Insights

Markets Are Expensive, But Companies Keep Delivering At the halfway point of the year, despite the war in Iran and various other challenges, the S&P500 is up nearly 10% on the year, on pace for another good year. As we have mentioned several times in past newsletters, the stock market is expensive and has been for a while. But, the reason is simple -- corporate profits have been very strong and seem to keep getting stronger. In the first quarter, companies in the S&P 500 repo

Markets Keep Climbing Through the Noise The month of May gave investors a little bit of everything. Stocks moved back near record highs, corporate earnings came in better than expected, and investors seemed increasingly willing to look past war, energy shocks, and lingering inflation worries. While the mood was not exactly carefree, it certainly seemed more optimistic than cautious. The main support is earnings. Companies in the S&P 500 are finishing a very strong first-quart

Markets Climb as Earnings Rise Sharply Corporate earnings are giving investors a surprisingly strong reason for optimism. Many companies are growing profits, protecting margins, and finding ways to perform well despite complications from the war in Iran, higher oil prices, and continued tariff uncertainty. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed out April at fresh records. Hopes for progress in the Iran conflict, lower oil prices, and another strong round of corporate earnings boosted

Quartz Partners has taken a significant step forward in its growth strategy with the acquisition of AthenaInvest Advisors LLC, a Denver-area pioneer in behavioral portfolio management. The deal brings a patented behavioral finance research process — developed over three decades by Dr. C. Thomas Howard, Professor Emeritus at the University of Denver — into Quartz Partners' expanding suite of systematic investment strategies. Combined with Quartz's existing Dynamic Series macro

War Grabbing Headlines, Much More Happening he first quarter ended with markets a bit rattled, though the selloff remains fairly contained. After a strong rally on the last day of March, following signs that Iran may be open to negotiation, the S&P 500 is down about 4.5% on the year. The Nasdaq has done a little worse, while the Dow has held up a bit better. The war with Iran has clearly changed the tone. Oil prices jumped, inflation moved back into focus, and the Strait of H

Quartz Partners has been named to the PSN Top Guns list for Q4 2025, receiving independent recognition across both equity and fixed income strategies for the period ending December 31, 2025. Awarded by Zephyr, one of the industry’s most widely referenced performance databases, the designation reflects gross-of-fee returns evaluated within defined peer universes over 1-year and 3-year periods.