Client Testimonials – John Lau, CPA, CFP®
Testimonials provided by current clients of Robertson Stephens. Testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other customers and are no guarantee of future performance or success. “When reflecting upon the lives and circumstances of others, I feel a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation for coming across a John Lau seminar in 2017 at […]
Still Whistling Past But With A Limp
March 3, 2025 Good morning, Investors have felt nervous and uncertain since the inauguration. Markets didn’t begin to reflect that uncertainty until last week when the equity market volatility index (VIX) climbed above that “Fear” threshold of 20. Friday’s late afternoon parabolic rally in stocks (the S&P 500 Index ended the day +1.59%) relieved a […]
February 2025 Monthly Letter
The following is your February 2025 Robertson Stephens Monthly Performance Report. Looking at the chart below, although the year started strongly, it did not necessarily begin where last year ended. The big trend change from the last 2 years was the loss of U.S. stock’s global dominance. January foreshadowed February, and the Mag 7, which led all […]
Correction vs Bear Market
February 28, 2025 Good morning, S&P 500 Index Futures are indicating a higher opening price for the fourth time in five days, but that’s been a poor guide to how the day eventually pans out, with the index declining between the opening and closing bells in six straight sessions. A correction is officially defined by […]
Actions Louder Than …
February 24, 2025 Good morning, The S&P 500 Index declined -1.71% on Friday, the worst one-day selloff of the year (so far). Selling was expected on “de-risk-Friday”, as mentioned, but only selling was unexpected. There was no market moving catalyst to explain the market decline; there were just more sellers than buyers. This is not […]
Quick Note for Quiet Week
February 21, 2025 Good morning, On Tuesday, we mentioned it was the start of a quiet 10-day stretch without any market-moving catalysts – important earnings announcements or key economic data. “Quiet” has been the operative word for markets so far this week. Through last night, the S&P 500 Index is up a whopping 8 bps […]
Resiliency
February 18, 2025 Good morning, In the face of higher-than-expected inflation data and daily tariff talk, the market marched higher, with the S&P 500 Index gaining +1.47% last week. International Indices were slightly higher than that. Hat tip to this market’s resiliency. And, who had Europe as the big winner in the early stages of […]
Tariff Fatigue?
February 10, 2025 Good morning, More tariff threats Friday afternoon turned the S&P 500 Index slightly red on the week (-.24% on the week, -.95% on Friday). Another tariff story made headlines over the weekend, but we may be at a point where wider markets either don’t believe it or just don’t care. Futures (and […]
Calming Observations Inside What Feels Like Chaos
February 7, 2025 Good morning, Markets are quiet early this morning (Futures: unchanged, for example) as Traders and Machines (algorithmic auto-execution trading “Black Boxes”) are anxiously waiting for the January U.S. Employment Data at 8:30 am EST. In step with my newly revised policy of writing Friday Morning Notes – week-to-date summaries – I am writing this morning’s ahead of the […]
He Wasn’t Bluffing
February 3, 2025 Good morning, It does feel a little déjà vu-ish this morning, starting another week in a hole for markets. If it was DeepSeek Monday last week, it is He-Wasn’t-Bluffing Monday, this week. Futures are off -1.65%, 2 hrs before the open, but off the opening lows of -2.2% overnight. As we were warned, Mexico […]
January 2025 Monthly Letter
The following is your January 2025 Robertson Stephens Monthly Performance Report. Recall the correction stocks and bonds were suffering under as the New Year began. Markets got back on track in January, with both stocks and bonds broadly delivering positive returns (see red-free chart below). It was not a smooth ride – daily volatility increased considerably in both markets. […]
What A Week
January 31, 2025 Good morning, So far this week, the market has been mending the wounds from deep-sink Monday with mixed results. After losing -1.46% on Monday, the S&P 500 Index is down -.49% through last night’s close. Other indices, week-to-date are; NASDAQ Comp -1.37%, Dow Industrial’s +1.03%, Russell 2K +0.0%, Int’l Developed +.94%, and […]