When market volatility drops to a very low level it is often difficult to evaluate the efficacy of Pinnacle portfolio construction. We think we are well diversified and that “defensive” investments will act…well….defensively. Unfortunately, when cyclical stocks take the lead as they have over the past 9 months, and when the broad market is well…
As opposed to the blissful drift higher in stocks of the past few months, over the past couple of weeks volatility has been returning to the market. There are a number of reasons why, not least of which being the unrest in the Middle East and resulting spike in oil prices.
This Friday we’ll get another addition of the monthly employment report produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that is heavily scrutinized by investors trying to gauge the pulse of whether the economy is improving or not. But the government’s report isn’t the only jobs barometer that investors watch, and today brought two employment updates…
One of my favorite analysts is Dennis Gartman, the highly regarded Editor and Publisher of the daily Gartman Letter. Here is what he had to say in his Thursday, February 24th, letter regarding oil futures:
For the past several weeks, we’ve been intending to boost risk exposures in our portfolios. In our view, the cyclical backdrop has been steadily improving (notwithstanding current geopolitical concerns), which should continue to be supportive of equities for the next few months, at least. However, given the market’s surge since late November, we’ve been patiently…
When equity markets are under selling pressure, as they have been this week, capital tries to find safe haven investments to flee to until the selling pressure eases. Over the last few years, and especially during the credit crisis of 2008, the safe haven for capital usually was the US dollar and US Treasury bonds.…
Portfolio manager John Hussman has had a tough year in his growth fund (which is a holding in three of our investment strategies), as his very cautious forecast has led him to maintain a very defensive posture by hedging his equity exposure despite a rapidly rising market. For months, he’s argued that the market is…
Pinnacle analysts do not get the luxury of taking a personal risk questionnaire to predetermine their attitudes towards risk. To be successful in professionally managing money requires the ability to determine when risk should be put “on” and when risk should be “taken off.” It is the ability to objectively determine when risk is worth…
One of the dynamics within our investment team is that people have their views, and they will not always be in harmony. This is a good thing, and balances our team, but at times it makes for difficult discussions and decisions. Currently the team is somewhat divided regarding how aggressively to position portfolios at this…
Our fearless leader, Ken, was quoted extensively in a recent column titled “A Staunch Defense of ‘Vilified’ Market Timing” that appeared in Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper. Please click here to read the article.
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