Newsletter Q2 2014
/in Commentary, NewsletterWe would like to welcome former Orienteer Financial clients to Shorepoint Capital Partners, and we look forward to working with you. We are also very pleased that Brian C. Keating, CFP®, founder of Orienteer Financial, is joining the Shorepoint team as a Senior Wealth Manager. Brian brings over two decades of financial planning and investment […]
Newsletter Q1 2014
/in Commentary, NewsletterThe first quarter results broke from the steady and above average returns of 2013. As we expected, volatility increased significantly and we experienced a 6% correction in February followed by a move up to record high levels before a slight retreat at quarter-end. Volatility increased due to several concerns: Emerging markets economic slowdown and currency weakness The Federal Reserve/tapering […]
Newsletter Q4 2013
/in Commentary, Newsletter2013 was a year of tremendous resilience in domestic equity markets. The equity markets seemed to ignore the rapid rise in interest rates last spring due to the expected Federal Reserve “Fed” tapering and the government shutdown in the fall. Instead it focused on the improving, stable global economies as domestic stock markets reached record […]
Newsletter Q3 2013
/in Commentary, NewsletterDespite continued uncertainty about the health of the global economy and the future of monetary policy, U.S. stocks reached all-time highs in the third quarter before pulling back slightly in September. The market’s focus was on the Federal Reserve (“Fed”) again this quarter with the expectation that the Fed would start reducing bond purchases after […]
Newsletter Q2 2013
/in Commentary, NewsletterAs investor complacency increased throughout the second quarter, significant volatility returned by the end of the quarter to the equity, bond and commodity markets. The sell-off was prompted by the Federal Reserve’s release of their June minutes “hinting” at a possible pullback on its unprecedented low-rate policy. Especially hard hit were bonds and dividend-paying stocks. […]
Newsletter Q1 2013
/in Commentary, Newsletter2013 started where last year left off with the Dow Jones Industrial average booking its best first quarter since 1998. As pundits worried about the impending disaster of going off the “fiscal cliff”, domestic equities raced ahead to produce double-digit returns in the quarter. Mid caps (S&P Mid Cap 400 Index +13.5%) and small caps […]
Newsletter Q4 2012
/in Commentary, NewsletterIn the fourth quarter, equity markets generally finished in positive territory but retreated towards the end of December as fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington D.C. bogged down with no resolution in sight. International equity markets, developed (MSCI EAFE Index) and emerging (MSCI Emerging Market Index), had the strongest quarterly returns, up 6.6% and 5.6% respectively.
Newsletter Q3 2012
/in Commentary, NewsletterAfter experiencing a 10% correction in the second quarter, equity markets rebounded sharply and largely ignored a multitude of concerns such as the global economic slowdown, the European sovereign debt crisis and growing tension in the Middle East. The resilience in equity markets was evident as international stocks outpaced domestic stocks with developed markets +6.9% […]
Newsletter Q2 2012
/in Commentary, NewsletterAs we mentioned in the last newsletter, an unsurprising correction (a 10% drop in the S&P 500 from its 2012 highs) occurred in the second quarter. The main causes of the pullback were increasing evidence of slower global economic growth and sovereign debt concerns spreading to Spain and Italy with 15 Spanish banks downgraded recently […]
Newsletter Q1 2012
/in Commentary, NewsletterAs we have said over the past several years, we still maintain a constructive view of stocks and would pursue adding quality names possessing good balance sheets on weak overall market performance. That said, we will be carefully watching the earnings quality and margin strength during the reporting period of the upcoming weeks. We anticipate […]
Newsletter Q4 2011
/in Commentary, NewsletterAs we enter a new year, we thank you for your patience through these difficult times. We are a few years into the post-crash recovery. While it is a tepid recovery at best, this low degree makes some sense. Through debt, our country and several others have tested and explored the limitations of leverage and […]
Newsletter Q3 2011
/in Commentary, NewsletterWe expect the elevated volatility may be with us for a while – with European debt crisis, economic recession fears and the Washington D.C. stalemate and Presidential Election results. Although this will be unsettling, we believe that this will provide us with attractive investment opportunities…