International Investors faced minefields or pots of gold in 2024 depending which region, country and industry they searched for value. In aggregate the minefields ruled with the MSCI ACWI-EX U.S. index lagging the U.S. index by almost 2,000 basis points. The dichotomy in returns was especially pronounced in emerging markets. The president of South Korea, […]

A Time to Heal Buoyed by moderating inflation and interest rates, US equity indices generally ended in positive territory for the third quarter and nine months. Large cap value indices, however, outperformed comparable growth indices for the quarter, although for the nine months, growth was still ahead. Internationally, value aggregate indices outperformed growth for both […]

Islamorada, Florida – September 30, 2024 – Islamorada Investment Management (IIM), a fee-only Registered Investment Adviser specializing in value investing, is pleased to announce John Rotonti Jr. has joined the company as a Portfolio Manager. Rotonti previously spent almost nine years at The Motley Fool, where he was a Senior Analyst, head of investor training […]

From an email sent to all IIM investors on Tuesday, August 6th… To paraphrase the Florida Keys’ own Ernest Hemingway, big shifts in the stock market often occur “gradually, then suddenly.” Following the latest jobs report on Friday, the Nasdaq is now in correction territory, defined as a 10% decline from recent highs. The S&P […]

More of the Same – Or Not? Despite sticky interest rates, wars, saber-rattling and natural disasters, broad US equity indices, and especially growth indices, continued to roll through the 2nd quarter leading to double-digit gains for the first half. These gains according to Morningstar, however, were only possible due to the performance of five major […]

Where Do We Go From Here? Wars raged in the Middle East and Ukraine, Houthis attacked vessels in the Red Sea, a barge ran into the Baltimore Key Bridge, interest rates and inflation remained stubbornly high and the S&P 500 reached a new high in the first quarter of 2024. The lure of the Magnificent […]

From an email sent to IIM investors on March 17, 2024… The stock market continues to reach new heights, driven by a stronger-than-expected economy and the largest technology stocks. In particular, Nvidia, a maker of graphics chips used in artificial intelligence applications, recently helped push markets higher after beating Wall Street earnings expectations. This added […]

Santa Baby. Sometime in October 2023, Santa Claus happily surveilled the North Pole. All the elves were busy, but gratefully employed. Almost all the presents were finished and costs were under budget. The reindeer were relieved that Santa had converted his sleigh to a hybrid utilizing solar power, energy that could even light up Rudolph’s […]

Hot and Cold According to a September 5th report released by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) the June-July-August (JJA) 2023 season was the warmest on record by a large margin, with an average temperature of .66 degrees Celsius above normal. The report noted above average precipitation in many places leading to local flooding and […]

Rocket Science The second quarter of 2023 was more bizarre and tragic than the first. Following the incursion of the February Chinese spy balloons, the Pentagon admitted that there are plenty of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAPs, formerly known as UFOs) floating around. Unrest spread through France as some rioters protested the increase in the retirement […]