Although the retail picture for many apparel companies has been a bit less encouraging then many would like, some have been riding a wave that has yet to crest. Playing to the tween and teen markets always seems to find that little extra disposable income for the shopper to stay in style. A company that can tap into this demographic is one that will find many sources of “way-cool” profit.

Volcom Inc., a retail brick and mortar/online marketer of young people’s apparel, works to serve an apparel lifestyle niche oriented toward board sports such as surfing, skate boarding and snowboarding. The company was founded in 1990 and has since grown to begin offering its products through various channels in Europe. The company made its first acquisition at the end of 2007 and currently carries $93 million in cash (and very little debt) on its books. Yearend figures for 2007 showed sales

Global stock markets have experienced a relatively strong recovery since the middle of March. Although markets in general are still well below previous highs, it makes for interesting reading to reflect on the extent of the correction and subsequent rally.

As illustrated by the table below, the MSCI World Index is still 9.5% down from its high of October 31, 2007 after its 18.1% drop to a low on March 17, 2008 and a subsequent 10.5% improvement.

The MSCI Emerging Market Index fared better by recovering by 15.8% since a 22.2% drop to a low on January 22, 2008, but is still 9.9% down from its previous high.

Within the emerging markets category, the Chinese Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index

I wanted to follow up a little on yesterday’s video to raise a point that there was not time for.

There is tremendous long run utility in deconstructing different types of portfolios than what you currently have implemented.

For as long as we all have anything to manage we can count on every aspect of the industry evolving. The extent to which ETFs have proliferated makes the case.

Presumably whatever you are doing now is what you think is the best way to go for your situation. As time goes by you will learn more, your situation will change (some changes are predicable and some are not) and the investment industry will always create products–some of which will be very useful.

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