Last week’s temporary resolution that saw the debt ceiling raised and government employees return to work has not done much to clear up the uncertainty around the economy and the stock market. Many data reports were delayed during the shutdown. Data releases should start trickling out this week, but it will likely take several weeks […]
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Thoughts on the Government Shutdown
Although it’s already been nearly a week since the Federal government shutdown, Congress seems no closer to reaching an agreement. In our view, it seems most likely that a comprehensive agreement will be reached in advance of the October 17 debt ceiling deadline. Press reports continue to indicate that both sides are interested in dealing […]
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Increased Oil Production Does Not Necessarily Lead To Lower Oil Prices
Headlines about growing US crude oil production have been in the news a lot lately. In its annual statistical review, BP reported that US oil output surged 14% in 2012. The million barrel-per-day jump in output was the largest increase for any country in 2012, and the fastest single year increase in US history. According […]
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Dividends vs. Stock Repurchase
Once companies have allocated capital to maintain and grow their business, they should consider paying shareholders. They can do so via either dividends or share buybacks. When implementing our investment process, we tend to favor steadily increasing dividends over share repurchases. Unfortunately, many companies don’t consider value when they repurchase shares. When businesses are performing […]
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The Changing Dow
After the closing bell on September 20, Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard and Bank of America will be dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In what will be the biggest shake-up to the 30-stock index in nearly a decade, the three stocks will be replaced by Nike, Visa and Goldman Sachs. The changes were driven by the […]