Thoughts {03.29.18}

Today we head into the final day of the 1st Quarter.  Stocks look poised at the open to head into the green.  There may be some emphasis on pushing them up today to make investment managers numbers look better but were looking at the first down quarter for stocks in over two years unless something big like a 3% move occurs today.  

A bad quarter may seem a bit depressing to some but it needs to be taken into context of the gargantuan move we've seen since February of 2016.  Also amidst all the volatility we've seen over the last two months the market is only trading back to where it was in November of last year.  So far all we're seeing is consolidation of those big gains.  Not necessarily a bad thing in the context of what transpired last year.  Market is becoming oversold by our work as well.

Going into yesterday the only sectors up for the year were technology {which I am long in client and personal accounts via ETFs} and consumer discretionary.  Everything else is in the red.  

I mentioned yesterday that I will be moving my office in early May.  I will keep reminding you here about this for the next few weeks.  Look for more as we move nearer to that date.

Away from the markets, Chicago is all abuzz about the Loyola Ramblers playing in the NCAA men's basketball final four.  I'll bet most folks around here didn't know until recently that Loyola won an NCAA men's basketball championship in 1963.  They know about that now.  What most didn't know about is Loyola's role in helping to break the racial color barrier in sports.  Here's a nice article about that aspect in 1963.  Go Loyola and good luck this weekend!

Also, after a long and bleak winter they're playing baseball today!  Nothing brings out the kid in me than remembering the excitement of listening to opening day baseball out of Cincinnati on WLW.  Back then all the games weren't broadcast on TV like today but opening day always was.  Many years I had teachers that would wheel in a TV so we could watch part of the game.  Back then opening day was an honor exclusive to Cincinnati as the oldest professional team in the league.  Those times have changed and all teams will play today.  Go Cubs!  Go Reds!

Back early next week.  Markets are closed tomorrow for Good Friday.

"The one constant through all the years Ray has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again, but baseball has marked the time. This field, this game is a part of our past Ray. It reminds us of all once was good and could be again."-James Earl Jones as Terence Mann in "Field of Dreams."