We have written extensively about what we believe investors should look for in a business before they commit their own capital to that business.In posts such as "Beautiful Growth Companies" parts I, II, and III we explained some of the criteria we look for in determining whether a business fits our definition of a "Taylor Frigon growth company."Today...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Don't be hasty, young Jim Cramer (more on the dangers of chasing cycles and short-term performance)
On Wednesday, the frenetic CNBC host Jim Cramer suggested an investment strategy for his viewers -- buy shares of stocks held by a mutual fund whose performance is likely to attract new money, causing it to invest more money in its existing holdings and thus drive up their prices.In the video above, he says:"What should you be thinking of doing, when...
Monday, May 18, 2009
Invest like Mr. Howell
The television series Gilligan's Island ran for three seasons from 1964 through 1967 -- and for decades ever after in reruns.One thing that strikes us as money managers is the way the show's producers chose to characterize "The Millionaire" -- Thurston Howell the Third, played by the late Jim Backus.Among the many devices they used in order to set...
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Beautiful Growth Companies, part III
We have previously published many posts which attempt to convey to readers the Taylor Frigon philosophy of classic growth investment.In an effort to help readers understand what is meant by a "Taylor Frigon growth company," we have from time to time offered examples of specific companies which we own in the portfolios that we manage.For example, in...
Friday, May 08, 2009
An illuminating interview
We have mentioned the excellent economic analysis of professional economist Brian Wesbury many times before on the pages of this blog.Today, Mr. Wesbury had an illuminating interview with Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney in which he lays out some of the arguments he has been making -- going all the way back to 2008 -- that the recession was the result...
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Revisiting the "New Economy"
In just eight or ten short months -- on January 14th of next year for the Dow and on March 10th and 24th for the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500, respectively -- we will reach the tenth anniversary of the peak of the "dot-com" stock market bubble and the beginning of the spectacular collapse that followed (for a chart showing the beginning and end...
Friday, May 01, 2009
The bond market rules the world, revisited
The most recent issue of the Journal of Indexes (May/June 2009) contains an article entitled "Bonds: Why Bother?" by Robert Arnott.In it, the author compares the performance of the S&P 500 total return index over the past forty years to the return of a portfolio of a constant 20-year maturity Treasury bond. Based on the results of his comparison,...
