One of the best investment stories never told... and Your Weekly Update

Quick, name the top investment from those below over the last 20 years:

• Oil
• Real Estate Investment Trusts
• Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index
• Gold
• Bonds

This week’s Update takes a look at this question using some fine materials from our friends at JP Morgan. Once you’ve taken a peek at the attached, if you got the question right before looking, please email us back. We’d love to know!

In the meantime, the portfolios we at JL Davis construct will continue to be carefully designed to help clients accomplish their objectives over the next 20 years. While it’s our opinion that they’ll be the some of the best investment years ever….. time will tell!

All the best,
Lee and Jeremy


This Week’s Quote:

“The question is not do you take money out of stocks and put it into real estate, or the reverse. There's so much money out there looking for a home. I don't think it's either/or.”
~ Sam Zell, billionaire real estate entrepreneur


JL Davis Thoughts This Week:

We have believed for years that proper investment diversification includes “non-correlated” assets, meaning those that don’t necessarily move in lock step with the stock market at all times. Real estate investments like REITS often fit that description.

Though we’re not likely to hear about it from the financial media, the last 12 months many real estate based ETF’s and other funds are up substantially. One of our own often suggested holdings, the Cohen & Steers Global Realty Majors ETF, is up well over 20% the last 12 months.

In spite of the challenges facing economies globally, we are seeing many asset classes, including real estate, adjust more closely to their historical norms. A “reversion to the mean”, if you will, in our view.

Staying invested, well diversified, informed and staying positive seems to be a good prescription for results. Adding in a careful, consistent, diligent review of your wealth management plan enhances the opportunity to achieve meaningful financial goals for families and businesses alike. Fortunately, our great JL Davis clients generally do exactly that!**

http://www.woopidoo.com/business_quotes/authors/sam-zell/#u4M51ov2iyvKZ3zm.99
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Zell


Market Week: May 28, 2013

The Markets

Once again, devastating events far from Wall Street helped put market losses into perspective as Oklahomans coped with the impact of a catastrophic tornado. Even a hint that the Fed might be closer to cutting back on its economic support helped turn a 155-point gain in the Dow into a 276-point intraday swing at one point on Wednesday, and domestic equities continued to struggle the rest of the week. Meanwhile, the Fed's comments, coupled with weak Chinese manufacturing data and spikes in Japanese bond yields, helped prompt a 7.3% sell-off in Japan's Nikkei index.

Last Week's Headlines

•Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress he was reluctant to reduce the Fed's stimulus efforts too quickly. However, if the Fed's job is to take away the punchbowl just as the party's getting started, investors seemed to view minutes of the most recent monetary policy meeting as some sort of last call. The minutes showed that some members had suggested winding down bond purchases as early as June, depending on economic conditions. However, Bernanke said an initial cut in bond purchases wouldn't automatically mean continued reductions.

•New home sales saw their strongest increase since July 2008 as a 2.3% jump in April put sales 29% ahead of April 2012, according to the Commerce Department. Also, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said prices on homes bought with loans from the two companies were up 1.3% in March.

•Limited inventory and tight credit continued to constrain sales of existing homes, according to the National Association of Realtors®, which said sales were up 0.6% in April and 9.7% above a year earlier.

•Durable goods orders rebounded in April from the previous month's sharp decline, increasing 3.3% over the month. The Commerce Department also said that even aside from the always volatile aircraft sector, orders were up 1.3%, and business spending on equipment also rose 3.3%.

•Another bite at the Apple: The tech giant became the latest company to have to answer questions about its escape from a major tax liability, prompting renewed debate over the corporate tax code. A U.S. Senate committee found that a conflict between U.S. and foreign tax policies had allowed Apple to legally avoid being taxed anywhere on roughly $74 billion of revenues earned overseas and held in foreign subsidiaries.

•Tail of the whale: JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, who had come under fire after the bank lost billions as a result of the so-called "London Whale" trading fiasco, managed to retain his status as both board chairman and CEO.


Eye on the Week Ahead

Investors will see if the 2.5% initial estimate of Q1 economic growth holds, and whether consumer spending was affected in April by payroll taxes and federal budget cuts.

Key dates and data releases: home prices, Dallas Fed manufacturing survey (5/28); revised estimate of Q1 GDP (5/30); personal income/spending (5/31).

Data sources: Includes data provided by Brounes & Associates. All information is based on sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed herein constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, and should not be relied on as financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index composed of 2000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market indexes listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.

Prepared by Lee Davis** and Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2013