2014 Annual Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC The market continued to march higher in 2014 with a third consecutive double-digit return for the S&P 500 – the first such streak since the 1990s. The index (with dividends) was up 13.65%. The stock market recovery from the depths of the financial crisis of 2008 has…

2013 Annual Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC The stock market surpassed the all-time high reached in 2007, those halcyon pre-crisis days, and kept on rising. The S&P 500 delivered the highest annual total return since 1997, up 32.4%. Only a short five years ago the world financial and economic systems were in total turmoil,…

2012 Year-end Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC This would not seem to be a flavorful investment recipe: combine a “fiscal cliff” with a heated presidential election, and then add a pinch of tepid job growth and a large dash of economic uncertainty. Finally, top it off with a huge government deficit. Although that brew…

2012 Summer Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC The S&P 500 rose 9.5% in the first half, effectively delivering an average year’s total return in only six months though investor’s displayed little exuberance over the positive results. The beginning of 2012 was one of the most uncomfortable and angst- filled strong periods we can recall.…

2011 Year-end Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC The S&P 500 started the year at 1257.64. The S&P 500 finished the year at 1257.60. If you followed the markets with more than just a passing interest in 2011, you would be forgiven for initially doubting those facts. After such a violent ride, with so many…

2010 Year-end Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC 2010 Market Indices Results: Standard & Poor’s 500 15.1% Dow Jones Industrial Average 14.1% The broad equity markets moved solidly higher in 2010, propelled by a combination of strong corporate earnings growth and improving investor sentiment. The markets’ strength occurred within a global economic environment that did…

2010 Summer Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC After beginning the year with a strong first quarter performance, the stock market finished the first half down following a very weak second quarter. For the year through June, the S & P 500, with dividends, was down 6.65%. Investors grew concerned in the second quarter about…

2009 Year-end Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC 2009 Market Indices Results: Standard & Poor’s 500 26.5% Dow Jones Industrial Average 22.7% As the above results illustrate, the past year was pleasant for equity investors and provided some salve to the wounds inflicted by the bear market. But if you feel the decade just ended…

2009 Summer Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC The first six months of 2009 provided investors with an exhilarating ride as the S&P 500 plunged over 25% by March, to the lowest level in over a decade, then roared back 40% by the end of the second quarter. After the excitement ended, the net result…

2008 Year-end Letter

To Our Clients and Friends of Parthenon LLC We always begin our year-end letters with a brief review of the relevant investment statistics for the year. We will continue that tradition, although we recognize that few investors need the specifics to appreciate the extraordinary events in the capital markets. In 2008, the investment news became…