This video has nothing to do with the economy or the markets. But you have to admit, it's alot funnier than most blog entries. Love the deer that stands up in the middle and the three monkeys in the background.read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
Rays of Sunshine?
A stronger durable goods order number this morning and an uptick in consumer confidence suggest that second quarter GDP may be as high as 2-2.5%, a considerable distance from recessionary levels. While the tax reba...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Connie Schultz vs Yours Truly
Over the past few days, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Connie Schultz has spoken harshly of the restaurant industrys' apparent practice of deducting a portion of the credit card transaction processing fee for custome...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Thoughts on Earnings Season
Earnings season is upon us. It is always one of the more stressful periods of time in the business. Not because we don't have a good feel for how our companies are likely to do, but because we don't know what the s...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
The Coincidence of sub $130 oil
I find it interesting to note that when regulators decided to abolish the naked short selling rules two days ago on financials these stocks started to tear upwards while at the same time the price of oil began to c...read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
Oil, Inflation and Wells Fargo
The markets are enjoying a solid rally today, with the S&P 500 and Russell 1000 Growth indices both up more than 1%. Of course, given the volatility of late, this could all change in a matter of seconds or by the t...read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
Ugly Days, Springboards, and Silver Linings
On July 9th, the S&P 500 declined into official bear market territory, falling by twenty percent from the prior highs achieved in October of 2007. Make no mistake about it, these have been ugly days, perhaps far ug...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Making the Trade, Cooperstown and Broken Foots
The Indians lost their star pitcher, 2007 Cy Young winner CC Sabathia, trading him for four minor league ball players. While this move was widely anticipated over much of the past year, the drama has finally drawn ...read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
All Hail the Vespa
The market was trounced today and the action was odd. The S&P 500, oil and Research in Motion dominated the headlines as anxiety levels were heightened by price levels that flirted with recent support and resistanc...read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
American Baseball, American Oil
American Baseball. On Friday, my family and I will be heading to Cooperstown, New York, where my twelve year old son Pete and the Hudson Hurricanes will spend the week playing baseball with some 150 other teams fro...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Personal Reflections on Health Insurance
Since starting Broadleaf Partners three years ago, I have purchased a high-deductible health insurance plan that covers my family of five. My premiums have been running roughly $400 per month, but I also have to co...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
The World's Greatest Athlete
Perhaps because of Tiger's outstanding victory under pain earlier in the week, both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have published fascinating articles in recent days on who might be considered the W...read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
Time to Buy Financials?
Normally, I don't post more than three or four entries per week and almost never post more than a single entry per day. I also usually like to focus on a single subject of conversation in most of our blog entries. ...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Fulcrums and Flashpoints
To a great extent, the market's balance in the shorter term rests on a fulcrum represented by the price of a barrel of oil. If oil prices break out yet again to the upside, it becomes very difficult to envision any...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Classic Rock and The Economy
If you're a middle aged credit manager working for Home Depot, what might be your next career? How about touring as the new lead singer of classic rock group Boston? While it may seem a bit far-fetched, that's exac...read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
Full Counts and Double Plays
Yesterday was a tough day for the markets. As the S&P 500 slipped below recent technical support levels, stocks accelerated to the downside as higher oil and commodity prices gave rise to talk that the Fed may need...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Falling from Grace, Job Loss, and War
Over the last few days, a number of thought provoking datapoints came across my desk. I thought I'd share, for what it's worth. Financials' Fall from Grace. Consistent with the behavior of other sectors suffering f...read more
blogInstitutional Investment Management
/
Admin
Oil and Unemployment
Oil is surging $6 this morning after another strong run yesterday. It is hard to say why it is moving up again after falling back off its highs over the last couple weeks, but again, it isn't unusual. If I had to g...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Dollar Comments, the End of a Speculative Trade, and Ties in the Workplace
Yesterday, Bernanke mentioned the dollar in the context of a discussion on inflationary pressures. Historically, he hasn't said much about the dollar so these comments are being met with great interest on the stree...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
CNBC Appearance: The Commodities Debate
A blog entry we posted last week caught the eyes of CNBC's producers and they asked us to appear in a debate regarding the direction of commodity prices this morning, June 3rd. If you missed the interview, you shou...read more
blogWealth Management
/
Admin
Where There is Smoke...
The biggest news of the day or perhaps yesterday, was that the CFTC will begin taking a closer look at the commodity exchanges to see if there have been any improprieties behind the massive increases in the price o...read more
