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

Which Freedom?

Which is worse? Herpes or those Plexaderm TV commercials? WRONG! Neither is as annoying as the never-ending coverage of the Presidential campaign(s)! Perhaps, Presidential campaigns are more important than Plexaderm . . . perhaps . . . but they are also even more annoying. It’s not merely the never-ending commercials but also the breathless news (?) coverage that amplifies it . . . and cheapens…

Modern-Day Tulips?

For the last decade or so, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin had enjoyed an illicit love affair on Wall Street. I wrote then that there is nothing you can do with bitcoin that you cannot do with dollars, unless you’re a drug dealer who wants payment in the middle of the night. Since then, I have watched, first with amusement and later with horror, as the younger…

Goodbye, Chuck

I attended the funeral of a friend and neighbor today. A retired Naval captain, he wore that dignity well, and I saluted him. Unfortunately, his fifteen-year-old heart bypass suddenly blew out . . . and he was gone. Watching his small black-draped widow struggling with her tears, one felt her pain and abandonment. Even thought she was surrounded by family, she was utterly alone. Talking…

Sense of Hypocrisy

We Americans are such hypocrites. We say loudly that we love our individual privacy, but we would sell it all for fifty cents. With just your name, I can already find out more about you that your mother knows about you! Think about that for a minute. It scares the hell out of me! It’s not optional. Imagine some big fat cop kicks open your…

Mothers Know Best

I’ll never be as smart as my late mother. Many years ago, she told me that everybody in Washington was a crook. (Okay, thanks Mom?) Some years later, I asked her which are worse – Republican crooks or Democratic crooks? She said she preferred Republican crooks, because they dress nicer that Democratic crooks. (Okay, thanks Mom?) A few years before her death, I asked her…