Yesterday, Venezuela was circling the drain.  Britain was tiptoeing to the precipice of Brexit.  Putin threatened the U.S. if we put missiles in Europe.  Trump continued to push China on Trade.  Italy moved closer to bankruptcy.  Genocide continued  in Myanmar.  And, so on . . . So, why did the media focus on some TV … Continue reading DUMB News !

During the last Presidential Administration, Republicans definitely suffered from “Obama Derangement Syndrome.”  Showing stupidity knows no labels, Democrats are now suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”  Just as two wrongs don’t make a right, two stupid attitudes don’t make any sense. Based on an ambiguous 1973 memo, it has been assumed that a sitting President could … Continue reading Don’t Do It !

Recognizing the stock market and the economy are two different things, I am more worried about the stock market this year than the economy, and here’s why: First, automated trading by algorithms is already well over 70% of all trades on the NYSE.  Some estimates are as high as 90%.  There is nothing inherently dangerous … Continue reading 2019

It’s easy to confuse the stock market with the economy.  They are clearly related but still different.  I have compared them to a brother and sister — related but different. Another comparison is to an aircraft carrier and a fighter jet.  The economy is big and lumbering, like an aircraft carrier.  It does not change … Continue reading Brother & Sister

I attended a lecture on this recently and keep thinking about it.  The paradox is that we are living longer but clueless what to do with the extra time.  I know one person whose driving ambition in life was to NOT work.  He is now 95 years old and would be happy to NOT work … Continue reading Longevity Paradox

I’ve had the good fortune to stay in four & five star hotels in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.  Of course, there are always favorite hotels  One of mine has been the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood. FL.  Fifteen years ago, I described it as one of the best hotels in the … Continue reading Hotels and Humans

In 1893, the closed-end fund (CEF) was invented, and financial advisors said “this is better than sliced bread.” In 1924, the mutual fund was invented, and financial advisors said,”this is better than sliced bread.” In 1984, the exchange traded fund was invented, and financial advisors said “this is better than sliced bread.” Recently, “mass personalization” was invented, … Continue reading Mass Personalization

Ask an economist what determines growth in GDP, he/she will tell you it depends on productivity growth and growth in the labor force.  That’s the reason so many economists support increased immigration. While I had not yet read “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Noah Harari, I have already ordered it from Amazon and … Continue reading “The Useless Class” ?

Normally, we look at changes to the stock market that result from changes in the economy.  However, the economy can be changed by what happens on stock market. In the fourth quarter, the Small Business Confidence Index reached an all-time high.  As long as confidence is high, business is more likely to hire additional workers, … Continue reading Less Confident?

According to the Vikings, there are many types of courage.  There is courage on the battlefield.  There is the courage to be ethical in the real world.  There is the courage to be painfully honest with friends.  There is the courage to stand up for your religious belief, as well as non-religious beliefs.  But, the … Continue reading Real Courage

In the third grade, I was picked for the role of Uncle Remus in the school play, due to my heavy southern accent.  I appeared in blackface. In the eighth grade, I was a member of the Key Club, which performed the Can-Can for the entire school.  I appeared in a dress. Why do my … Continue reading Good For The Gander ??

There are numerous pithy sayings about history, e.g., “Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it” — or, “history may not repeat itself, but at least it rhymes.” There are also pithy sayings about market timing on Wall Street, e.g., “So goes January, so goes the year” — or, “the safest year of a … Continue reading Air Pocket Ahead

For a record-breaking 100 straight months, which is long before President Trump took office, the American economy has been producing jobs – lots of them!  Last month, we produced a whopping 304 thousand jobs and have averaged 234 thousand a month for the past twelve months.  Also, individual earnings are up, and more workers are … Continue reading 100 Straight . . .

For the next day or so, Ralph Northam is still the governor of Virginia.  While we are not friends and he does not know my name, we have met several times and kidded each other about marrying girls from Texas.  I know him only as a nice guy and a veteran who cared enough to … Continue reading R.I.P. Ralph

After one of the worst December’s in history, it was followed by one of the best January’s in history. The S&P was up 8.01% in one month.  (Of course, it is still down 2.31% over the last twelve months, attributable almost entirely to the disastrous December.)  MidCap stocks were up 10.46% and SmallCaps were up … Continue reading Head-Spinning

When cigarette companies report record profits, do you celebrate that they are selling so many cigarettes and that more people are getting lung cancer?  Of course not! Yet, that is the way I see the record profits reported yesterday by Facebook and other tech giants.  Does anybody say it’s really great that more privacy is … Continue reading Surveillance Capitalism

Did you ever wonder about the relationship between the economy and the elected children in Washington?  Of course, you did! Normally, consumer confidence increases as the job market improves.  However, even with a continuing good job market. consumer confidence has fallen for three straight months.  This is unusual.  Three months ago, consumer confidence was approaching … Continue reading Waning Confidence ?

I respect and appreciate whatever religion, spiritual faith, or philosophy that helps a person to find meaning or serenity in life.  Recently, I took an elderly person to their church, as they were too feeble to attend by themselves.  While I would never jump up to interrupt a service in anybody’s church, it was difficult … Continue reading Co-Equal Evil

Feelings are intense about building the Trump Wall, and will remain that way.  But, keep the money in focus! Our national debt is approaching $22 TRILLION.  If interest rates increase a mere one-quarter of one percent on that debt, it will cost us another $55 billion each year. If we would shut down the government … Continue reading Misplaced Passion ?

Generally speaking, increasing money supply causes prices to rise.  “Too many dollars chasing too few goods” is widely accepted as inflationary.  So, after the enormous injections of money by the Fed since The Great Recession, why is there still so little inflation?  A year ago, I wrote there are signs that inflation is breaking out.  … Continue reading Chugging Along Nicely

Despite repeatedly failing the physical exam, I have often been called with a girl’s name of Pollyanna, due to my natural optimism.  Glasses are always half-full, not half empty.  Probably, that optimism derives from my undying love of country, my naive love of democracy, my enormous respect for capitalism or my well-studied belief in globalization.  … Continue reading Half-Empty ?

The three greatest names in investment history are Benjamin Graham, Harvey Markowitz, and Jack Bogle. Benjamin Graham literally wrote the original ground-breaking book on Security Analysis in 1934.  He advocated the accounting or fundamental approach to investing.  You must know all the details of the company’s financial statements.  You must interview management, as well as the … Continue reading R.I.P. Jack Bogle

I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School, but I have zero respect for Goldman Sachs.  Yet, they agree that there will be a significant economic slowdown in 2019 — but NO recession.  They also agree that 2019 faces unusually great political and geopolitical risks, which could easily … Continue reading Strange Bedfellows

One of my favorite thought-leaders is Bob Doll of Nuveen.  He has written six reasons for optimism in 2019 and six reasons for pessimism in 2019.  The six reasons he is optimistic are as follows, with my thoughts in parenthesis: 1.  The economy may be slowing but doesn’t appear headed for recession (Agreed) 2.  Likewise, … Continue reading On The Other Hand . . .

The CFP Board regulates Certified Financial Planners (r) professionals like myself.  They provide the Code of Ethics, which we are required to follow.  The latest version says:   1.  Act with honesty, integrity, competence, and diligence. 2.  Act in the client’s best interest. 3.  Exercise due care. 4.  Avoid or disclose and manage conflicts of … Continue reading Code of Ethics

It is not everyday that both Republicans and Democrats will agree with Maxine Waters, the new fiery Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services.  Among other agencies, her committee is responsible for the Securities & Exchange Commission, which has furloughed a whooping 94% of its employees.  There are now less than 300 employees responsible … Continue reading Rare Agreement?

Do you remember the “great dress controversy” in 2015 when a dress appeared to be two different colors.  My wife and I sat next to each other and looked at the dress on TV.  We saw the same dress but each of us saw it in a different color.  I thought it was blue & … Continue reading Flip A Coin ?

Everybody knows there is a difference between the economy and the stock market, but they are so closely related – think brother & sister – closely related but still different.  Wearing my economist hat, I see good data points follow good data points.  Yes, the most recent ISM reports slipped slightly but are still very … Continue reading Brother & Sister

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of the King of Troy.  Legend says she had dark brown curly hair and coal brown eyes.  By all accounts, she was extremely beautiful.  In fact, the god Apollo fell in love with her beauty and wanted her as a lover.  They agreed he would give her the … Continue reading Paging Apollo . . . nope!

The stereotype of an existentialist is that of a nerdy, 98-pound weakling who contemplates his navel or broods endlessly about death.  However, existentialists see ourselves as intellectual free spirits, untethered to many burdensome conventions.  The death cult characterization is unfair and stems from our casual attitude toward death.  After all, how can death be important … Continue reading Wisdom of Vikings

If there was even a remote prospect that you could do something to help a sick child, how could you NOT do it?  That’s one of the promises of Big Data – the more data that is analysed, the more we can learn about science and medicine, the more we can help future people.  Seems … Continue reading Big BAD Data

A surprisingly small percentage of people serve in the military, and an even smaller percentage actually experience the horror of war face-to-face.  For others, war can be clean, antiseptic, and even academic. Yesterday, Apple announced that their revenues were suffering due to the trade war.  Suddenly, a trade war is no longer clean, nor antiseptic, … Continue reading tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .

I agree with the President’s new Acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, who famously said “Trump is a terrible human being.”  However, the devil does deserve his due. For decades, China has abused trading relationships with everybody, not just the U.S.  Being reasonable men, Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II, and Obama  assumed that China … Continue reading Good Job, Mr. President

Along with sixty thousand of my closest friends, I had the pleasure of watching the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants in the Meadowlands.  However, whenever there was a change of possession, I noticed there was a lot of just standing around by the players on the field.  To my economist eyeball, that represented … Continue reading Wanted: Another Pentagon

To read my latest column in Inside Business, please go here: https://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/columns/article_5ed0af4e-0ab5-11e9-9a89-cf89b7c2e6bb.html

I firmly believe there are just as many nice people in the Republican party as the Democratic party.  Conversely, I firmly believe there are just as many jerks in the Democratic party as the Republican party.  But, they live and work in parallel universes.  So do their families. My 2019 wish is for the partisan … Continue reading 2019 Wish

We barely hit a bear market, which means the market is down 20% from its high.  It is widely assumed that a bear market signals a recession.  Maybe or maybe not! Of the last thirteen bear markets, there was a recession only 7 times.  There was no recession almost half of the time. From the … Continue reading Take That, Chicken Little !

Wall Street pundits have called the current market correction “a collapse without a cause.”  I agree this December collapse has been illogical but no more illogical than the record 1,086 jump in the Dow during one day.  As I type this, Dow futures are down 344 points.  The individual opinions of economists and analysts did … Continue reading Tech-Dump

The most common question I’m hearing is — “When will the market stop falling?” What they mean is — “When will the pain stop?” Once investors stop asking when the market will bounce back and start asking when the pain will stop, that is a bullish signal. The answer is — “Not this week!”  Mutual … Continue reading When ?

Unfortunately, many parents have had the experience of raising a wayward child.  You spend decades teaching and coaching to the best of your ability.  You are proud of them!  Then, disturbing little signs start to worry you.  Suddenly, she is gone, and you are worried sick.  One day, you see her in the distance, returning home.  … Continue reading Wayward Bull ?

Unfortunately, many parents have had the experience of raising a wayward child.  You spend decades teaching and coaching to the best of your ability.  You are proud of them!  Then, disturbing little signs start to worry you.  Suddenly, she is gone, and you are worried sick.  One day, you see her in the distance, returning home.  … Continue reading Wayward Bull

Both Fox News and The Wall Street Journal are controlled by the same person, Rupert Murdoch.  Watching Fox News, one gets the clear impression that Americans are resoundingly in favor of the President and his goal of building The Wall along the Mexican border.  However, the newspaper reported that, three years ago, 49% of Americans believed … Continue reading Who To Believe ?

As my hair gets whiter and my wrinkles deeper, I find the holiday season less and less interesting. Except for one silly American custom. On Christmas Eve each year, NORAD pretends to track the journey of Santa Claus. They discuss it with great seriousness on television — tongue securely in cheek. NORAD was already doing … Continue reading A Pleasant Memory

My favorite stock in 2018 was Facebook (FB) — not because it did well, but because it did poorly,  losing 30% of its value! Early on, I recognized their business model was to sell the privacy of others, albeit with their “consent.”  The need to connect with others was more important than privacy.  The need … Continue reading Best Loser of 2018

A bear market is usually measured by a 20% drop from its high.  By that measure, the NASDAQ companies are now in the dreaded bear market.  Even worse, the Dow and S&P are close behind.  Investors are understandably frightened.  First, this is not the end of the world.  The stock market will recover! Never forget … Continue reading Bad Timing For A Normal Adjustment

In Part One, we discussed how the supply and demand for bonds impacts interest rates.  In particular, we discussed how Quantitative Tightening (QT) was putting upward pressure on interest rates.  In this part, we’ll discuss how changes in interest rates cause changes in the market value of bonds. Let’s say you bought a new bond … Continue reading Interest Rates — Part Two

If I was under six different investigations and . . . If I worried my kids might go to jail and . . . If people didn’t want to work for me . . . If American banks wouldn’t do business with me and . . . If my allies decided I was unpredictable and … Continue reading Only Human . . .

There are many definitions of interest rates.  One is that interest rates are the price or cost of liquidity.  As liquidity increases, the cost goes down.  (The supply of liquidity is greater than the demand for it.)  As liquidity decreases, the cost goes up.  (The demand for liquidity is greater than the supply of it.) … Continue reading Interest Rates – Part One

Fighting is easy.  Walking away from a fight is difficult. The Federal Reserve is a creature of Congress and can be terminated whenever Congress chooses.  Fortunately, Congress recognizes that independent economic guidance cannot come from either the Executive or Legislative branches of government.  After all, somebody has to guide the economy who cares more about … Continue reading mano-a-mano

I am confident that, if my family depended on it, I would find a way over or under or around or thru any fence.  (Of course, I still remember how to use C-4 plastic explosives, as well as “bangalore torpedos.”)  Assuming that is mere bravado or over-confidence on my part, then a wall on the … Continue reading The Wall