Monthly Message

The Wutherich & Co. Composite was up 0.9% in December. This compares with the S&P/TSX up 1.7%, the BMO Small Cap Index up 3.2%, S&P 500 (US$) up 2.0%, the DJIA (US$) up 3.6%, while the NASDAQ (US$) was up 1.2%.

December marked the end of a good year for the Wutherich & Co Composite and for the markets in general. The Canadian markets were largely driven by gains in Energy, Materials and Financial stocks. While we have exposure to each of these sectors, we have far less than the market averages. We never try to make sector calls and certainly never try to match index weightings. Rather, we have a broad-based portfolio of good, individual, long-term investment ideas that trade at reasonable valuations and are not driven solely by any macro-economic or geopolitical event. The market’s current obsession with Donald Trump makes for interesting spectacle but we don’t think it will drive any of our investment ideas. We are very unlikely to buy or sell anything based on a Trump tweet or any long-term policy that he may develop. We try to select companies where their destiny is in their own hands and depend less on market or political forces for growth or survival.

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