You would think Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase has little to worry about today. The economy is strong, loan losses are minimal and the bank’s earnings and stock price are doing great. But in Dimon’s annual letter to shareholders he is very worried about one thing – – a pickup in inflation. If […]
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The Avocado as Emblem of Free Trade…
If you like avocados, be thankful for global trade. Be thankful for the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. And be thankful for Mexico, the world’s top producer, for enabling us to feed our avocado obsession. Yes, avocados have become a bit of an obsession for Americans — especially younger Americans. The hashtag #avocado […]
Charitable Giving Under the New Tax Act…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed at the end of last year did not bring good news to the non-profit sector. Historically, taxpayers could either itemize deductions such as mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local taxes or take a standard deduction. In an effort to simplify and reduce taxes, the new tax […]
The 2-Minute Thought: Amazon’s Shareholder Letters
Amazon’s shareholder letter for 2017 isn’t out yet, but it will be soon, and if you haven’t been a regular reader of Amazon’s letters, it might be worth looking out for it. Even if you’re not an Amazon investor or fan, these yearly letters are fascinating. The classic letter (and the most famous one) is […]
The 2-Minute Thought: Whither global leadership?
Gallup has been asking people for decades if they approve or disapprove of the leadership of the U.S. and other nations around the world. Always take surveys with a grain of salt, but the results for 2018 must be saying something (Gallup, “Rating World Leaders: 2018”). Among the interesting findings: Around the world, approval of […]
The 2-Minute Thought: The Final Four of Investment Rules
At the end of 2014, Morgan Housel wrote out his 16 investment rules to live by for an article in The Wall Street Journal. And while Housel didn’t write the article during the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, I somehow always associate it with the “Sweet Sixteen” and think about it in March. There are […]
Demographics are Destiny…
Well not exactly, but there is truth in this. It takes a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman to hold a country’s population steady. The U.S. had been at this number but recently has fallen back (see chart below). The number of children American women hope to have and what they achieve is drifting […]
All That Is In Peril Is Not Lost…
Well maybe, but you might not want to be too complacent. China is the world leader in many areas today (manufacturing, exports, solar panels, etc.) and catching up fast in others, like technology. Chinese startups have come to Silicon Valley for years to see how things are done. Now they are wondering if there is […]
How Money Makes Us Feel…
Financial writer Morgan Housel once contrasted the financial lives of two very different people: One was Grace Groner, who was born in rural Illinois in 1909, started working as a secretary during the Great Depression, bought used clothing and never owned a car. The other was Richard Fuscone, who attended Dartmouth, got an MBA from […]
What To Do With All That Cash…
The Tax Reform Act passed last December was good news for Corporate America. Tax rates on profits earned at home dropped from 35% to 21% and levies on lower taxed foreign earnings were significantly reduced. But the biggest near-term positive impact may come from the provision that reduced taxes on cash balances held abroad to […]
The 2-Minute Thought: Investing Is a Social Exercise
In one of his great papers on the ten attributes of great investors, Michael Mauboussin writes that “investing is an inherently social exercise” (“Thirty Years: Reflections on the Ten Attributes of Great Investors, Michael J. Mauboussin, Dan Callahan, Darius Majd, Credit Suisse, August 4, 2016). That’s both fact and warning. The fact is that investing […]
The 2-Minute Thought: A Censored Market Commentary
To understand the following passage, please see the numbered guide to the missing words below: Few would 1 that the behavior of financial markets sometimes defies common sense. There are downright absurd stories like Long Island Iced Tea seeing its stock soar nearly 300% in December after a 2 move to change its name to “Long […]
