The Disciplined Investor

MarketMash

In difficult times, some of the best wealth management firms continue to grow their businesses.  Out of thousands of independent investment advisors, Horowitz & Company has been selected as among the best in the country by Wealth Manager Magazine for the fifth consecutive year.

“To receive this distinction once is enough, but five times is overwhelming” says Andrew Horowitz, President of Horowitz & Company.  “To be singled out as one of the only two firms selected from the over 250 financial planners in Broward County speaks to our commitment to our clients and our ability to adapt during such an unstable market.” Read more »

Screens

Below is a detail of the recent performance of the various domestic sectors and indicies. Overall it was a tough week for most sectors and industry groups. Automobile did the best ( even after coming out with some awful sales numbers.)

Metals, materials and energy did the worst.

(Click to download pdf)

Strategy Lab

From my latest MSN Strategy Lab Journal:

Market manipulators won’t go down without a fight against President Obama’s reform plans for Wall Street.

It appears that we could be heading for a showdown. In one corner: the Masters of Disasters, the Thrashers of Crashers, a.k.a. the Lending Loonies (theatrical pause) . . . Bank CEOs and Financial Company CEOs and Upper Management! In the other corner, the Cool of Rule, the Pope of Hope, the Arranger and Changer … President Barak Obama. (crowd roars).

It is no joke. The likes of Goldman Sachs (GS) Morgan Stanley (MS) and JP Morgan (JPM) have a lot to worry about. No one argues that there is a new sheriff in town and he is aiming to clean up the street. So far, he has not given the “you are out of this town by high noon tomorrow” speech, but who knows how far you can push a man on a mission.

For too long, the markets have been run and even at times manipulated by those that will do anything to make a buck. Just this summer, we were astonished to learn that a little known legal loophole was left open after the Enron debacle. Now known as the Enron Loophole, it was one of the main reasons that the price of oil was headed to $200 per barrel. Only until the Commodity Futures Trading Commission intervened and ultimately changed the definition of who was considered a speculator did the price of oil begin to fall.

Yet, all the time, Goldman Sachs analyst “Arjun “where is he now?” Murti was projecting that we should see oil at $150-$200 within a year. Here is something to think about: What firms made a killing trading oil during 2007-2008?

Read the entire journal entry HERE

Gameplan

There have been several articles written of late that explore the highly correlated markets around the world. If you have not noticed, more often than not, when the U.S. market moves lower for the day, major European markets follow along.

Then, in the evening, Asia moves higher/lower and we see pre-market futures move higher/lower and Europe moves forward/back until there is news to alter the course then most equity markets follow.

This is massive HERD mentality and can be both beneficial and problematic to both traders and investors.
Read more »

Media

In difficult times, some of the best wealth management firms continue to grow their businesses.  Out of thousands of independent investment advisors, Horowitz & Company has been selected as among the best in the country by Wealth Manager Magazine for the fifth consecutive year.

“To receive this distinction once is enough, but five times is overwhelming” says Andrew Horowitz, President of Horowitz & Company.  “To be singled out as one of the only two firms selected from the over 250 financial planners in Broward County speaks to our commitment to our clients and our ability to adapt during such an unstable market.” Read more »