Investor's Manifesto

While I generally don't recommend putting much credence in the personal finance magazines, I recently read a piece in  the June issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that is worthy of note. This issue carries a column by Knight Kiplinger  titled An Investor's Manifesto. There are 20 short statements followed by a few words of commentary. I can't find a single one that is not totally correct and on point. Bravo!

The first of the 20 is "I am an investor. I do not trade my assets frequently .That's speculation,not investing." Another of my favorites is "I regard my home as a place to live,not as an investment. It is not a substitute for retirement savings." 

The piece can be found at www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2009/06/knight_kiplinger.html 

April Rally

The broad stock market rally during April goes in the books as the best since March 2000. The S&P 500 posted almost a 10% increase for the month . Small stocks led by U.S. Small Value gained almost 19% for the month!

As you know, our investment philosophy is not dependent on correctly predicting the economy or the markets in the short run.  That is in the main a fools game. Rather the strategy is dependent on your particular goals and the commensurate returns and risk levels needed to fund them. At times of market stress charlatans of various stripes come out of the woodwork promising above market returns without market risk. As one of our colleagues likes to say " you have to be in...to be in. " That is, you have to be in the market to obtain market returns. 

The now 7 week old (or young) rally now tops 30% for the broad market. The "better bad news" as some have put it may be generating a more positive tenor to the economy and markets. At the very least it is good to be rewarded for discipline and patience.