The S&P 500 was up 18.4%, including dividends, in 2020. A typical client following our recommended allocation to put option contracts was up 13.2% and avoided entirely the stressful drawdown in Q1... Read the entire report here: Martin Capital Management…

The S&P 500 rose a roaring 29% in 2019. The market was nearly indomitable but for a few pullbacks that were both moderate and brief. Maintaining portfolios almost entirely in cash, MCM did not participate in this rally. Here is…

Although the S&P 500 (including dividends) declined 4.39% for the year, all our client portfolios were up low single digits after fees. Even the market’s 19% plunge from September 20 through year-end had little negative effect on our performance. Favoring…

As highlighted in last February’s letter, we as absolute-return value investors found it more and more difficult to find bargains in a seemingly endless bull market. Using the S&P 500 as proxy, what was expensive as 2016 ended was marked…

From our vantage point, 2016 provided more evidence of an aging bull market in complacency, during which the apprehensions of absolute-return value investors like ourselves were again elevated because of the generalized absence of fear itself. Not surprisingly, little attention…

We should note at the outset that if one is prepared, bear markets are to be welcomed, not feared. Moreover, the farther markets fall below our measure of aggregate intrinsic worth, the more likely it is that the list of…

“A rising tide lifts all ships” is bandied about in our profession like a shuttlecock at a garden party badminton game. It seems that whenever an analogy is that simple and quaint, there must be a catch. And there is: the…