Ben Bernanke the FED chair indicated that accommodative monetary policies (probably meaning low short-term interest rates) will remain in place for the foreseeable future (even if QE 3 – the bond buying that pushes down longer term interest rates is scaled back). This pushed the S&P 500 up 1.4% to a new record high. The Toronto stock exchange was up 1.5%.
The big winner for our stock picks was Toll Brothers, up 6.6%. Also, Stantec was up 2.9%.
Very soon the attention in the U.S. will turn to the Q2 earnings releases. They will need to be pretty good to sustain recent gains.
I have enjoyed the rise in stock prices and I am confident that int he long term stocks will continue to rise. But at the same time I see the wisdom of taking some money off the table to be more prepared just in case there is a pull-back or in case better bargains are identified. The percentage on a portfolio that should be in equities is a complex personal matter. Rules of thumb based on age simply don’t cut it.
Berkshire Hathaway A shares have hit $175,644. The B shares are $116.98. We last rated it at (lower) Buy at $111.82 on May 11. I am inclined to maybe trim my position there. It seems like it has up a little too much this year. But good for Warren Buffett. I am not hearing much from all those mis-guided people who for so many years moaned that the stock was not doing well – completely oblivious to the fact that Buffett’s seeks to grow the earnings and value of the company and does not try to push the share price up. He was doing his job all along and now investors have realized it and pushed the stock price up.