Blog: Cutting Through the Noise

Postings

Something Stincs

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on July 26, 2010

The latest acronym in the investment world smells a little funny. The STINC countries (Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Indonesia and Chile) are meant to represent export-oriented nations that have shown good fiscal restraint and infrastructure investment...

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Making a Go of it, Despite the Doom and Gloom

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on July 24, 2010

In my quarterly letter to clients I used the word “discouraged” to describe investor sentiment. In the few days since we published it, however, I’m starting to think a better word is “despair.” Too regularly I’m being asked whether it’s time to get out of the...

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Summer Reruns - Part III

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on July 20, 2010

In this week’s rerun, we revisit the asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) debacle as a reminder of a key lesson in investing – if you don’t understand what you’re getting into, don’t buy it. Purdy, what were you thinking? Didn't you know how complex and...

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Podcast: Second Quarter Review

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on July 15, 2010

The second quarter of 2010 was a challenging period for equity markets, as investors focused on the European debt problems and the sustainability of the global economic recovery. In this podcast, we review these issues and highlight some of the key messages from our Quarterly Report. You can subscribe to our podcasts via iTunes...

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Summer Reruns – Part II

Posted on July 13, 2010

In this week’s rerun, we travel back to May 2008 for a brief look at the negative sentiment and opportunities in the corporate bond market at the time. As it turns out, the soil was fertile indeed. The managers of our funds report to us formally...

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When Browsing for Bargains, Beware the Value Trap

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on July 10, 2010

I’ve had a bias to owning higher quality companies since 2007. In a challenging economy with unpredictable credit markets, it seemed reasonable to pay a premium for stable profits, excess cash flow and strong balance sheets. I knew the companies...

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The Back Hand – The Heat Is On

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on July 9, 2010

Below are some observations and musings on the week that was – a recent feature that we’ve aptly coined The Back Hand. The Next Wall Street? – I’m desperately trying to come up with an investing analogy for the LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat

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Management Fee Deductibility - Clearing the Air

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on July 8, 2010

In our discussions with investors, we’ve found there are a few misconceptions surrounding the deductibility of investment management fees. The most common misunderstanding is that mutual fund investors are at a disadvantage (from a tax...

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Summer Reruns - Part I

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on July 6, 2010

Who doesn’t love summer? Sunshine, BBQs, lounging, water sports...it’s all good. And then of course, there’s the other summer ritual – reruns. We thought we’d build on the tradition by re-publishing a blog each week from the Steadyhand archives. For our...

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Morningstar Research Doesn't Get Respect it Deserves

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 27, 2010

There has never been more investment information available to investors, so it’s frustrating to see the release of the Morningstar Stewardship Grades, the most useful piece of research to come out in decades, slide by with little or no coverage from...

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The Back Hand - Shaking it Up

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 25, 2010

Below are some observations and musings on the week that was – a new feature that we’ve aptly coined The Back Hand. The world’s eyes are on Toronto this week as the G20 Summit nears. While the thought of a weekend of politics and bureaucracy...

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Massively in the Middle

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 24, 2010

In his latest interview with Independent Investor (a U.K. publication), Sandy Nairn, the CEO of Edinburgh Partners (the manager of our Global Equity Fund), provided his views on the global economy and capital markets. After being cautious in late 2007...

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