland where I had the honor of representing the CFA Society of Detroit at the CFA Institute Annual Conference and Strategic Leadership Retreat. I was joined by my Sigma colleagues Denise Farkas, Bob Bilkie, and Shari Bilkie. While in Edinburgh, Denise was presented with the Special Service Award. This award … Continued

On behalf of all of us at Sigma, we would like to extend our best wishes in this blog for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. We are reasonably constructive on the global and US economic outlook for 2011, expecting further moderate growth. We are mindful of the fact that common stock prices have … Continued

As a former professional baseball player, it appears appropriate to me to take my “portfolio managers” hat off and turn it around and attempt to be the General Manager for the Detroit Tigers in analyzing where the Tigers were a year ago versus where they are today, given the announcement of recent trades and some … Continued

Thanksgiving has always been my most favorite holiday. I have many childhood memories waiting downtown Detroit for Santa to appear on Woodward. My Dad and Uncles would wedge a wooden plank between two ladders from where my sister, cousins and I would watch the parade while drinking hot chocolate from a thermos. While the parade … Continued

There has been much discussion regarding the outflow of college graduates from Michigan. By some accounts more than half of all recent college graduates have left the state for a job. We’ve experienced it with our own family members, and have heard plenty of similar stories of our clients’ children heading to Chicago, New York, … Continued

On July 14th, we hosted a group of clients and friends at one of our favorite places, the Detroit Institute of Arts. We had the good fortune of being able to view the DIA’s current special exhibit “Through African Eyes” with a preview by curator Dr. Nii Quarcoopome. Dr. Quarcoopome gave us some perspective on … Continued

This blog has precious little to do with the economy or markets. I will start by saying that human error is present every day in markets. We sell when we should have bought or bought when we should have sold. We order too much inventory. Perfection is never guaranteed. One of my “bucket list” desires … Continued

We would like to use our blog forum today to extend a warm, and heartfelt congratulations to our colleague Marisa Lenhard, CFA for her election as the incoming President of the CFA Society of Detroit. Her acceptance speech can be accessed by clicking here – Marisa’s speech We feel strongly that any successful investment counseling … Continued