Will Nasgovitz, portfolio management team member for the Heartland Select Value Fund, joins Bill Nasgovitz, Founder, President of Heartland Advisors, Inc., and Portfolio Manager of the Heartland Value Fund, for a 2009 year-end outlook for the coming year. Amid the uncertainty and negative news about the U.S. economy, they have reason to feel 2010 will provide a positive environment for investors. (Video, 2:25)
The statements and opinions expressed in the articles or appearances are those of the author. Any discussion of investments and investment strategies represents the Funds' investments and portfolio managers' views as of the date of the articles, and are subject to change without notice.
The above individuals are Registered Representatives of ALPS Distributors, Inc.
The Heartland Value Fund, a series of Heartland Group, Inc., commenced operations on December 28, 1984.
The Value Fund invests primarily in small companies selected on a value basis. Such securities generally are more volatile and less liquid than those of larger companies and there is risk that their intrinsic values may not be recognized by the broad market.
S&P 500 Index is an index of 500 U.S. stocks chosen for market size, liquidity and industry group representation and is a widely used U.S. equity benchmark. All indices are unmanaged. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
Price/Earnings Ratio of a stock is calculated by dividing the current price of the stock by its trailing 12 months' earnings per share.
The Consumer Confidence Index is a measure of consumer optimism toward current economic conditions. The consumer confidence index was arbitrarily set at 100 in 1985 and is adjusted monthly on the basis of a survey of about 5,000 households. The index considers consumer opinion on both current conditions (40% of the index) and future expectations (the other 60%). The Consumer Confidence Index is closely watched because many economists consider consumer optimism an important indicator of the future health of the economy.
Leading Economic Indicators are economic indicators that change before the economy has changed. Examples of leading indicators include production workweek, building permits, unemployment insurance claims, money supply, inventory changes, and stock prices. The Fed watches many of these indicators as it decides what to do about interest rates. There are also coincident indicators, which change about the same time as the overall economy, and lagging indicators, which change after the overall economy, but these are of minimal use as predictive tools.
Investor Reserves, from the point of view of financial statements, are provided as an estimate of liabilities that have a good probability of arising, such as bad debt reserve attempts to estimate what percentage of the firm's creditors will not pay (based on previous records and practical experience). Reserves are always a subjective estimate (since they reflect contingent liabilities).
The comments and opinions expressed by the presenters may not be representative of the experience of others and are not guarantees of future performance or success.