Monthly Commentaries

“Logic is the subject that’s helped me the most in picking stocks, if only because it taught me to identify the peculiar illogic of Wall Street. Wall Street thinks just as the Greeks did. The early Greeks used to sit around for days and debate how many teeth a horse has. They thought they could […]

“And the seasons they go round and round, And the painted ponies go up and down, We’re captive on the carousel of time…” Joni Mitchell, The Circle Game Russia escalates its military presence and leverages nuclear threats. The US Federal Reserve announces the pullback of its massive monetary stimulus. Tensions escalate in US-China relations, while […]

“Lions and tigers, and bears, oh my!” Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz It seems appropriate to begin with a refrain from the Wizard of Oz this month. Though public equities provide long-term investing success, this “yellow brick road” has many twists and turns to navigate, and January, as with the period between February and […]

“Dig deep, own long” Dennis Starritt, Laurus Investment Counsel Because stocks have rebounded so strongly despite the ongoing effects of the coronavirus, we’re frequently asked about the level of valuations in the market. In response, we acknowledge the words of Wharton School professor Dr. Jeremy Siegel. Siegal notes that over 90% of a stock’s worth […]

“I think you have to learn that there is a company behind every stock, and that there is only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well, or small companies grow to large companies.” Peter Lynch Truth told, there are plenty of things that keep me awake at […]

“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.” George Soros We are frequently asked why the average market capitalization of our small cap portfolio is “so high”. And our equally-frequent response is that, being long-term investors, some […]

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort” John Ruskin Last month we briefly discussed our concept of “quality investments”: well-managed businesses with reasonable growth outlooks, and the financial strength to be investible for over the intermediate or long term. While not an earthshaking concept, we were surprised by the […]

“Quality Is Job One” Ford Motor Co. Campaign (1981-1998) Market pundits have expounded upon at length that, with an anticipated a change in the economic cycle, many investors are considering a rotation out of expensive growth into value stocks to reduce potential overexposure to high-priced volatility and advantage themselves as the pandemic gradually subsides. But […]

“Tell the Wolf of Wall Street that the pigeons of San Francisco are going to eat his lunch!” Quote from a San Francisco day trader It has been an interesting beginning to 2021, as millions of amateur traders have taken on the pariah of Wall Street – short sellers – and, for the moment at […]

This month’s comment begins with another excerpt from Howard Marks, suggesting future market returns will be depressed as a result of low interest rates. While agreeing with Marks in principle, we are also aware that high quality companies have been commanding much higher valuations – a subset of the low interest rate environment. That has […]

“…the low interest rates represent the dominant characteristic of the current financial environment, creating the dominant consideration for investors: the lowest prospective returns in history.” Howard Marks, October 2020 Despite this year’s extreme volatility, the past ten years have been an extraordinary time to be an equity investor. Following the last financial crisis, investors have […]

In a recent consultant conversation, I wondered why Canadian investors had shied away from small cap strategies over the past half-decade. Three reasons, I was informed: the general move away from public markets led institutional investors to private equity investments over public small caps; performance of small cap strategies relative to large caps; and, the […]