Over the last eight years, the federal government has been on an unprecedented spending spree. Since year-end 2007, federal debt outstanding has increased by more than $10 trillion—a number so large it is hard to even wrap your mind around. But let’s try. According to the Census Bureau there are almost 125.8 million households in the United States. The $10 trillion increase in federal debt equates to almost $80,000 per household. Do you and your family feel like you’ve gotten $80,000 worth of value from the government over the last eight years? For $10 Trillion, the U.S. government … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2017
Can You Trust a Robo-Advisor with Your Money?
Yesterday the S&P 500 dropped by over 29 points (about 1.2%), the largest single day decline so far in 2017. Meanwhile, Olivia Oran explains at Reuters that Goldman Sachs is preparing to put people's life savings in the hands of a computer. Are investors going to rely on this advice when stocks crash? Will they put their financial survival in the hands of an algorithm? We shall see. Goldman isn't alone. Oran writes: Goldman has for years grappled with how to tap into the mass affluent segment, broadly defined as those with less than $1 million in investable assets, without diluting the … [Read more...]
A Warning Sign from the Transport Sector?
Margins are falling in the transportation sector. FedEx miscalculated holiday demand by a long shot, and UPS and FedEx are barely treading water when it comes to keeping up with rapid increases in the demand for e-commerce. Paul Ziobro writes for The Wall Street Journal: Both FedEx and rival United Parcel Service Inc. are struggling to keep pace with the dramatic growth of e-commerce. While more people doing their shopping online is bringing added volume into their networks, both are spending heavily to build out package-sorting centers and automating facilities to handle the extra deliveries … [Read more...]
This Is Why Analysts Are Insincere on Quarterly Earnings Calls
Anybody who has wasted an hour of his life listening to a quarterly earnings conference call will appreciate the piece below from Jason Zweig. Quarterly earnings conference calls are obnoxious. First the management teams regurgitate the press release they just issued to analysts as if the analysts couldn’t read. Then, the analysts get a turn to ask questions. But before each question is asked analysts suck up to management with praise on their astute stewardship for beating quarterly earnings guidance. Guidance that in most cases have been lowered over the course of the prior three … [Read more...]
No Good: Only 41% Try to Make a Retirement Plan
At Bloomberg, Suzanne Woolley writes that only 41% of workers have attempted to determine how much money they'll need to save to retire comfortably. Of those who took a crack at figuring out how much they'd need, 37% say a million dollars or more. Take a look at my chart of the Savings Rate below. You can see that Americans are saving nearly 3% below the long term average today. You can bet most who need a million dollars aren't anywhere near that goal today. Woolley writes: EBRI [the Employee Benefit Research Institute] doesn't have data on how many people actually wind up retiring with a … [Read more...]
Can Wal-Mart Conquer the Amazon?
Despite recent headwinds in Brazil, Wal-Mart is fighting hard to win in the country of over 200 million as it looks for growth in its business overseas. At The Wall Street Journal Samantha Pearson and Sarah Nassauer write: Wal-Mart has said it plans to spend 1 billion reais, or some $320 million, over three years on upgrades to its hypermarkets in Brazil, mostly sticking with a strategy it has followed here for two decades. Wal-Mart’s net sales in the country have been sluggish in recent years compared with its other international markets, falling 4.1% for the three months ended Jan. 31, … [Read more...]
This is How a Startup is Changing the Fashion World with Tech
Over coming decades, artificial intelligence is going to profoundly change the way business is done on a large and small scale. Here the WSJ explains how Stitch Fix, an e-commerce apparel company is using AI to optimize design and sales. Apparel seller Stitch Fix recently introduced a coral, sleeveless blouse with a split neckline—and an unusual creative provenance. It was one of three new tops designed with the help of artificial intelligence. The San Francisco-based e-commerce company, which sends customers boxes of preselected outfits, is leveraging computers to analyze purchasing … [Read more...]
Truck Orders Surging Since November
I wrote to you here that in October trucking companies were ordering trucks at record lows, with not much hope for the 2017 economy. But starting in November orders for new heavy-duty trucks have surged, increasing every month. Jennifer Smith writes for The Wall Street Journal: Many trucking companies trimmed fleets last year as truck capacity outweighed demand from shippers, driving down freight prices. In recent months the freight market has picked back up as manufacturing strengthened and businesses completed inventory adjustments, “so there is more freight to haul,” said Don Ake, FTR’s … [Read more...]
Sick and Tired of Bad Sound Quality, Americans are Coming Home to Vinyl
Becky and I love our vinyl record collection. And we’re not alone. 2015 sales of $416 million were the highest since 1988. Stay tuned for 2016’s numbers. Below Josh Friedlander and Cara Duckworth of the Recording Industry Association of America explain the phenomenon of accelerating vinyl sales. Now that our 2015 sales numbers are out, there is one category that continues to befuddle even the most astute industry observers: vinyl (in a good way, of course). So if you’re one of these observers or a casual music fan doing some research on this waxy format (or both), we thought we’d offer up a … [Read more...]
How to Survive a Stock Market Meltdown
In recent quarters my goal has been to work especially hard at providing investors with intelligence that will keep them safe and dividend-centric during what I consider the inevitable coming stock market meltdown. Stock market meltdown? Absolutely baked into the cake as I write to you, and becoming more of a deep midterm concern for me as time passes. The Fed’s robbing Peter (you and Dick Young) to benefit Paul (international bankers and Wall Street charlatans) program has created the most distorted and manipulated investment environment in my over five decades in the business. What Does a … [Read more...]
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