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Broadleaf Partners' Blog

Broadleaf Partners' Blog

blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

A Tough Tape, Market Valuations, and More Thoughts on the Banks

After an extended three day weekend, the markets reopened yesterday and sold off aggressively, closing at the lowest levels since November 20th. There have been many reasons proposed for the recent declines, includ... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Stimulus?

I have been relatively quiet on the whole Stimulus debate. A client, however, forwarded the following Bloomberg article on some of the health care provisions within the plan as well as some anecdotes regarding his ... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Crying Uncle, Hot Potatoes, and Musical Chairs

After a strong showing on Monday, the markets pulled back aggressively yesterday as folks were largely disappointed by the Treasury Department's plans for helping the banking system. It was a clear case of buy the ... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Markets Making Progress on Positive Datapoints

The markets have been making some positive progress today. Each day of this troubled earnings season that goes by and we don't touch or break the November lows is a very positive and constructive sign. There have b... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

The Presidents

Over the past few days, I have been watching a history series on the American Presidents, past to present. The series, which I recorded from the History channel, covers the Presidents in order and includes commenta... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Quote of the Day

"Obama was sworn in 1.5 hours ago. Why isn't the economy better? I voted for change." - Tongue in cheek humor from a friend and Obama supporter. ***************** The markets have been selling off most of the day, ... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Nice Editorial by Colin Powell, Today's WSJ

Here is a nice editorial written by Colin Powell, in today's Wall Street Journal, just in case you missed it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Fourth Quarter Portfolio Review and Commentary

The financial markets finished 2008 on a tough note. In fact, it was the third worst year in the last century for investors. Fortunately, it won't take much to make 2009 better. For details on our portfolio's fourt... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Thoughts for 2009: CNBC Talking Points, December 29, 2008

Here are the thoughts we prepared ahead of this morning's CNBC appearance . ******* Thoughts for 2009. 2008 Destroyed Capital. 2009 Should Repair/Rebuild It. Economic Overview Unemployment will increase significant... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Ohio Proud

It will certainly be a quiet trading day on Wall Street. Other than Amazon saying they had record unit sales this holiday season, nothing else has been very newsworthy. For about every other retailer, it will certa... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Christmas Gift, 2008 Style

A friend mine has a daughter who loves horses. This year he bought her one for Christmas. Unfortunately, this is all he could afford. Down markets can be pretty tough! read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Looking Back at 2008

Each year at this time, Jeff and I like to reflect on the year that was with some hope of gleaning wisdom for use in the future. With the caveat that this unusual year was a complete and utter mess for the markets,... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Random Thoughts

The stock market has continued to rally in spite of very troubling fundamental and economic news. This is a good reminder to investors that at some point, bad news becomes priced in and we should no longer fear the... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Thanksgiving

According to a note I read yesterday, of the 11,585 U.S. and international stock mutual funds tracked by Morningstar, all but one had lost money this year. As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, this fact offers... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Technicals, Momentum and Basketball

Yesterday's decline took us down through prior support levels that had held ground on several occasions during the last month or so. In essence, we had been trading in a band with 1000 on the S&P 500 as the upside ... read more
blog Wealth
Management
Financial
Planning
 /  Admin

Time To Consider a Roth IRA Conversion?

If you have earned less than $100k in adjusted (combined if married) gross income this year and have an individual retirement account, you may want to consider converting it to a Roth IRA before year end, potential... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Unemployment, The Consumer, and the Faith of Ancients

The market has pulled back in recent days, retesting previous lows. The primary reason for the decline may likely include the worsening outlook for the US auto industry and the delay in the Treasury department's pr... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Valuations at Extremes

I am a big believer in the view that valuations are rarely a useful tool for investors except in those cases when they reach extremes. I think we are in one of these cases today. As you may recall, many technology ... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Joke

From an unnamed British trader: read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

FDR's First Inaugural Speech, March 4, 1933

Excerpts of this speech from FDR came across my desk this afternoon. Some of the points echo comments we made in yesterday's Economic Update and are in many ways exactly what the nation needs to hear from its futur... read more
blog Wealth
Management
 /  Admin

Quote of the Day, Franklin D Roosevelt, March 12th, 1933

"We have had a bad banking situation. Some of our bankers had shown themselves either incompetent or dishonest in their handling of the people’s funds. They had used the money entrusted to them in speculations and ... read more