Cliches. The investing world is full of them. Wide-moat business. Intrinsic value. Be fearful when others are greedy. Skate to where the puck is going. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
We looked at 2020 through the lens of 1999, specifically its worst music. Strangely, while the music from 1999 was dreadful, the films released that year were truly outstanding. This first month of 2021 reminded us of several classic films from 1999. With that, let’s Go (underrated cult classic).
What is clear is that this year has been widely regarded “unprecedented”, an overused term Recently, we have seen many instances of “unprecedented” behavior and this last two weeks of market trading is another chapter in this unprecedented time. In order to enjoy this “meal of information” we are going to now “set the table,” and try to explain what is happening in the stock market.
Though Neil DeGrasse Tyson would reprimand us, probably in a condescending manner, about ascribing significance to an arbitrary day commemorating one revolution of the earth around the sun, people, in general, put stock in the “new year.” The level of excitement associated with the arrival of 2021, closing the books on a year that will certainly live in infamy, is rivaled, at least in my lifetime, only by the mania associated with the end of 1999 as we stared into a new millennium.
The film: Class Action Park, demonstrates the sometimes-tragic consequences of not properly evaluating risk. . Located in New Jersey (everything is legal in New Jersey, per Hamilton), the park was the vision of a Wall Street veteran, Gene Mulvihill, whose firm was suspended by the SEC for fraud.
Imbed’s nanoparticles were found to inactivate or kill about 99.9% of SARS-Cov-2 viruses in an experimental study run by Virology Research Services of London, according to a report seen by Bloomberg. To be sure, those results came from a study in a controlled lab and have not yet been replicated in a follow-on or human trial.
It being on or about the fifth of November, we thought it appropriate to begin with “remember, remember, the fifth of November…” which is the start of a famous poem about the Gunpowder Plot. Though not alone, the face (pun intended) of the plot was Guy Fawkes, whose antics are widely regarded as the source of the term we use today, guy.
The markets were hit by one figurative hurricane early this year—the COVID-induced bear market of February/March. It happened quickly and the damage, at least in terms of the S&P 500, was quickly repaired. However, not too far on the horizon, conditions are ripe for another storm in the markets, with what is sure to be a rollicking U.S. presidential election. 2020 has seen a record number of named storms and in this quarter’s commentary, Adam Eagleston discusses what we can learn from the various literal and figurative hurricanes that have hit us this year.
For those of you who read our monthly missives or listen to our podcast, you probably a) have too much free time, and b) understand that we have an affinity for wordplay. One of my favorites is the elusive triple entendre. I still remember being distracted for almost an entire soccer match because two of my teammates and I had discussed the concept before kickoff and spent the better part of 90 minutes trying to think of the best example possible.
The weather is hot, but it still doesn’t feel quite like summer. In this commentary, we are going to look at what’s been missing from the season.
