Good morning. The S&P reached a new record high earlier today as investors have apparently shrugged off concerns about tariffs and geopolitics and are now just focused on making money. I was listening to Bloomberg Radio while in the car yesterday (sorry I did not get the speaker’s name) and the interviewee mentioned that when new records are set … buyers seem to rush in (which is, of course, quite the opposite of “buy low, sell high”) and FOMO (“Fear of Missing Out’) takes hold … while an old Wall-Street saying of “trees don’t grow to the sky” is only mentioned in whispers. What is interesting is that even with a great deal of administration bashing (as “ridicule” is not a nice word), the Fed appears to remain on pause as Associated Press reports spending is starting to slow … while prices have ticked higher … putting the Fed in a precarious spot … as the group weighs the effect lowering rates will have on inflation. I mentioned my drive and listening to the radio. Well, I went to Charlottesville this past weekend as it was a sort of “alumni weekend” for CFA exam graders. Passing the difficult exam, which leads to the CFA designation, is seen by many as an important step to an investment analyst’s career and quite a few of us would actually hand-grade … in person … the essays for the final level of the exam. Thanks to technology, physically sitting down and reading scribbly answers written in books is no longer necessary, but doing this for so many years (typically 2 weeks every summer) … allowed for many friendships to form. I mean … sitting for 13 sessions would mean being in C’Ville for 26 weeks (half of a year) … and most of the people I was with had performed the task for 20-30 grading sessions (I am seen as still a rookie at 19). While I often applaud technology as a good thing … having things go remote (both at work and with things like this) does have its downside … as Zoom can never replace the warmth of smile that is close-up. As a final topic for today, it seems the Administration does not mind the dollar going down a bit, as it makes exports “cheaper” … but there has been another effect … as it helped some foreign markets (thanks, in part, to a currency effect). I just looked at what someone posted on LinkedIn as saw that, while the U.S. stocks are hitting new highs … some foreign ETFS have more than TRIPLED the return of the S&P … including ETFs focused on Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and … yes … even Israel, Mexico and China! For years it seemed the U.S. was the only game in town regarding investing. This might, quite obviously, no longer be the case. I was going to take a class on Geography once … but changed my mind … as it was held outdoors … … and it was beginning terrain. Have a great day, Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com
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