May 1, 2015
By Peter Bower
It’s easy to get confused about the current investment environment. At face value, a lot doesn’t make sense. The economy clearly slowed over the winter. The decline in oil prices hurt energy company earnings and jobs. Greece is causing problems for the Euro-zone and other international markets seem to be a mixed bag at best. The market is as volatile as ever, but indices are still near all-time highs.
Cutting through all of this, the winter months have been a weak period for several years now. Some of it may be caused by weather, but it may just be a seasonal pattern. This year this pattern was exacerbated by a west-coast dock strike and a strong dollar. Cheaper gas has not resulted in more consumer spending, but that may yet come. Like tax cuts, there is usually a lag effect to this windfall. Europe is now finally recovering from its crisis, even though it is uneven. In short, the positives still far outweigh the negatives.
Stay steady my friends.
the Lonely Bull
