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

Changing Manners

My parents always told me NEVER to discuss religion, politics, or the best way to raise children. That has never been more true. In overly-opinionated America, nobody cares what you think anyway, because they already know you are WRONG! Whether you are right or wrong, could you ever – EVER – convince your neighbor that either President Biden needs to resign or maybe, former President…

Cure for Insomnia ?

Presidential debates are held every four years. Oscars are presented annually. Which is more important? The objective of Oscars is to drive ticket sales, and the objective of debate are to drive votes. One honors movie-making, while the other encourages myth-making. One cares more about foreign sales than foreign policy. Of course, nobody ever confused the Presidential debate with a fashion show? I have never…

God Save Stonehenge!

When do good intentions go bad? Anybody who has ever visited Stonehenge in England has experienced a sense of wonder – how did such large stones/rocks get carved and especially how did they get moved so far by such primitive peoples? What is the architectural significance? Why circular? What religious/cultural significance does it hold? Why no written record of the people/artisans? I’m confident that none…

Not how, but how much?

When does sympathy become annoyance? I have the greatest sympathy for investors suffering from inflation derangement syndrome. Young investors in particular seem to view inflation as cancer, Covid, and venereal disease at the same time. Inflation is bad enough without the hysteria! All that’s understandable, I guess, but what is annoying is this – why the assumption that we are helpless to fight inflation? Has…

Respect

You can sometimes respect something done even if you don’t respect those who did it. Narrow respect is different than broad agreement. Last weekend, the Israeli Special Forces rescued four of their citizens who had been taken hostage during the October 7th massacre by Hamas at a music festival. Unfortunately, well over 200 civilians were also killed in the rescue operation. Sometimes, doing the right…

A Cherry on Top

Wall Street pundits often marvel that investors pay so much attention to the stock market and so little attention to the bond market. They compare the stock market to the little cherry on top of a huge ice cream sundae or the bond market. Investors fret about the cherry and not the underlying ice cream. The relationship is not always logical. For example, sometimes the…

Dark Humor?

My 100-year-old father always told me to look for the light in the darkness — that the key to living long is to laugh often. Did you know there is a fire engine at the bottom of the English Channel? It was day-three of Operation Overlord as they approached Omaha Beach in Normandy. The landing craft was being loaded. As the fire engine was being…

Five years ago

in my hometown of Virginia Beach . . .A crazy guy killed twelve innocent local folks. The Democrats are wrong and . . .the Republicans are wrong! Democrats complain there are too many guns.Republicans complain there are too many crazy people.Maybe, they’re both right? Too bad neither Democrats nor Republicans can walk and chew gum at the same time. The thoughts, opinions, and emotions in…

“Last Mile”

For years, several companies, like UPS and FedEx, had the ability to move a package thousands of miles overnight, but getting that package delivered to the buyer was the hard part. It was called the “Last Mile Problem.” Then, Amazon came along and solved that problem. Maybe, we should hire Jeff Bezos to eliminate the last vestiges of inflation? Dropping from 9.3% a year ago…