The Flinchum File

Thoughtful Economic Analysis and Existential Opinions
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Welcome to The Flinchum File

I am an Accredited Investment Fiduciary at Bay Capital Advisors, an investment firm headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA. After retiring from Truist Bank, I started this firm to work more closely with a smaller number of clients, and it has been great! Our client load is about 25% of the national average.

Writing is not for the shy or the meek. It exposes a person’s mind and character. I hope you enjoy the view.

The opinions expressed in The Flinchum File are those of the writer, Jim Flinchum, and do not necessarily reflect those of Bay Capital Advisors, LLC

One More Time . . .

The most frequent question I get is “So what? Jim, your analysis is interesting, but you don’t say what we should do now.” The reason is that I am not permitted to give investment advice to anybody who is not a client, as well any anybody whose investment needs are not clearly understood. That is the law! In most cases, it’s probably better that I…

The Real Money Boss . . . maybe the only one?

When the financial markets didn’t behave the way he expected, President Clinton famously said “You mean to tell me that the success of the economic program and my re-election hinges on the Federal Reserve and a bunch of xxxxing bond traders?” He was complaining about the bond market, often considered wiser and more exacting than the stock market. Watching the bond market is very important.…

Two Steps Forward and One Step Backward

Yesterday morning, the Commerce Department looked in their rear-view mirror and raised their estimate of this year’s third quarter GDP growth rate. We did better than expected. Yesterday afternoon, the Fed looked thru their windshield and lowered their estimate of GDP growth next year, saying the economy is doing worse than they expected previously. Conflicting economic data makes it tricky to read the market. That’s…

The Wall of Worry

The stock market is always trying to climb a Wall of Worry. Today, the Wall was very tall, indeed! The day began with North Korea rattling a very loud saber. It continued with lots of unrest in Ireland about the pending, distasteful austerity package they have to swallow. It finished with conflicting economic data in the U.S, as well as the realization that our stock…

Attack of the G-Men

Over the weekend, we learned the SEC was launching a major crackdown on insider trading. On Monday, they raided the offices of three hedge funds. Good! After the Global Financial Crisis, the 52% drop in the stock market, and the mysterious Flash Crash in May, it is no wonder that retail investors are distrustful and still on the sidelines, missing this year’s rally. To restore…

The Hidden Inflation

The Fed is justifiably worried about deflation,which is more worrisome and tenacious than inflation. That is the reason they launched the latest round of quantitative easing. Many people don’t see the danger. Even the most recent data shows no serious indication of either inflation or deflation. Yet, if you look deeper, you see the U.S. is becoming bifurcated into one section that is part of…

The Grim Reaper

If you do nothing else today, read the article titled “China’s State Capitalism Sparks a Global Backlash” on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. It is the secret to China’s success and the reason we should be afraid, not merely worried. China has the ability to put the entire force of their nation behind a particular industrial policy. The U.S. cannot even agree…

In Your Eye, Mr. President

It has never happened before. The credit of the United States was downgraded yesterday. While this is considered inevitable if we continue to run such deficits, it was nonetheless a surprise yesterday. But, the timing was interesting. It is not unusual for lots of acrimony before a G-20 Summit. This one is worse than usual. On the eve of the Summit, it was China who…

Don’t Call My Kettle Black!

Regardless of who the President is, he needs a thick skin. Certainly, President Obama does as he begins the G-20 Summit in Korea. It may even be deserved. For years, we have criticized China for maintaining an artificially cheap currency, which helps their exporters. With QE2 or quantitative easing, we are greatly increasing the supply of dollars, which reduces the value of each dollar. Not…

The N-11

Did anybody see the new IMF report raising the estimated GDP growth rate for the 47 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa for the second time this year . . . from 4.5% to 5%? Those traditionally poor nations are growing more than twice as fast as the U.S. Does that bother anybody else? As an economist, it is not surprising, as it takes longer to get…

Enjoy the Ride . . . Again

After a highly eventful week, the stock market is at a two-year high, about the same level as we were when Lehman was allowed to collapse. Nonetheless, that is some three thousand points on the Dow — below our all-time high in 2007. The market is still down 21% from those heady days. Think back to last Spring when the market was moving up daily.…

An Economist’s Lament

The study of economics has always been an enjoyable intellectual pursuit. There are lots of arcane terms and inside jokes that economists enjoy discussing and sharing. But, it seems we have reached a tipping point where economics is becoming polluted by politics, and I’m sad about that. Should I parse my thoughts to support one political side over the other? As I’ve said many times,…

Good Jobs Report . . . finally

The most important monthly economic report each month is the “Jobs Report.” The last few months, the report has shown a sadly weak economy, producing few jobs. Voters took the President to task for that on Tuesday. Today, the Labor Department announced that the private sector created 159 thousand jobs, twice what was expected. This was great news, and the Dow futures immediately jumped 40…

Fire Up the Printing Presses . . . Again

Today, the Fed announced another round of quantitative easing, which means they will buy Treasury bonds, which means the Treasury then gets that amount of money ($75 BILLION per MONTH over the next 8 months) deposited into Treasury’s checking account, which Treasury can then use to write checks for Social Security, infrastructure, anything . . . even interest payments to the Fed for having bought…

Political Pundit George Carlin ?

I think the late comedian was the first to describe our electoral process as “political masturbation”, a very intense, focused effort to accomplish nothing. The Libertarian view is that elections merely change the Masters, with the slaves remaining the same. It is just a different set of thieves. Maybe, that’s a little cynical. OK, that’s a lot cynical. Wall Street traditionally likes divided government, and…

Election Day . . . Finally!

In this world of 24/7 cable news, which spin the news as well as report the news, it is easy to become both confused and depressed. Therefore, I recommend a disinterested foreign perspective to balance the right-wing Fox News and the left-wing MSNBC. Religiously, I read The Economist, a newsweekly magazine from England and recommend it. Sometimes, it is helpful to read things like this,…