Quarterly Thoughts – Q4 2009

“The years teach much which the days never know” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the past 18 months we have witnessed the worst crisis for the global financial system since the Great Depression, the steepest stock market decline since World War II, the biggest cut in dividend payments since the 1930s, and the fastest stock market surge in 70 years. Many of the “talking heads” incorrectly predicted the beginning of another depression – a big “double-dip,” and many investors around the world bailed out of equities at an alarming rate. However, disciplined investors didn’t succumb to the panic of the masses, and benefitted.