Commentary

The shift in wealth from The Greatest Generation to the Baby Boomers to Generation X and today’s “Generation Now” has unique implications for our client families. A study by Cerulli Associates, a leading research firm, estimates that $16 trillion of assets will be passed down to the next generation in […]

As a result of the global economic recovery and subsequent increase in business activity, corporations are accumulating record levels of cash on their balance sheets. While this may seem like a good problem to have, cash is not a return-generative asset and can be a drag on shareholder returns, especially […]

The month of September marked the five year anniversary of a seminal event in the modern history of financial markets: the failure of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States. While a lot has changed, much stays the same: uncertainty still exists in the financial […]

We recently concluded our Spring conference circuit by attending, as we do every year, the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) annual conference in Boca Raton, Florida, and the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe (CAGE) annual conference in London. These conferences yielded new investment ideas that are already adding to portfolio returns. We were pleased with the general outlook conveyed by the CEO’s and CFO’s who presented at the conferences and always appreciate the opportunity to evaluate them and their company’s priorities “in the flesh.” Since we have written extensively on the consumer product conferences in previous years, we are focusing our latest Greenwood Report on a discussion of a different sector: Energy. On May 15-16 we attended the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Industry Conference entitled Energy: Will the Oil and Gas Boom Reignite the Economy? The conference provided a great opportunity to summarize new developments in an industry we have followed closely for years. Many of the profits reaped by our client’s energy portfolio holdings have been a direct result of our research on this sector and we are pleased to provide this update on the current industry trends that continue to shape and help grow the economic recovery.

pol · i · tics \ˈpä-lə-ˌtiks\ Origin: poly – Greek for “many” ticks – English for “blood sucking parasites” With apologies to the great public servants of our nation and state (some of whom are friends of Greenwood Gearhart Inc.) we open this report with the above tongue-in-cheek joke told […]

CHINA, IN THE MIDDLE China! A ten day visit to Beijing during the last two weeks of September offered a limited, but expanded perspective on the Chinese economic environment as it relates to investment. Although Reed (my husband) and I studied before we went, our first time visit was like […]

Risk management of fixed-income securities (usually bonds) is equally important to risk management of equity securities. This is often misunderstood by lay investors who automatically assume bonds to be “safe” investments in all environments.

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.” – Yogi Berra To many individuals, the adage “Sell in May, and go away” is a familiar rhyme. Its meaning refers to selling one’s investments in the month of May and buying them back at lower prices after an expected summer lull. With […]

BEGINNING THE NEW YEAR Investors are ready to close the books on 2011: a roller coaster, round-trip ride ending where we started. Until August of 2011, the United States economy and securities markets were inching forward toward a sustainable growth trajectory, then Standard & Poors downgraded US debt, Congress repeatedly […]

KICKING THE CAN To date, 2011 has been marked by a series of highs and lows – both literally and figuratively. We are reminded that in our dynamic and ever-evolving world, there is no shortage of problems to solve. Just when the world thought it was emerging from recession and […]