Resources

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight,Just a few short months ago investors and consumers were feeling good, and their expectations were running high. Stock and bond returns were positive in 2024; inflation and interest rates were continuing to fall with the expectation of more declines to come; corporations reported strong fourth quarter results that generally exceeded analysts’ revenue and earnings expectations; and the economy was in the early stages of a strong technology-driven investment...

For many years now the growth and profitability of large U.S. companies has been exceptional, especially when compared to other countries around the world. Global investors have noticed as they have continued to invest large sums of capital in U.S. stocks, helping to propel many of these stocks to all-time highs. Although virtually all stock market indexes moved higher over the last two years, Large-cap U.S. stocks outperformed other indexes by a large margin making up for their losses from...

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight, Investors’ risk and return objectives vary greatly. To meet most appropriately this wide range of expected outcomes, they invest around the world across a wide range of financial and physical assets. Despite the many differences in portfolio composition and eventual results, investors share a common challenge. They all must make their investment decisions facing uncertainty. Often these decisions seem straightforward, usually it is when the future appears...

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight, Throughout the first half of 2024, the major stock indexes continued their ascent to set records late in the second quarter. Our clients’ portfolios are performing quite well this year, and we are pleased that their strong results are well above their long-term objectives. Not all investors can say the same. If they were among the underperforming crowd, it was highly likely that their portfolios had insufficient investments in the best performing sectors of...

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight,I will start by sharing some astounding statistics regarding the recent positive results from corporate dividend payments. During 2023, dividend payments from U.S. public companies reached a record $602 billion, up 5% from 2022 levels! Furthermore, globally, dividend payments rose 5% to a record $1.7 trillion! These strong trends seem likely to continue and support the case for rising stock prices. Those of you who have been reading my letters for quite some...

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight,Welcome to the New Year! We wish all of you a healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2024. All of us at Insight are so thankful for our relationship with you and the confidence and trust you place in us. We value this relationship very much. Last year was another perplexing year for investors to navigate. Interest rates rose dramatically, expectations for corporate earnings contracted, and consumer sentiment languished throughout most of the year. Investors were...

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight, The tug-of-war between Wall Street “bears” and “bulls” continues as investors react to a wide range of economic results. If the day’s reports suggest a slowing in the economy, somewhat surprisingly, stocks have tended to rise. The thinking is that if the economy is slowing then the Federal Reserve will ease their restrictive monetary stance. This would allow interest rates to move down and help the economy and corporate earnings to continue growing...

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight,Here we are mid-way through the year and our economy has so far avoided falling into the MUCH-ANTICIPATED recession, which has generally been expected now for over a year. Furthermore, much of the recent news flow indicates economic trends are now stronger than previously expected (i.e., labor, housing, and consumer markets); and, corporate profits have remained quite resilient, despite many global challenges. These trends are convincing more and more market...

Dear Clients and Friends of Insight, We began the new year with the consensus view from market participants and strategists that our economy would slow down from 2.6% growth in the fourth quarter. It would eventually turn negative in 2023, leaving the economy in a “hard landing” recession. Forecasts for Gross Domestic Product for the year were clustered between 0% and 1%. Inflation was to continue moderating, averaging around 3% for the entire year. Though with much less agreement, stock...