Meta Does Not Equal Value | Financial Perspectives

The headlines last week included “Faceplant”, and “Metaflop” following Meta’s disappointing earnings and new users numbers. As interesting as the metaverse may be, it turns out investors still want real world results when it comes to their investments.

May 29, 2020 Financial Perspectives

0:55 - This Week's News
2:39 - This Week's Financial Highlights
4:36 - Why Is the Stock Market Up When the Economy Is Down?
5:12 - Stock Prices Are Forward Looking
8:06 - Average Returns After Downturns Have Been Positive

November 23, 2020 Financial Perspectives

1:13 - In the News: COVID-19 Cases, Employment Recovery
2:36 – Elections through Inaugurations
3:15 – Equity Factors: Comparison of Various Stock Indexes
5:24 – Expectations: Thinking Back to March 23, 2020

A Conversation with Award-Winning Portfolio Manager Mary Ellen Stanek | Financial Perspectives

In this week's special edition of Financial Perspectives, Kent Kramer has a conversation with 2022 Morningstar Outstanding Portfolio Manager award winner, Mary Ellen Stanek, who is managing director and co-chief investment officer of Baird. In this conversation, Kent and Mary Ellen cover everything from market history and trends to surprising interviews.

January 25, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Four years ago, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States and small company stocks went up over 20% in three months post-election. In the three months since Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, small company stocks are up over 30%. Do small company stock investors just like new Presidents?

Do Small Company Stocks Like New Presidents?

In the three months since Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, small company stocks have risen more than 30%. Four years ago, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States and small company stocks went up almost 20% in the twenty-six days surrounding the election, from November 3rd to December 9th. Do small company stock investors just like new Presidents?

April 12, 2021 Financial Perspectives

One of my favorite comedians has always been Steve Martin. One of his funnier routines was “let’s get small.” Lately small company stocks have been outperforming their large company counterparts and it’s hard not to notice. What is a small company and why the outperformance recently?

April 26, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Markets have been reaching some all-time highs recently. US stock markets, foreign stock markets, even newer assets like bitcoin, SPACs, and NFTs have been soaring much of the past six months. At these relatively high values more than a few skeptics are predicting a fall. Some say correction – a temporary minor adjustment; some say crash – major problem ahead. Is there a reason to be acrophobic – fearful about markets at record heights?

June 7, 2021 Financial Perspectives

It’s summertime and we have two summer’s worth of movies to look forward to after 2020’s reduced calendar. AMC, a company that runs movie theaters has seen their stock value go way up in the past few weeks. Is this about great movies or something else? This week Kent Kramer talks about two different valuation theories: Firm Foundation Theory and Castle-in-the-air Theory.

Are You Afraid of (Market) Heights?

Investors have been experiencing some fear of heights recently. Many stocks and stock markets are at or near all-time highs. So, here’s the question investors need to ask themselves today, ”Do you think that stock markets 26 years from now will be higher or lower than they are currently, even if today is an all-time high?”

Is the Stock Market a Glass Half Full?

The month of January was marked by negative returns for global stock markets. But, as the well-worn phrase, “Is your glass half full or half empty?” implies, our view of, or the way we feel about the state of markets as investors, may be more related to our personal dispositions than what the numbers indicate.

October 11, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Friction can slow can down any machine. What was humming along only minutes or weeks ago, can labor under the strain of too little oil, a little sand in the gears, you name it. The US economy and markets have been seeing an increase in perceived frictions over the past month. Can we get back to smoother operations?

Happy New Year? | Financial Perspectives

Market returns for the first three weeks of 2022 have not been full of happy reports. US stocks, especially some of the biggest names and winners of 2020 and 2021 have fallen into what is called “correction” territory. Is inflation and the concern with rising interest rates the whole story?