This is a brief report written at 9.00 a.m. on December 24th. This, unless
something extraordinary happens, will be our last report in 2008 and the
next report will be our regular annual report. I apologize to those of
you who find the frequency of these reports, in recent months, excessive,
but we have been trying to maintain a happy medium between our clients
who want less, or more, communication regarding the ongoing crisis.
The current portfolio composition is as follows:
| Stock |
28.0%
|
| Oil |
4.0%
|
| Real estate |
2.0%
|
| Gold |
5.0%
|
| V/R bonds |
5.0%
|
| Cash- almost all in U.S. Treasury Funds |
56.0%
|
| TOTAL |
100.0%
|
Since the market chaos of mid-September
the portfolio has performed in the following fashion (data taken from our
supplementary reports). The figure used as a proxy for the market is a
combination of the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq composite. This is
a reasonable proxy to represent the US market. If we included the world
markets the figures would be worse as the world markets have been pummeled.
Other assets have also suffered significant losses and the only safe haven
this year has been in the U.S. Treasury market.
|
|
Our Portfolio
|
Market
|
| September 17 |
-7%
|
-22%
|
| October 6 |
-7%
|
-26%
|
| October 24 |
-9%
|
-32%
|
| November 3 |
-9%
|
-34%
|
| November 24 |
-11%
|
-43%
|
| December 1 |
-10%
|
-38%
|
| December 12 |
-9%
|
-42%
|
| December 24 |
-7%
|
-41%
|
This will, almost certainly, end up as the worst year in stock market history.
We continue to look for attractive values and we have huge cash reserves
to take advantage of any opportunities that occur in the coming months.
We are always risk averse and nothing has changed in our approach in the
last 12 months. We are value investors and we seek value wherever it occurs
and in whatever form. We expect to be very active in the next month as
the year end period is often a time of significant mis-pricing.
We will continue to wok diligently on your
behalf. Please write or call with any questions. Happy holidays to everyone.
:)