Berkshire Hathaway: In Praise of Synthetic Leverage Posted on March 22, 2017 “Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.” –Warren Buffett A few weeks ago, Warren Buffett published his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway–one which we read with interest each year.
With one stroke of the pen, President Trump (the “Trumpinator”?) most likely signed the death sentence of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) implementation of the so-called fiduciary rule, which would have required investment salespeople to act in their clients’ best interests with their retirement accounts. We understand if you are surprised that such might not already be the case.
U.S. equity markets pushed broadly higher in Q4 and for calendar 2016, boosted by investor optimism that President-elect Trump’s administration will usher in a wave of business-friendly initiatives including reduced government regulation and lower corporate tax rates.
With just a couple weeks left to the year, we naturally ponder the main events of 2016 and how they might shape 2017. We try to abstain from political commentary and limit our opinions (here anyway!) to potential investment consequences from policy decisions.
Broadly speaking, the past week made fools of professional forecasters. Heading into the November 8th election, Hillary Clinton was the consensus favorite to win the presidency, with most polls pegging her chances at greater than 65%.
As you all know, the results of the US Presidential election were not what investors around the world anticipated. Surprise and uncertainty breeds volatility. Similar to the aftermath of Brexit last June, when UK voters approved to leave the European Union, markets around the world and the dollar are reacting negatively as we write this note.