Read more about the article Mid-East: Matters of Energy
Educational Blog

Mid-East: Matters of Energy

Posted on March 3, 2011 by David Laidlaw  The political uprisings which started with the self-immolation of a Tunisian fruit vendor continue to spread throughout the Mid-East. The current scene is one of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi waging a bloody pitched battle against his own people to hold on to power.  These events have caused the price of oil to spike and the equity markets have become more volatile. We have no educated opinion regarding whether or not the political changes will lead to a more democratic Mid-East or represent the transformation from lands ruled by dictators…

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March 3, 2011
Read more about the article Unemployment Insurance
Educational Blog

Unemployment Insurance

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Ben Connard  As part of the political deal to extend the Bush tax cuts, Congress also extended unemployment benefits through 2011. State unemployment benefits usually max out at 26 weeks. The federal program extends those benefits up to 99 weeks, depending on the state’s unemployment rate. A state unemployment rate of above 8.5% allows for the maximum eligibility. Unemployment benefits are a controversial topic. No one is going to get rich collecting unemployment- the max benefit in New York is $405 a week (about $10 an hour vs. minimum wage…

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January 10, 2011
Read more about the article Municipal Bonds: Risk v. Reward
Financial Planning

Municipal Bonds: Risk v. Reward

Posted on January 10, 2011 by David Laidlaw  Municipal bonds have decreased in value substantially over the last few months.  From September 30th to the end of the year, the broad muni bond market has declined over 6% as exemplified by iShares National Muni Bond Market ETF (symbol: MUB). A 10-year municipal now yields about 3.45% which is slightly greater than the 10-Year US Treasury Note. Municipal bond yields have increased roughly 0.5% over the past 6 months. In a “normal” market, municipal bonds typically yield less than US Treasury bonds since interest from municipal bonds…

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January 10, 2011
Read more about the article Positive Momentum, Pricier Stocks
Financial Planning

Positive Momentum, Pricier Stocks

Posted on January 10, 2011 by David Laidlaw  While the markets gyrated wildly, 2010 was a good year for investors.  As illustrated in the table below, common stocks, bonds and commodities all produced solid returns. Last year, the markets started strong, faltered after European sovereigns appeared on weak footing, and surged again at the end of the year. During the second half of the year, the prospects for stocks and bonds diverged. While the initial hints of the Federal Reserve’s program to buy $600 billion worth of Treasury and Mortgaged-backed securities was greeted…

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January 10, 2011
Read more about the article 2010 Fourth Quarter
Quarterly Investment Commentary

2010 Fourth Quarter

Posted by David Tillson 2010 Fourth Quarter In Our 2009 year end letter, we wrote that we believed that the economy would continue to recover, inflation would remain low, S&P earnings would be surprisingly strong, and that the valuation of the market would remain in the 16-18x range. We were correct on the first three items, but too optimistic on the fourth as the multitude of continuing worries kept the market’s valuation in the 13-15x range for the latter part of 2010. Nevertheless, the market did generate a 15% return…

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January 1, 2011