It seems I am one of the legions of readers who devour anything Michael Lewis writes the moment it is published. He started with Liar’s Poker back in 1989 but really gained a following with the publication of the soon-to-be-hit movies Moneyball and The Blind Side.
Navigating the Storm
As a fundamental starting point, we try to identify sectors producing earnings growth. The next step is to discern which companies and issues within that sector present a price point of entry that optimizes returns; are the company’s earnings growing as fast, and are the shares cheaper than those of peers?
Peak Uncertainty
We always adhere to the discipline that “if the market is open, we’re here”. The objective is to spot opportunity when it appears. Since the Fed started raising interest rates in March of 2022, however, opportunity sightings seem to have grown scarce and fleeting in our universe of real estate value and growth.
The Bond Market Conundrum
A funny thing happened during our long wait for lower interest rates. On September 18th, Jerome Powell finally began reducing short-term borrowing costs with a 50-basis point cut to the Fed Funds rate. At the time, 10y US Treasuries were yielding 3.70%.