Monthly Archives: September 2015

Are we climbing the “Wall of Worry”?

Posted on by
Reply

slope of hope - wall of worry

Dear Mr. Market:

First and foremost, what is the proverbial “wall of worry”? If bad news is bad…why is it that good news (or even mildly good news) … is also perceived as being ‘bad’?

 

 

Granted, this is not always the case but it certainly is now. What is the “wall of worry”?

DEFINITION of ‘Wall Of Worry’

“The financial markets’ periodic tendency to surmount a host of negative factors and keep ascending. Wall of worry is generally used in connection with the stock markets, referring to their resilience when running into a temporary stumbling block, rather than a permanent impediment to a market advance.”

Two weeks ago we were in Chicago for discussions with analysts, economists, and elite portfolio managers. What’s interesting is that the majority of the investing public is living in fear and at their utmost pessimistic levels of recent history, yet the underlying economics and pure fundamentals of the stock market actually counter such negative and extreme doom & gloom sentiment.

Continue reading →

Is it time to take a bite out of Apple?

Posted on by
1

apple dmmDear Mr. Market:

For years the world has had a love affair with Apple (AAPL). It has become an amazing company delivering mind-boggling performance to its shareholders while creating a loyal following with its consumers. Over the last 10 years it has rewarded its investors with returns over 1,400%! As volatility has returned to the markets many are asking if this ship has sailed and whether Apple will become another technology stock of the past, replaced by the new ‘tech darlings’ of today. In our opinion… this statement couldn’t be any further from the truth. We feel that the market is presenting investors with a rare buying opportunity in a phenomenal company that is positioned to remain an industry leader for years to come.

Why is it that people want to buy a stock as it breaks all-time highs? It’s like going into your favorite retail store only on days when they announce that they have marked up all the items you wish to buy. If you were tempted to “take a bite out of the Apple” as the stock approached $140, why wouldn’t you want to buy that same company for almost $30 less per share? Did something change dramatically with the company, their management, or the competition? Continue reading →

MPG Core Tactical 60/40: August 2015 Performance Update

Posted on by
Reply

MW-BB798_sm6040_20130422180557_MDDear Mr. Market:

If you’ve never experienced a stock market correction until now (technically defined as -10% or more), you have either never invested or have only been investing since 2012. For the vast majority of others, you should know that markets “correct” on average at least once every 12-18 months. One reason why this feels worse than other corrections is because we just went 47 months without a correction of -10% or more! (third longest streak on record)

For a refresher, stock market corrections are short and sharp declines of -10% to -20%. They’re typically accompanied by sensationalized stories such as the European sovereign debt crisis, Greece’s exit from the Euro, or the “fiscal cliff”. For all those investors that ducked for cover and went to cash during the last correction you saw the Dow Jones move up over 6,000 points. Were you able to correctly “time” your reentry into the market? No…and you’re not alone. No matter what you read or hear there is not a single person or professional advisor that owns a crystal ball and can consistently time the market.

If you’re new to this monthly series…remember what we’re doing. This exercise, as we like to call it, is not an attempt to pick the best stock or “time the market”. We leave that futile task to those who own time machines and accurate crystal balls. For a refresher, see our first article on the MPG Core Tactical 60/40 Portfolio.

Here’s the current summary of the MPG Core Tactical 60/40 portfolio mix, which is updated as of this writing (September 1, 2015).

Click here to compare our portfolio against the benchmark.

From the last week in July to this writing the MPG Core Tactical 60/40 portfolio went down -4.49%. How did the rest of the markets do? Continue reading →