For the past few quarters I have taken a very cautious view of the market. My sentiment echoed around rising interest rates, geo-political concerns, and an aging bull market. Sadly, all of these are now worse then they were earlier in the year, and we are in the midst of a brutal stock market correction; teetering on entering a bear market ( 20 percent off highs).

No one knows how deep or how long the correction will continue. This quarter performance wise was one of the worst in a century. Perhaps we have entered a period of too early to buy and too late to sell. I am going to continue to remain cautious, study the market, make phone calls to CFO’s/Strategists to take their temperature, read the charts, and may do some small buying of beaten down stocks for those with cash balances. Please keep emotions on the sidelines, as we have been here before and this will pass.

Looking ahead into 2019 the upcoming earnings announcements are extremely critical as companies give forecasts amidst rising interest rates and tariffs; this could set the tone for a good or bad year.

Thank you for your patronage and I look forward to guiding us through this challenging period.