April 1, 2012
Global markets continued to rebound from the recent October 2011 lows and powered strongly higher throughout the first quarter of 2012 as confidence in the U.S. economic recovery grew and worries about the Eurozone crisis subsided. U.S. stocks are off to their best start since 1998, with the S&P 500 Index advancing 12% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 8.14%. Continue reading
February 2012
Facebook, the social media giant, recently announced plans to sell $5 billion in stock in an initial public offering (IPO) this spring. This article is our assessment of the Facebook offering and a description of the salient aspects of it we think potential investors should consider. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or not to buy any security. It is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Orion Capital Management LLC only provides investment advice to its clients under a written advisory agreement. Now, with that said, let’s dig into the details . . .
January 1, 2012
In some of the most volatile global markets in recent years, the S&P 500 Index, after a spirited fourth quarter ascent, ended 2011 virtually unchanged from a year earlier. U.S. investors may be disheartened at having had to suffer all this volatility with no upward progress in the broad markets to show for it, but the reality is that U.S. equity markets notched a solid performance in 2011 given the year’s numerous upheavals, which included the Japanese tsunami/earthquake/nuclear disaster, the Arab Spring, the U.S. sovereign credit rating downgrade and the European debt crisis. In the tumult of 2011, the U.S. re-emerged as a relative safe-haven for nervous investors.
October 1, 2011
For equity investors, the third quarter of 2011 was the worst quarter in three years and it brought back to mind the financial market turmoil in the fall of 2008. A flight of capital out of risk assets and into conservative assets drove the S&P 500 Index 14.3% lower during the quarter and drove yields on the ten-year U.S. Treasury note down to 1.93%, within a whisper of historic lows. But while the U.S. market is down 10% year-to-date, it is actually one of the best performing large markets in the world so far in 2011. Germany is down 20%, the U.K. is down 13%, China is down 16% and Brazil is down 24%. The dollar and U.S. Treasury debt remain safe-havens for global investors in times of uncertainty.
August 5, 2011
Global stock markets declined sharply this week as a confluence of fears battered investor confidence around the world. The sell-off puts U.S. markets into the red for 2011 and more than 10% below their April highs.