Insights

I. Fourth Quarter 2023: Keeping up with the Russells Ok, let’s get this out of the way right away – we did not keep up. SMCO did end the year on a strong note, generating a +10.5% gross/+10.3% net return in the fourth quarter, but Mr. Market embraced the softening inflation and positive economic dat...

As we bid farewell to 2023, we reflect on a year that presented an array of challenges and unexpected turns for the U.S. economy and financial markets. The past 12 months unfolded as a tumultuous journey, marked by a convergence of complex factors that tested the resilience of economic foundations.

In today's rapidly evolving economic landscape, understanding financial conditions is essential for investors, policymakers, businesses, and others focused on the health of the economy. Financial conditions refer to a complex mix of financial factors (expressed in indices) that collectively paint a ...

By Alex Oxenham, Co-Chief Investment Officer

The beginning of Q3 2023 kicked off on a high note with the S&P touching a 52-week high on July 31. Yet, the financial climate has shifted since then. The optimistic sentiment that fueled the market's rise over the first seven months of 2023 dissipated quite swiftly. Investors found themselves facin...

The third quarter was a rocky one for small and mid-caps. Performance started out on a positive note, as once again earnings reports were mostly better than expected. As the quarter wore on several concerns weighed on stocks, and while there were some gyrations the overall direction was south. A mél...