January 2009 Bristlecone Monthly News Digest   Greetings! What a month it has been since our last monthly digest! After marking a low of 667 on March 6th, the S&P 500 index stands at about 840 as we write this for an increase of almost 26% in five weeks. This should serve as an important reminder as to just how quickly the market can change direction, and also why it is important to maintain an even keel in one's investing approach, resisting the popular urge toward extreme pessimism or euphoria.   In that spirit, we've selected some interesting articles from the past few weeks which review recent events and highlight thoughtful counterpoints to some of the conventional wisdom floating around in the media: How a Modern Depression Might Look - If the U.S. Gets There Even if a depression does come to pass, a 21st-century version would look very different from the one 80 years ago. This Wall Street Journal article published on March 29 offers some much-needed perspective. Jake DeSantis: Dear AIG:  I Quit! The populist fury against financial executives reached a crescendo in late March as opportunistic politicians and pundits vilified the recipients of bonus packages at troubled insurer American International Group (AIG).  This letter from Jake DeSantis (an executive vice president of AIG's financial products unit) to Edward M. Liddy (CEO of AIG) published in the New York Times on March 25 is a useful reminder that there is always more than one side to every story.   JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon: 2008 Letter to Shareholders For those who are interested in a good review of the critical events of 2008 from a thoughtful observer (with a front row seat), Jamie Dimon's 2008 Letter to Shareholders provides an illuminating commentary.  Pay particular attention to parts 2 - 4, in which Dimon reviews the critical events of the year for JP Morgan, walks through the causes of the crisis, and lays a great roadmap for the changes in regulation that he sees forthcoming. Wells Fargo's CEO John Stumpf: 2008 Letter to Shareholders Finally, Wells Fargo's April 9th announcement that it anticipates higher first quarter earnings and lower-than-expected loan losses sparked a sharp rally among many of the larger bank stocks. Our opinion is that Wells is among the best-managed banks. The recent shareholder letter included in the 2008 Annual Report (pp. 2 - 9) provides a fine example of candor and good stewardship amidst an extraordinarily difficult economic environment. The information entered by clicking below will only be used to send this email on your behalf and will not be used for any other purpose.  April 2009 Visit our website. THE FIRM NEWS/ARTICLES PEOPLE PHILOSOPHY HOW TO INVEST   Did someone forward you this message? Opt in to receive our emails: Copyright © 2004-2009: Bristlecone Value Partners, LLC.; All rights reserved. This email is provided for general purposes only and is not intended to provide specific financial, accounting, or legal advice. Any mention of third party firms  or individuals is not, and should not be construed, as a recommendation, endorsement or sponsorship by Bristlecone Value Partners. Experiences expressed are not a guarantee of future performance or success and may not be representative of your experience. All investments are subject to risk. To safeguard your privacy, do not include account numbers, social security and tax ID numbers, passwords or other non-public information when replying to this email. Read more about Bristlecone's Privacy Policy .  All email sent to or from Bristlecone Value Partners corporate email system may be retained, monitored and/or reviewed by someone other than the recipient.