Third Quarter 2009|Jim Williams| This last year has been a searing experience for investors (and investment advisors). The scary panic- driven declines from September into early March brought talk of a return to a Great Depression-like economy. Fear was palpable, and financial markets responded to the nightmare scenario by driving stocks to the lowest level in years.
Second Quarter 2009|Jim Williams| In his book, The Road to Serfdom, the classical economist F. A.Hayek describes clearly and succinctly the hazards and peril associated with pervasive intrusion of the state into private commercial transactions and personal decisions. It’s not pretty.
First Quarter 2009|Jim Williams| A recent email exchange led me to consider and comment on an abiding and exasperating sense of concern over what appears to be ill considered and undisciplined government intervention in the economy.
Third Quarter 2008|Jim Williams| In the last few weeks we've seen considerable turmoil in the financial markets. It is difficult to keep your equilibrium when what you have been reading and hearing is relentlessly negative.
Second Quarter 2008|Jim Williams| The most important and difficult task for an investor at a time like this is to manage emotions. It is a constant struggle to maintain equilibrium in such an environment, and many folks succumb to the siren's song and start taking actions based on emotions. Wrong thing to do. Wrong time.
Fourth Quarter 2007|Jim Williams| In a world where there is a highly precise mechanism to allocated scarce resources among competing uses. It's called price.