After hackers stole digital currency assets from South Korean currency exchange Coinrail recently, the question must be asked, can bitcoin and other crypto-currencies be safe? The problems don't seem to lie in the blockchain technology, but instead in the exchanges that provide servicing to crypto-currency users. This isn't the first time an exchange has been hacked, or even the second or third time. So users must take into account the idea that the place housing their crypto-currencies may not be altogether safe. Can you imagine a rash of bank robberies in your town, but without any FDIC … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2018
Remember the BRICs
It wasn’t too long ago that the favored acronym of many investors was BRICs. BRICs refers to Brazil, China, Russia, and India. The BRIC countries were supposed to offer profound promise to investors. They had resources, mostly young populations, and rapid growth. With such rapid growth ahead, the BRICs were a sure thing. Of course, things haven’t turned out as rosy as the bullish consensus believe at the peak of BRICs mania. The chart below shows the performance of the MSCI BRIC index. The BRICs have had a lost decade. The MSCI index peaked in 2007, and remains more than 30% below its high … [Read more...]
Facebook: “A Giant Blood-Engorged Tick Hanging off Your Frontal Lobe”
“Designed to be addictive, Facebook feels like a giant blood-engorged tick hanging off your frontal lobe,” writes Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. You may recall, Taibbi coined Goldman Sachs as a “[G]reat vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.” In his piece on Facebook, where the median salary is $240,430, Taibbi makes a case for breaking-up the band which is more like a cult. What is it like to be on the inside of Facebook’s corporate walls? Former senior Facebook worker Antonio Garcia Martinez wrote the book, Chaos Monkeys, in a way that Michael Lewis did about his time … [Read more...]
Pipeline Delays force Oil by Rail in Canada
Delays in building new pipelines from Canada's oil sands fields have generated record shipments of oil-by-rail in May in Canada. The Edmonton Sun reports: New data from the National Energy Board shows Canadian oil companies shipped an average of 198,788 barrels of oil per day on railway cars in May, the latest month for which data is available, marking a record high and a 42 per cent increase over the 130,916 bpd shipped on rail in the same month a year earlier. Over the same period, Canadian oil production is expected to have risen to 4.5 million bpd, from 3.9 million bpd according to an NEB … [Read more...]
Common Social Security Myths Debunked
For a government program, Social Security is complex. There are many rules and just as many misconceptions. Fidelity debunks five common social security myths. We list the myths below. You can read why they are incorrect by following the link below. Myth #1: You must claim your Social Security benefit at age 62 Myth #2: You can claim early, then get a "bump up" once you reach full retirement age Myth #3: Your monthly Social Security benefit could be reduced or denied if your ex-spouse claims Social Security in a certain way Myth #4: Your benefits are only based on wages that you've earned … [Read more...]
Why Does Healthcare in America Cost so Much?
In a piece for The Wall Street Journal, Joseph Walker attempts to understand why Americans pay so much for healthcare by examining a number of charts. The short version of his conclusion is that Americans aren't buying much more healthcare than other OECD consumers, but they are paying more for what they get. He writes: The U.S. spends more per capita on health care than any other developed nation. It will soon spend close to 20% of its GDP on health—significantly more than the percentage spent by major Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations. What is driving costs so … [Read more...]
You Need to Know that Changes are Coming to Your Savings Plan
Congress is actively seeking ways to encourage more small businesses to use retirement savings plans. That's a good thing for America's savers. But be wary that the bill may also encourage greater use of annuities, which I have warned readers about repeatedly (see here, here, and here for a sample). The bill will also encourage greater use of 401(k)s, which like annuities, can also come bearing hefty fees. For many savers too, borrowing against the money in their 401(k) account can be a tempting but risky option. Richard Rubin and Anne Tergesen report on the bill in The Wall Street … [Read more...]
Are You One of the Many Investors Wasting Your Time?
If there’s one thing investors do to waste a lot of their time, it is comparing the performance of their portfolios to the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. These indexes have little in common with any well balanced and well diversified portfolio. They simply aren’t good proxies for conservative, retired or soon to be retired investors to use for their investments. In December 2004 I called the practice a big waste of time. I maintain that view today. I wrote then: A Big Waste of Time One of the most inane exercises carried out by professional and amateur investors alike is … [Read more...]
The Richest Zip Code in America
You can only reach the richest zip-code in America by water taxi or ferry. It is Fisher Island, filled with athletes, models and business people, it sits off the coast near Miami as a beacon of exclusivity. Shelly Hagana and Wei Lu report in TIME that: The 216-acre island has diverse residents, representing over 50 nationalities and professions ranging from professional athletes and supermodels to executives and lawyers. The average income in Fisher Island, ZIP code 33109, was $2.5 million in 2015, according to a Bloomberg analysis of 2015 Internal Revenue Service data. That’s $1 million … [Read more...]
New York to London in 3 Hours
Super sonic jets are making a comeback. Boom Supersonic plans to deliver 2,000 supersonic jets by 2025. The cost of a one-way ticket will be about $2,600, almost the same as a business-class ticket today. Fang Block reports: But today, “supersonic flight is coming back and reshaping the aircraft industry,” Vik Kachoria, chief executive of Spike Aerospace, tells Penta. “The future is tremendously exciting.” Kachoria’s Boston-based company is developing the S-512, an 18-passenger luxury supersonic aircraft that took its second test flight this April. Spike is expected to deliver the S-512, … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- Next Page »