Forty years ago, when China was a lot less consequential our relationship was a lot easier. Now things are different. China is not only a manufacturing powerhouse, but they are also producing top of the line products that threaten us now and into the future. We will be butting heads with them for some time. […]
News
Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Choice?…
A good friend of mine who was hosting a party asked my advice on selecting two entrée items and some hors d’oeuvres based on the catering company’s offerings. No problem, I like food. What I encountered was page upon page of great sounding options. I quickly marked the items to revisit but before I knew […]
During a Gold Rush, Sell Shovels…
The people who made the most money during the Gold Rush of 1858 were not the thousands of prospectors hoping to strike it rich, but the merchants who supplied them with everything from pic-axes to wagon wheels. While gold was discovered, the basic laws of supply and demand (too little gold, too many people searching […]
One Chart and I am an Immigration Expert…
Immigration is a polarizing issue. On the one side you have the ‘Restrictionists’ led by Stephen Miller in the White House who wants to do everything to restrict and reduce legal and illegal immigration. On the other side you have those who want to create a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal […]
Let’s Not Get Too Worried, But…
I tend to come down on the optimistic side of things. No panicking during market selloffs, no short selling, a glass half-full outlook. That kind of thing. But sometimes you have to look at the not so optimistic side. Global growth has been subpar for some time now. Even though the U.S. is experiencing the […]
Things Won’t Always Be This Way…
Once we get used to things going a certain way, we tend to think they’ll just keep going. And the longer they keep going, the easier it is to get complacent and the harder it is to prepare for things going differently. But in life and in investment — as experienced investors well know — […]
The Reason We Save…
Is because we have a certain level of confidence that the future is bright and to enjoy those positive prospects we must be prepared. But what happens when an entire generation starts feeling less optimistic about the future? Younger people around the globe are tending to favor spending now in place of more responsible saving […]
The Tough Love School of Life…
You have read the numbers. Half of all Americans do not have $1,000 to $2,000 in savings for an emergency. Forty percent of Americans do not have a retirement account and the same percentage, 40%, do not pay off their credit card every month. The balance on these cards not paid off monthly is about […]
What’s in Your Wallet?…
Just when you thought you could forget about Bitcoin…it’s back. Bitcoin is a digital currency that is free from any influence by central banks. Libertarians like it for it’s independent, secure and untraceable features. But for a whole slew of reasons Bitcoin has not taken off as a medium of exchange. One problem is volatility. […]
Why so Negative?…
When you lend money to the government by buying a Treasury bond, it’s an investment and not a favor. You expect to get back more than you put in, in the form of interest, in order to compensate you for a multitude of risks and the loss of use of your money. This makes recent […]
“In Investing, What is Comfortable is Rarely Profitable.” Robert Arnott
The outlook for global economic growth is plagued by uncertainty today. Just how far will the U.S. and China go in their efforts to win the current trade war? Will the U.K. arrive at a solution to the ongoing Brexit impasse? Will central banks around the globe continue their easy money policies? At the industry […]
Things That Have Crossed Our Desk…
Health Care is a Big Number. There is nothing more Rube Goldberg-esque than health care in America. It is one scaffold stacked on top of another scaffold. No one would ever create this system from scratch. But so be it, we have to play the hand we’re dealt. The good news is health costs have […]
