Jobless claims posted a surprisingly robust decline last week vs. expectations. Today’s update offers more evidence for thinking that the labor market continues to expand and will continue to do so in early 2013, and perhaps with more upward momentum than generally recognized. It all adds up to an encouraging bit of news for thinking positively for jobs growth in early 2013. The fiscal cliff nonsense may throw a wrench into the macro machine, but the final number on the labor market released in 2012 suggests that the case for optimism is very much alive and kicking via the data.
Daily Archives: December 27, 2012
Obsessing Over The Trees (And Overlooking The Forest)
With the year nearly complete, what have we learned in 2012 from an investing perspective? The main lesson is a familiar one, but one that is too often trampled under the noise of the moment. Focusing on the portfolio is (still) the primary objective, as Markowitz told us all those years ago. More than half a century later, theory and the empirical record are in rare state of agreement: portfolio design and management take a back seat to nothing as critical factors for engineering investment success.