Resource Search

The catastrophic earthquakes/tsunamis in Japan, and the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) understandably dominate today’s news. Japan is clearly an enormous human tragedy, as well as one with economic consequences. The events in both of these regions have created significant global uncertainty affecting everything from gasoline prices and food supply, to automobile production and power generation. These events serve to remind us that our growing global economy is heavily dependent on evermore expensive and vulnerable sources of fuel and power.

The time to consider the reinvestment risk of selling a family business is before, not after, the sale. A reinvention plan can help by taking into consideration the remaining ties to the business, estate and tax planning issues related to the sale, and personal reinvention for family members as they continue on without the business.

Fears of supply disruptions, regime change and further declines in the U.S. dollar are helping to drive oil prices higher. Yet, there seems to be sufficient capacity to offset supply shortfalls. Looking forward, fossil fuels and renewable alternatives both need to be developed to help secure our energy independence.

Sustainability has become a hallmark of market leaders. While sustainability is hard to measure, it has clearly become a prime concern of corporate management and we believe that it has reached a point where no prudent investor can ignore it.

The art market appears to be on the upswing worldwide with record-breaking prices in the past year. However, the biggest growth surge has come from China, not only because of the increasing number of collectors there but also because of renewed enthusiasm for the country's art.

Internal conflicts in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Libya have increased political risk and negative economic costs, warranting downgrades in sovereign debt ratings and continuing negative outlooks. But political change could ultimately be positive since governments with greater legitimacy tend to be more resilient to economic and other shocks.

An annual inventory of belongings in the home is vital as a safeguard, should loss occur. Yet many families ignore this need. Some inventory options include hiring a firm that specializes in this, going room by room with a movie camera, and keeping a photo log of items. Make sure fine art, jewelry and silver are scheduled on a personal property policy.

If the private sector cannot stand on its own legs on June 30, when the second round of quantitative easing is expected to end, the QE policies will have been a colossal flop. Bond yields and stock prices are resting on an artificial foundation of QE II credit that may or may not lead to a successful private market hand-off and stability in the currency and financial markets.

We recommend a baseline allocation in our asset allocations in terms of stocks versus bonds and cash, but we also recommend the following tactical allocations: leveraged loans within the bond allocation, dividend-focused stocks within the U.S. large-cap stock allocation, and an allocation of 55% value and 45% growth within U.S. large-cap equities.

The change in market psychology since the 2010 elections and the passage of year-end legislation to renew the Bush administration tax cuts should continue setting a positive tone for financial markets in 2011. We expect an expanding domestic economy, coupled with continued dynamism in the developing world, to set equity markets up for continued gains.