I’ve been studying some new research out of Brigham Young University, of all places.  As you know, the world of stocks is divided into the stock of small companies, middle-sized companies, and large companies.  Those stocks are called small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap. Stocks are further dividend into two “styles:”  growth or value.  Growth stocks have … Continue reading Correct . . . until it is not

One of the main reasons I retired from banking was that it seemed the bank’s most “difficult” customers were usually assigned to me.  So, when I started my own practice after retiring, the first rule was “No jerks allowed!”  If I didn’t like a client personally, they could not be my client.  The downside is … Continue reading Godspeed, Chuck!

One of my favorite fictional non-persons is Count von Count on Sesame Street.  He has obsessive-compulsive behavior and must count everything, e.g., the number of blades of grass in a yard or trees in a forest or clouds in the sky.  He should have been an economist, who try to measure everything and explain only … Continue reading A Migraine for the Count

As expected, resolution of the Cypriot crisis went down to the wire, and disaster was just barely averted.  In addition, the widely-anticipated shutdown of the U.S. government scheduled for this Wednesday has also been averted, but only to increase the importance and risk of the next debt ceiling increase in a few months.  The European … Continue reading Crisis du Jour

It was a clear, pleasant summer day on June 28th, 1914 as Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were being driven in their open car in Sarajevo, when he was assassinated by young Gavrilo Princip.  A month later, Europe plunged into World War I.  That assassination was the burning match thrown into the gasoline. Not to … Continue reading Who Spilled the Gasoline?

Like all human beings, existentialists are complex, but the most obvious characteristic is their dispassionate disrespect for death.  Seeing death as a normal part of life, existentialists think of death . . . like Peggy Lee thought of love — “Is that all there is?” Through the haze of religious Faith and the passage of … Continue reading Are Existentialists “Born This Way” ?

In 1992, I was in Switzerland on business, staying at the elegant Hotel des Bergues in Geneva, where I met a man who wanted me to invest with him in starting a bank in Cyprus.  More amused than interested, I listened to him explain an almost wild-west environment for banking in that tiny island nation. … Continue reading Russia’s Cypriot Subsidiary?

I don’t need any meddlesome busybody from New York City trying to run my life for me.  So, Mayor Bloomberg is not on my “best-friends-for-life” list.  He is trying to violate MY personal options, by outlawing super-large sugary drinks, like Coke. Last Friday night, my wife and I enjoyed a night out on the town. … Continue reading Their Choices vs My Money

Let’s see . . . I could just shoot my foot with a pistol, but that’s not very innovative.  Maybe, I could use a rifle to ricochet off a rock before hitting my foot.  No, let’s be really stupid!  How about taking a machete and chopping off 9.9% of my foot? That is how the … Continue reading Innovative Stupidity

The stock market has been very bullish since Christmas.  Maybe, it is too bullish and needs to “bump along” for awhile before resuming its climb? It has behaved relatively normal since its March, 2009 low.  Compare it with some other market rallies: You’ll notice the current rally most closely tracks the rally following Nasdaq’s dot.com … Continue reading Even Bulls Should Rest

One of our speakers this week said there is a difference in the way older clients use the term “asset allocation” and the way financial advisors use that term. Older clients use the term to reflect their risk appetite.  A client with a high appetite for risk might have 90% of his portfolio in stocks, … Continue reading Speaking The Language of Risk

There are two types of stock analysts on Wall Street, i.e., buy-side analysts and sell-side analysts.  If an analyst works for a mutual fund, he is looking for good stocks to buy and is called a buy-side analyst.  If he works for a brokerage house, he is probably looking for good new stocks to sell … Continue reading Talking His Book . . . or not?