Our last post laments the lack of predictive content of present consumer surveys. Any FI manager for example that sets strategy off these, should be fired.
The product of Sindlinger & Co. however was a different animal indeed. We knew Albert quite well. His endorsement -"Bob Craven elevates my awareness of what moves the fixed income markets. He expertly decodes the flood of news and information and focuses on those elements with real market moving potency." - is one of our most valuable possessions.
Background: President Herbert Hoover wanted to understand the consumer. He told Sindlinger in the 1930's that not being able to understand the mind of the consumer crippled policy makers. So, with Hoover as an investor, Sindlinger started Sindlinger & Co in 1948.
We lost Sindlinger, Nov/2000. He was something. When he used the term "consumer confidence" it didn’t come from the position of present surveys. It came from an understanding that the financial condition of households was the key to understanding behavior. And his results carried - no surprise - considerable predictive content.
Sindlinger knew better than Michigan or the Board.
From the business writer John Cunniff: "During his long career, his sometimes raspy voice became familiar to scores of government and business officials. Determinedly independent, he was often too absorbed in his work to abide formalities, and he resisted buyout bids to guard what he considered his obligation to speak factually and truthfully, even if it cost him clients, which sometimes it did."
We miss you Albert, your generosity, your rigid adherence to truth, your wisdom. They don’t make ‘em like you anymore.
Robert Craven
He is my husband's grandfather.
ReplyDeleteHe is my husband's grandfather.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. Would love to hear more. They are not made any better than Albert.
ReplyDelete