I always enjoy Craig Cooper's perspective in his monthly letters, so I decided to pass this along:
Dear Colleagues,
On January 10th, I was invited to Rumsey Hall School to see the Rumsey Hall Blue Dogs play the Taft School Rhinos in the inaugural game in the Lufkin Rink. It was a great game with a lot of cheering from 200 spirited fans, and Rumsey won 5-3.
What was really striking to me about the game was this . . . I have not seen that many happy people gathered together in a good long time. It was just a totally upbeat scene. And the feeling was contagious; I had a great time at the game, and walked out of it feeling . . . optimistic.
Perhaps you are not feeling optimistic today. You may say, What is there to feel optimistic about? I will respond with two quotes. The first is from Theodore Roosevelt, who said in 1894: We Americans have many grave problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight, and many deeds to do, if, as we hope and believe , we have the wisdom, the strength, the courage, and the virtue to do them. But we must face facts as they are. We must neither surrender ourselves to a foolish optimism, nor succumb to a timid and ignoble pessimism. And I will also quote Winston Churchill, who lived in even more challenging times and said For myself I am an optimist it does not seem to be much use being anything else.
I choose to be an optimist because it is better than the alternative choice. And here is what I find to be optimistic about:
- When the going gets really tough, so do Americans.
- Adversity breeds creativity. The most recent issue of Forbes lists ten great companies started in rotten times, including General Electric (1892, one year prior to the panic of 1893), Disney (recession of 1923-24), Hewlett-Packard (1939), Microsoft (1975), Apple (1976), and Genentech (1976).
- I have never in my lifetime seen better buying opportunities in the real estate and stock markets. I dont say that we have reached the bottom I do not make any pretensions to be able to time markets with precision but I am putting my own money into the stock market.
- Interest rates are low.
With respect to the mortgage markets, I noted in my last letter than todays mortgage markets are tricky, in that they are both inefficient and volatile. If you or your clients are looking for mortgage financing, I encourage you to call me. Hourglass can guide you and your clients past the shoals of this market. There are safe harbors with truly good deals, including some of the best mortgage rates that we have seen in years.
Sincerely,
Craig M. Cooper
President, Hourglass Mortgage
4 Titus Road, P.O. Box 566
Washington
Depot, CT 06794
Telephone 860.868.2810
Fax 860.868.2610
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