Unemployment Rate at Rare Level

Excerpt from our newsletter:  A headline worth pointing out from the 2nd quarter was the official unemployment rate hitting 3.8%, the lowest level in 18 years. It is interesting to note that the last time unemployment hit 3.8% was in April 2000 and lasted only one month. One would have to go all the way […]

The Active Advantage

We operate in an area of the market much better suited to active management. There are far more companies to sort through and much less information is readily available. We are true active investors performing in-depth research from the bottom up. Each position is owned because we believe it offers superior upside potential, often coupled […]

First Wilshire Hosts Client Meeting

Client Meeting

First Wilshire recently had the privilege of hosting a client appreciation brunch for our Los Angeles area clients at a historical Pasadena venue. The portfolio managers and analysts discussed the reasons small cap value stocks have historically outperformed growth and large cap stocks, First Wilshire’s hands-on research process, and the outlook going forward. We enjoyed this […]

First Wilshire Welcomes Nicole Green

Nicole Green has joined First Wilshire as our new Vice President of Administration. Prior to joining First Wilshire, Nicole was a Principal at a large publicly traded investment management company where she was Head of the Investment Operations and Trade Operations teams.  Prior to that Nicole worked at the law firms Morrison and Foerster LLP […]

Small Value vs Large Growth – Rolling 10 year Returns

The following chart shows the rolling 10 year returns of small cap value versus large cap growth. Red columns mark periods where the prior 10 years favored large cap growth. The chart shows that small caps have tended to outperform far more frequently. This year was shaping up to be the first time ever that […]

The Future of Retail: Amazon vs. the Rest

Disruption, confusion and severe stock price drops always offers the opportunity to uncover mispriced stocks. This led us to screen through all the U.S. retail companies, visit select companies and stores, while debating the future of retail. The disruption of retail begins with a look at Amazon. So far in 2017, Amazon’s stock market value […]

First Wilshire Celebrates 40 Years

First Wilshire is not prone to celebrating success and milestones, and in fact we are rather superstitious about it, but we’re proud to note that 2017 marks First Wilshire’s 40 year anniversary serving our clients. We’ve been “Detecting Value Since 1977,” and surviving this many years is an accomplishment in itself, but doing so with […]