Few would quibble that 2021 was a strong year for stocks. But how strong, and where did those returns come from? Take a guess on the 2021 returns for the four indices below, then scroll down to see the actual numbers, and our perspective on what it means.
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As the calendar flips to 2022, we wanted to offer a quick look back at some of our most popular blogs from the prior year. They cover issues that are still salient today. Below you’ll find prior blogs on the emergence of meme stocks, the unusual dominance by large cap stocks, and the story of our...
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Risk is a hot potato. (In more ways than one.) We can’t talk about risk until we define it and give it context.
YODA from Star Wars said, “Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”
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Some portfolio managers shy away from the difficult questions. Not the team at Prospector Partners:
Rarely can entire markets be characterized by a broad, sweeping statement. Instead, we often find there are “markets within markets” – pockets of the stock universe that are behaving quite differently than the broader group. Often, these pockets are the areas that offer the most opportunity for...
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With U.S. equities closing in on records again, and with stocks in bull market territory for the better part of the last 13 years, many investors may wonder how “defensive” their equity portfolio is. It’s not an easy question, as there is more than one way to define it.
Our own definition of...
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It’s not easy for a stock to make it into a Prospector portfolio. In short, making it into a Prospector portfolio is a long, rigorous process … as it should be for any active manager. While no stock arrives at this destination through the exact same course, we strove to give interested prospects...
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Cases of whiplash must have spiked lately. In a few short months, market commentators have abruptly transitioned from: “inflation is transitory” to “inflation might be more persistent” and now “prepare for stagflation!”
So what’s behind the change in sentiment?
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Small cap stocks enjoyed a brief leadership position over large caps as the U.S. emerged from the recession, but the rotation has been short lived. Large caps have come into favor again, resuming a run of dominance that was in place before the pandemic.
A couple of charts below show how unusual the...
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Banks are on pace for their biggest year of M&A activity, in terms of dollar volume since the financial crisis, confirming one of our investment theses for the industry. And we expect the spate of deals to continue, as several factors drive consolidation among small- and mid-sized banks.
As the...
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