A ‘Sourness’ Weighed On The Broad Markets, But Russell 2000, Energy, & IPO’s Did Their Work This Week!

Basically, there seemed to be an overall sourness that snuck back into the minds of investors this week; especially in the back half of it. This swing of sentiment came forward as a combination of impending lockdown fears surfaced mixed with confusion and lack of coordination surrounding vaccinations associated with increasingly troubling coronavirus growth continued to be reported. The Fed Chair’s overall negative economic outlook was also shared this week and a few troubling economic reports did not help the mood either. All of this was fused with the unsettling volatility that was experienced in the interest rate market, which was in concert with a fear of inflation.

As for the markets, in this 2nd full week of trading prior to next week’s MLK Day holiday shortened week, the large cap indices ended in the red as they tailed off after achieving new all-time highs in the early part of the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at 12,998.50 (-1.5% wk/wk) (+.9 YTD) as many of the popular and heavily weighted names had off weeks. The S&P 500 closed at 3,768.25 (-.9% wk/wk) (+.3 YTD). The big boys on the Dow ended at 30,814.26 (-.9% wk/wk) (+.7 YTD). The energy sector led all sectors this week and was even up 7.1% at one point, until Friday’s 4% decline which left it up 3.1% wk/wk. Oil prices closed at $52.12/bbl dropping -.2% this week, but are up  7.4% YTD.  A bright spot this week also came from the small caps on the Russell 2000 which continued their move higher closing at 2,123.20 (+1.5% wk/wk) (+7.5 YTD).  

THE FED SPEAKS

This week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that the economy is at a point that is “far from our goals”. He also reiterated that a rate hike will not be considered for a long time stating “likely stay there through the end of 2023″ & “We’ll let the world know. We will communicate very clearly to the public and we’ll do so, by the way, well in advance of active consideration of beginning a gradual tapering of asset purchases.” 

JOE’s STIMULUS

President-elect Joe Biden revealed his $1.9T package. It includes $1,400 stimulus payments over and above the $600 that is being distributed, an extension of key unemployment programs, further aid to small businesses, $350B to state and local governments, increase in tax credits for low-middle-income families, & $160B for a national COVUD-19 vaccination & testing program. It will be interesting to see if it will see if it get passed in its given form or if there will be further negotiating as it needs to get through the Senate. The other significant question is of course… When will it be able to move forward?

THE “MACRO”

The macroeconomic schedule also produced a number of reports as follows this week: Tuesday’s reports included the job openings report confirmed a drop to 6.527M in November. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index report showed a drop to 95.9 in December. The 2-yr treasury yield edged lower to end at .145%, & the 10-yr yield rose 1 basis points to end at 1.14% while the U.S. Dollar Index moved down to end at 90.o4. Tomorrow, we will receive the Consumer Price Index report for December, the Treasury Budget report for December, the Fed’s Beige Book for January, & the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index report. Wednesday’s scheduled included the Total CPI report confirmed a rise by .4% month/month in December & the Core CPI report confirmed a rise by .1% month/month. Total CPI is now up 1.4% year/year & the core CPI is up 1.2% year/year. The December Treasury Budget showed a $143.6B deficit. The Total receipts report came in at $346.1B. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index flew up 16.7% the Refinance Index jumped 20.1% &e the Purchase Index lifted by 8%. On Thursday, the Initial Claims report for the week ending January 9 confirming a surge of 181k to 965k while continuing claims for the week ending January 2 rose by 199k to 5.271M further supporting the Fed Chair’s position on interest rates and the economy. The Import prices report also showed a move up by .9% in December. The Export prices report also confirmed a move higher by 1.1% in December. On Friday, the December retail sales report reveled a drop by.7% million  when we you exclude autos, the December retail sales dropped 1.4% month/month confirming spending had declined in the face of the coronavirus growth and simultaneous lockdown measures increasing. The Producer Price Index for final demand moved up by.3% month/month in December confirming that inflation, at least at the producer level, remains under control. The Industrial production reported confirmed a rise by 1.6% month/month in December while the capacity utilization rate moved up to 74.5%. The preliminary January reading for the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment came in at 79.2. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey moved lower to 3.5 in January. Business Inventories moved by .5% in November.

COVID-19 UPDATE

The coronavirus epidemic continues to surge and hospitalizations rise as the US now has eclipsed 23.4 million cases, 389k deaths, and we are now realizing ~300,000 new daily coronavirus cases a day. Let’s mask up folks and keep your distance to aid our system in the rollout of the vaccine which has fallen behind schedule. In the meantime, hopefully other therapy treatment programs from the biotech firms like Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS) will be sped though development by the FDA thus arming us with further tools to fight the virus should we get it. One of Atossa’s therapy programs is called the COVID-19 HOPE Program which uses AT-H201 for severely il patients to improve lung function and reduce the amount of time that COVID-19 patients are on ventilators and another called AT-301 Nasal Spray for at-home use immediately following diagnosis of COVID-19 to proactively reduce symptoms of COVID-19 and to slow the infection rate so that a person’s immune system can more effectively fight the virus.

TECH HIGHLIGHTS

The highly weighted FAANG’s ended down overall week-over-week across the board: Facebook (FB) took it on the chin again this week as it closed at $251.36/share, +2.33% Friday but down again from the $267.57/share close a week ago. Apple (AAPL) closed down 1.37% on Friday at $127.14/share and down from $132.05/share a week ago. Amazon (AMZN) closed at $3,104.25/share, -.74% Friday & down from $3,182.70/share a week ago, Netflix (NFLX) closed at $497.98/share, -.58% Friday, down roughly $10 from the $510.40/share close a week ago, & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,736.19/share, .23% on Friday & down from $1,807.21/share a week ago. 

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) closed at $212.65/share, -.17% Friday & down from last Friday’s close of $219.62/share. Intel (INTC) closed at $57.58, -2.82% Friday but up again from last Friday’s $51.67/share close as it announced that CEO Bob Swan will step down from his role as of Feb. 15. Swan was elected as the CEO of the company in January 2019 and earlier served as the interim CEO for seven months and as CFO since 2016. Pat Gelsinger, serving as CEO of VMWare since September 2012 is set to take over Swan’s position. Prior to working at VMWare, Gelsinger was at Intel for 30 years and had been the company’s first chief technology officer.

Salesforce (CRM) closed at $23.14, -1.14% on Friday & down from the close of $222.04 last Friday. 

Peter Thiel co-founded software firm Palantir Technologies (PLTR) closed at $25.64/share, +2.89% on Friday and slightly up from the $25.20/share close last week. Reports that ARK Next gen ETF bought PLTR shares swirled on Friday. 

Grapevine, TX based GameStop Corp. (GME) which jumped a crazy 57.64% closing $31.45/share on Wednesday then moved up another 27.10% on Thursday prior to closing at $35.50 on Friday. GameStop reported on Jan. 11, 2021 that worldwide sales results for the nine-week holiday period ended January 2, 2021 reflecting a 4.8% increase in comparable store sales and a 309% increase in E-Commerce sales. The same day they also appointed three new directors, Alan Attal, Ryan Cohen and Jim Grube, who bring significant e-Commerce and technology experience. GameStop is a Fortune 500 company and is a digital-first omni-channel retailer, offering games and entertainment products in its over 5,000 stores and comprehensive E-Commerce properties across 10 countries.

IPO’s WORKED

A number of IPO’s came into view this week as the markets remained open. Shares of Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF) opened at $26, 44% above its IPO price on Thursday and then proceeded to surged 63.33% Thursday closing at $29.40. Petco has ~1,470 stores in the U.S. & Puerto Rico which included +100 in-store veterinary hospitals. Another example is where the shares of Poshmark (POSH), an online marketplace for used goods also debuted its IPO on Nasdaq on Thursday surging +141.67% to close at $101.50.

ACROSS THE DOW 30

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) closed at $160.30/share, -.22% & barely up from last week’s close of $160.04. Pharmaceutical giant Merck (MRK) closed at $83.38/share, +1.21% and slightly up from last Friday’s close of $83.03/share. Merck an AstraZeneca’s cancer drug LYNPARZA won 3 new approvals in Japan recently.

Shares of Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $48.70/share down from last Friday’s close of $51.08/share. Shares of Disney (DIS) closed at $171.44/share, -1.15% on Friday & down again from last Friday’s at $178.69/share. Reportedly, Walt Disney Co’s (DIS) Disneyland which has been closed since March 2020 will become the first largest Super Point-of-Dispensing (POD) sites to provide COVID-19 vaccinations in Orange County, California. The facility is expected to host the operations this week, informed government officials. Additional Super POD sites will be announced as more agreements are finalized. Shares of Nike (NKE) closed at $140.72/share down from last Friday’s close at $146.35/share. Walmart (WMT) closed at $144.64/share down again from last Friday’s close of $146.63/share. Walmart Stores, Inc. (WMT) is set to launch a financial technology (fintech) startup in partnership with Palo Alto, California-based venture capital firm Ribbit Capital which has backed investment platform personal finance portal Credit Karma, Robinhood, and other big names in the industry. The new company aimed to “develop and offer modern, innovative, and affordable financial solutions” targeting Walmart’s customers and employees, will be majority-owned by Walmart.

Shares of Deere (DE) closed at $295.401/share, -2.46% Friday but up again from last week’s Friday close of $293.91/share & Caterpillar (CAT) closed at $194.62/share, -1.41% slightly up from last Friday’s close of $194.26/share.  

Boeing (BA) closed $204.32, -2.66% on Friday & down again from last Friday’s close of $209.90/share after recently paying $2.5 billion to settle the 737 Max criminal probe.

FINANCIALS

The financials sector dropped 1.8% on Friday even though JPMorgan Chase, PNC,  Citigroup and Wells Fargo beat earnings exceptions during this first full week of the earnings season. Goldman Sachs (GS) closed trading at $301.01/share nicely up again from last Friday’s close of $290.08/share, American Express (AXP) closed at $122.15/share up from the $121.78/share close last Friday, Visa (V) closed trading at $201.59/share down from the $215.45/share close last Friday & shares of Morgan Stanley (MS) closed at $75.24/share basically inline with last Friday’s close of $75.25/share. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) closed at $138.64 up from the $136.02/share close last Friday & Citigroup (C) $64.23/share down from the close of $65.37/share last week. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) closed at $239.79/share down from last Friday’s close of $242.46/share and Square (SQ) closed at $227.75 down from last week’s close of $241.45/share.

GOLD & SILVER MARKETS

Gold prices closed at $1828 down from the $1,849/oz. close last week. This Friday silver prices closed at $24.89/oz. down again from the $25.47/oz. close last Friday. Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD) closed trading at $23.14 slightly down from last Friday’s close of $23.97/share. North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) ended the week at $5.31/share down from last Friday’s close of $6.08/share. Hecla announced its preliminary silver and gold production for the fourth quarter and full year 2020 and year-end cash position. Hecla’s President and CEO, Phillips S. Baker, Jr. stated, “Despite the challenges of operating during the pandemic, 2020 marked a year of very strong operational performance with silver production significantly exceeding guidance. Our U.S. silver production was 15% higher than the year before and more than 50% higher than 2018, strengthening our position as the United States largest silver producer. The strong performance allowed Hecla to reduce net debt, increase dividends, and double exploration expenditures while more than doubling last year’s cash position. At current prices, we could repeat these results in 2021.” 

MONEY UPDATE

The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened again to end the week at 90.78 marginally up from 90.06 last Friday.  The 2-yr Treasury yield closed basically flat this week compared to the prior week at .129%, the 10-yr yield fell 2 basis points ending at 1.09% while the 30-yr yield ended at 1.837% down from 1.877% last Friday.

TRADING NEXT WEEK 

Monday is Martin Luther King Day and the markets are closed. We will have regular trading sessions Tuesday through Friday so buckle up.

NEXT WEEK’S KEY MACROECONOMIC DATA

The macroeconomic schedule will deliver the housing starts report, the building permits report, the PMI breakdowns report, & the existing home sales report.

STOCKS IN VIEW NEXT WEEK

• Shares of Natural-Killer cell (NKcell) focused biopharmaceutical firm Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed at $113.59/share down from $116.31 last Friday but not before it achieved a new all-time high of $121.16.  Recently, FATE announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of ~$400 million. Jefferies, BofA Securities, SVB Leerink and Barclays acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.  We started with this one folks over 3 years ago when it was in the $3 range.

• • Fate is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders.

• • Recently, Fate presented a patient case study from the Company’s Phase 1 clinical trial of FT596, its universal, off-the-shelf, CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell product candidate, at the 62nd Annual Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition and the street loved it. NK cells are the body’s first line of defense against viral infections and cancerous cells with an innate ability to rapidly seek and destroy transformed cells. NK cell therapy has the potential to 1) target multiple pathogenic antigens with measurably more efficient cytotoxicity, 2) be better controlled to reduce risk of cytokine storms and 3) be produced from a variety of sources without relying on patient-specific immune cells. Dr. Wayne Chu, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development of Fate Therapeutics stated, “The safety, pharmacokinetics and clinical activity observed following both the first and second single-dose treatment cycles of FT596 are compelling, especially when considering that the administered cell dose was significantly lower than the recommended cell dose of FDA-approved autologous CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapies and that the heavily pre-treated patient was refractory to last prior therapy. We are excited the CAR component of FT596 has shown clinical activity at this low dose level, and we continue to enroll patients in dose escalation with FT596 as a monotherapy and in combination with rituximab. Our recent Phase 1 clinical data with FT516 in combination with rituximab, which demonstrate the potential of our novel hnCD16 Fc receptor to potentiate ADCC and drive complete responses, support our belief that the multi-antigen targeting functionality of FT596 may offer best-in-class potential for patients with B-cell malignancies.” 

• • We have made another investment in a private company called Cytovia Therapeutics that owns its own NK cell platform that some investors are calling “FATE 2.0”. They are seeking to go next year in Q2/Q3 as there is room in the markets for another NK cell company. Their website is www.cytoviatx.com.

• Shares of Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS) closed at $1.25/share up from $.959/share last week after raising an additional $25.2M this week. When you add that to the two raises that they completed in December 2020 (totaling $37M gross proceeds) that means they have raised $62.2M in gross proceeds between three equity raises affording the company a significant development runway and many more options to be considering.

• • Atossa Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19.

  • Atossa recently announced blinded preliminary results from its Phase 1 clinical study using Atossa’s proprietary drug candidate AT-301 administered by nasal spray. AT-301 was found to be safe and well tolerated in this study at two different dose levels in both single and multiple dose forms over 14 days. AT-301 is being developed for at home use for patients recently diagnosed with COVID-19. There are currently no FDA-approved therapies to treat COVID-19 at home. Learn more now.

• • They are hoping to get an FDA nod soon to move into a Phase 2 trial with its nasal spray COVID-19 therapy.

• Shares of INVO Bioscience (NASDAQ: INVO) closed at $3.04/share. On Friday, INVO announced it has entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Galaxy Pharma Ltd. to distribute the INVOcell system within Pakistan. Galaxy Pharma is a leader in providing products and services to the country’s current full-service In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) facilities, and has joint ventures operating an additional 21 facilities focused on administering Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) via OBGYN’s.

• • INVO Bioscience, Inc. (INVO) is a medical device company focused on creating alternative treatments for patients diagnosed with infertility and developers of INVOcell®, the world’s only in vivo Intravaginal Culture System. Industry forecasts suggest that only 1% to 2% of the estimated 150 million infertile couples worldwide are currently being treated. INVO’s mission is to increase access to care and expand infertility treatment across the globe with a goal of improving patient affordability and industry capacity. Since January 2019, INVO Bioscience has signed commercialization agreements in the United States, India, as well as parts of Africa and Eurasia and Mexico for the INVOcell device.

• • INVO’s Management Issued a letter to shareholders recently that spoke to their key developments and future initiatives that have positioned their product INVOcell® within the severely underserved fertility market. PLEASE READ IT HERE.

• • INVO received BUY Ratings from both Roth Capital ($5 PT) & Collier International Securities ( $5.75 PT) in December, 2020.  

• • Recently, INVO filed an 8k highlighting three new partners that they have established to distribute or develop invocell only clinics in Malaysia and North Macedonia. 

• Shares of NeuBase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed trading at $7.19/share down from the $7.66 close last week. The company expects to successfully negotiate a corporate licensing deal of some kind prior to the one-year anniversary of their April, 2020 equity financing as stated in a recent interview.

• • NeuBase is developing the next generation of gene silencing therapies with its flexible, highly specific synthetic antisense oligonucleotides. The proprietary NeuBase peptide-nucleic acid (PNA) antisense oligonucleotide (PATrOL™) platform allows for the rapid development of targeted drugs, increasing the treatment opportunities for the hundreds of millions of people affected by rare genetic diseases, including those that can only be treated through accessing of secondary RNA structures. Using PATrOL technology, NeuBase aims to first tackle rare, genetic neurological disorders.

• • Recently, NeuBase announced positive in vitro and in vivo preclinical data for its PATrOL™-enabled anti-gene therapies for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). These new data show that PATrOL-enabled Compound A can rapidly resolve mis-splicing without negatively impacting DMPK protein levels. They also support the potential of NeuBase’s anti-gene approach to comprehensively treat the underlying cause of DM1. Curt Bradshaw, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of NeuBase stated “Despite the fact that the genetic basis of DM1 is well understood today, there is still an urgent need to find the first genetically-targeted, disease-modifying treatment option for affected patients. DM1 is caused by a genetic mutation in the DMPK gene leading to mis-splicing of a broad spectrum of genes and DMPK protein insufficiency. A treatment option that addresses mis-splicing while retaining functional DMPK protein levels may be key to treating all aspects of DM1.”

  • Recently, I hosted a FREE Presentation & Q&A Event for our sister organization Tribe Public with the CEO & Founder of NeuBase, Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., an industry veteran who is considered one of the fathers of the field of precision medicine. The presentation is titled “Accelerating the Genetic Revolution with a New Class of Synthetic Medicines.” You can view the recording at the Tribe Public Channel. 

• We continue to like clean hydrogen solution provider Plug Power (PLUG) which had an amazing week closed at $60.14/share up from $53.78/share last Friday after hitting a new all-time high of $73.90 this week. It has been a nice ride this fall from the $10.50 range when we identified it. With the significantly bolstered balance sheet and the Biden push for clean energy alternatives it seems to be poised for further growth. 

• • This week, PLUG announced that they are jointly developing hydrogen-powered light commercial vehicles (LCV) with French carmaker Renault.

• • Last week,  Plug and the SK Group also announced that the companies intend to form a strategic partnership to accelerate hydrogen as an alternative energy source in Asian markets. SK Group will make a $1.5 billion (9.9% stake) strategic investment in Plug Power.

• • Recently, PLUG announced that is expanding is relationship with Walmart (WMT).

• • In Q4/2020. PLUG confirmed that they had sold 38M shares priced at $22.25/shares raising a whopping $845.5M which represented about 9.1% of the shares outstanding which brought their capital to the $1.7B range then and now it would seem that they are close to ~3B. 

QUOTE OF WEEK

“Investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” Anonymous

Thanks again for your attention this week. Please continue to share your thoughts, questions, & ideas as we move forward. 

In the meantime, please enjoy the balance of the weekly newsletter’s videos, quotes, updates. 

Investing & Inspiration

“Investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” Anonymous

“Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.” — Peter Lynch

“Wise spending is part of wise investing. And it’s never too late to start.” –Rhonda Katz

“If there is one common theme to the vast range of the world’s financial crises, it is that excessive debt accumulation, whether by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during a boom.” — Carmen Reinhart

“It amazes me how people are often more willing to act based on little or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.” ― Robert Shiller

“A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends.” — Barton Biggs

“The investor’s chief problem — even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself.” — Benjamin Graham

“No profession requires more hard work, intelligence, patience, and mental discipline than successful speculation.” – Robert Rhea

“The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.” — Peter Thiel

“Money is like a sixth sense – and you can’t make use of the other five without it.” – William Somerset Maugham

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein

“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” – Warren Buffett

“Thousands of experts study overbought indicators, head-and-shoulder patterns, put-call ratios, the Fed’s policy on money supply…and they can’t predict markets with any useful consistency, any more than the gizzard squeezers could tell the Roman emperors when the Huns would attack.” – Peter Lynch

“Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.” – Grant Cardone

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” – Jim Rohn

“You cannot save time for your future use however you can invest time for your future.” – John F. Heerdink, Jr. 

“We always live in an uncertain world. What is certain is that the United States will go forward over time.” – Warren Buffett

“Never test the depth of the river with both of your feet.” – Warren Buffet

“Know what you own, and know why you own it.” – Peter Lynch

“Liquidity is only there when you don’t need it.” -Old Proverb

“There is no such thing as no risk. There’s only this choice of what to risk, and when to risk it.” – Nick Murray

“If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” – Richard Branson

“Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” – Jeremy Siegel

“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” – Charlie Munger

“The entrance strategy is actually more important than the exit strategy.” – Edward Lampert

“The rivers don’t drink their own water; Trees don’t eat their own fruits. The sun does not shine for itself, And flowers do not spread their fragrance For themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature” – PopeFrancis

“It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority.” – John Templeton

“Inaction and patience are almost always the wisest options for investors in the stock market.” – Guy Spier

“Remember that the stock market is a manic depressive.”  – Warren Buffett

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

“I believe the returns on investment in the poor are just as exciting as successes achieved in the business arena, and they are even more meaningful!” -Bill Gates

“Every portfolio benefits from bonds; they provide a cushion when the stock market hits a rough patch. But avoiding stocks completely could mean your investment won’t grow any faster than the rate of inflation.” – Suze Orman

“The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital… the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.” – John F. Kennedy

“If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion.
-George Bernard Shaw

“The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo. I get up at 4:30 in the morning, seven days a week, no matter where I am in the world. I think it is important for people who are given leadership roles to assume that role immediately. What I’ve really learned over time is that optimism is a very, very important part of leadership.” – Bob Iger, Former Ceo of Disney

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine. But in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” – Ben Graham

“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” -Robert Arnott

“The fundamental law of investing is the uncertainty of the future.” -Peter Bernstein

“How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts?” -Robert G Allen

“Greed is all right, by the way. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.”-Ivan Boesky

“Michael Marcus taught me one other thing that is absolutely critical: You have to be willing to make mistakes regularly; there is nothing wrong with it. Michael taught me about making your best judgment, being wrong, making your next best judgment, being wrong, making your third best judgment, and then doubling your money.” -Bruce Kovner

“The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.” -Jawaharlal Nehru

“I talk about macro themes a lot because they are fun to talk about, but it is the risk management that is the most important thing. The risk control is all bottom-up. I structured the business right from the get-go so that we would have lots of diversification.” -Michael Platt

“Blaming speculators as a response to financial crisis goes back at least to the Greeks. It’s almost always the wrong response.” -Larry Summers