Back in the 1980s and 1990s, economic pundits raved about how new global supply chains and new companies were reshaping the Global Economy. Remember the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China)? And the Four Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore)? Everyone seemed to benefit from globalization. The West got cheaper goods, which increased […]
News & Insights
Why it’s Been so Hard…
The investing phenomenon of the year has been how much, how quickly and how eagerly investors have bid up almost all asset prices, even as we’ve remained in one of the worst economic and health crises in history. Stocks, junk bonds, gold, houses – there’s been tremendous appetite for all. Competition for the brightest ideas […]
It’s Not Just About Who Sits in the Oval Office…
The stock market has a knack for proving investors wrong and this year is no exception. How, many of our clients have asked, can the market continue to advance in the face of such extreme electoral turmoil? The thinking here is not entirely off-base. Presidents wield tremendous influence over the fiscal and regulatory policies that […]
Thin Reeds in the Fog…
Back in the 1970s a market commentator used the term ‘Thin Reeds’ to describe an event, not yet clearly visible, which could be a big surprise in the future. One surprise today could be the sustained decline in the dollar. The dollar has been weak this year (see chart below). Over the past six months […]
Navigating Medicare: As Tricky As Staying Healthy…
Rube Goldberg the American inventor and cartoonist was famous for drawing complicated gadgets performing simple tasks. Our health care system is very Rube Goldbergesque. Medicare has not gotten any simpler; in fact it has gotten a lot more complex since its founding in 1965. Medicare does not as of yet include every letter in the […]
Threats Are Everywhere…
It’s been said that everyone’s social security number probably has been compromised and is somewhere out there on the dark web. While we can’t know for sure, more than one security expert has said it’s a safe assumption that your identity data has been stolen at least once and more likely, multiple times. In other […]
History Does Not Repeat Itself. Man Always Does. – Voltaire…
A quick search on Amazon reveals no fewer than 416 entries on Investor Psychology. These titles cover the range – everything from how to day trade for a living to academically focused studies of investor behavior. Morgan Housel’s just released book, The Psychology of Money, is a welcome change from most books on the subject. […]
What’s Trending In China Today?…
Six decades ago during the ‘Four Pests’ Campaign in China all conversation would stop if you heard the buzzing of a fly. Only after the fly was dispatched would conversation continue. More recently if a Westerner wanted to bring conversation to a halt, all they needed to do was show off a tattoo. Traditional China […]
China And The U.S….The COVID Comeback….How Soon? How Fast?…
In my class on Personal Finance at the University of Vermont I tell students that they are very lucky. America is just 4% of the world’s population but it produces (inside our borders) 25% of everything produced in the world. America is still a powerhouse. But with COVID-19 we have another distinction that is not […]
Breakin’ Up Is Hard To Do…
W e hear all the time from reporters and news anchors how the market has performed. But what exactly do we consider the “market”? There are many options but when it comes to the granddaddy of all market indexes, we need to refer to the Dow Jones Industrial Average or DJIA for short. Created in […]
The Evolution of Energy Markets…
Over most of the last 60 years, oil company holdings were considered a core part of every diversified equity portfolio. While economically sensitive, the general upward trend in global energy consumption meant investors could count on earnings growth to support higher share prices and a steady flow of above average dividends over time. Savvy investors […]
Cash is King or Cash is Trash?..
At the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic it looked like cash was headed for the trash bin. Bills are dirty and who really wants to handle cash every time you make a purchase? Much cleaner and safer to use a debit or credit card. Cash usage did drop slightly this winter and spring as a […]
