Author: Smead Capital Management

The Art of Low Turnover

We have argued vociferously that active managers have given up their preferred position in the investing marketplace to passive indexes because of high turnover. A recent Wall Street Journal article referenced 78% turnover as being the average among large-cap US equity funds. Studies have shown that as much as 144 basis points each year in return is chewed up by trading costs. Explaining turnover and its impact is one thing, but it is more important to ask a question. How do you practice low turnover while seeking maximal long-term performance?

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CNBC: Bill Smead on Where Cash Goes to Die (5-28-2013)

The information contained in this tv appearance represents SCM’s opinions, and should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The securities identified and described in this tv appearance do not represent all of the securities

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Bloomberg: CIO, Bill Smead, on Merck’s share buyback

Merck to Buy Back $5 Billion of Its Shares From Goldman By Shannon Pettypiece For more information go to www.bloomberg.com. The information contained in this article represents SCM’s opinions, and should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee

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CNBC: CIO Bill Smead discuss Jamie Dimon

The information contained in this tv appearance represents SCM’s opinions, and should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The securities identified and described in this tv appearance do not represent all of the securities

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Yen Weakness: Buffett’s “Shot Heard Round the World”

We returned recently from the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Conference. The most exciting and profound comment to us was what Warren Buffett said about the unprecedented actions the last three years by the Federal Reserve Board. Buffett was asked about the risks of the Federal Reserve’s current plan to buy Treasuries to keep interest rates very low. Buffett said he has faith in Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, but did acknowledge that it will be a “shot heard round the world” as soon as it looks like the Fed’s Treasury buying plan winds down. At Smead Capital Management, we have been thinking for over one year about the ramifications of the open market setting short-term interest rates and the Federal Reserve Board beginning to reverse their “quantitative easing”. We looked closely at the winners and losers from the current policy and it brought us to today’s key question. What if Yen weakness/Dollar strength is already the “shot heard around the world” and most market participants are missing this fact?

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Screaming “Bear Market Rally”

In the summer of 2009, I was a regular guest on CNBC shows like “Larry Kudlow”. We believe we were invited to participate in those panel discussions because we were the token “bull” in the conversation and I am obnoxious enough to state my piece against significant mental and verbal opposition. The US stock market had bottomed in March of 2009 and rallied explosively into the late spring and early summer. We felt that the March lows and big first move of the bull market were similar to the move the US stock market made in August of 1982. However, the choruses of experts were screaming that we were in a “bear market rally” and that only fools would buy stocks at those “inflated” prices. The wide-spread consensus back then appeared to be that that the rally was only temporary. We believe the psychology of that group think was a great predictor of what has come to pass.

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