Real estate firms Opendoor, Offerpad, and Zillow are developing services that purchase homes, improve them slightly, and then flip them to new buyers using apps to do most of the sales work. In my series Dead or Alive? The Future of Long-Term Investing, I questioned the benefits of using robo-advisors in place of real, warm-blooded, human beings. As I wrote then, what happens in a crisis; "We’ll see how well they do when markets crater and the phone lines light up like a Christmas tree. It’s happened twice already this century, and that’s when it matters most." The question is now, are … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2019
Would You Hire an Advisor to Buy Your Next Car?
Raise your hand if you enjoy the car buying experience? Anybody? The consumer car buying experience is widely regarded as one of the worst there is. The Internet has made things a little bit easier, as you can now do some basic research so you don’t have to walk blindly into the dealership, but the dealer still has the upper hand. If you try to negotiate a price on your trade-in for example, the dealer will budge less on the new car you are trying to buy. If you are leasing, the dealer may give you a good price on the new car and your trade, but he’ll jack up the lease … [Read more...]
Has the Fed Lost Control of Short-term Interest Rates?
Phil Gramm and Thomas R. Saving make the case in The Wall Street Journal that the Fed Funds rate is no longer in the driver's seat of the monetary policy car, and that instead the rate the Fed pays on excess reserves has become much more important. With that rate guided by movements in Treasury markets, the authors wonder if the Fed has lost control of short-term interest rates altogether. They write: The rate the Fed pays on reserves has eclipsed the fed-funds rate as its key monetary tool, with a much more direct influence over the money supply. If the interest rate on reserves is set … [Read more...]
United Technologies Flees Connecticut’s Poor Management for Massachusetts
The Wall Street Journal's editorial board explains the Connecticut strategy succinctly when it writes "Thus we have Connecticut’s business model: Raise costs for everyone and then leverage taxpayers to provide discounts for a politically favored few." By raising taxes on all corporations and individuals, Connecticut makes owning a small business very difficult. If a major corporation can lobby for better tax treatment, small businesses are even less capable of competing. Small businesses are the powerhouses of the American economy, putting them at a disadvantage to big corporate interests … [Read more...]
Is Never Ending Stimulus the New Normal?
Many astute market observers maintain the central banks are never going to be able to stop printing money and stimulating. The Fed finished its wind-down of QE in September, but quickly shifted back to a dovish stance in January. The ECB ended its bond buying program in December, but today assured markets more stimulus is on the way. Those market observers predicting never ending stimulus are looking more and more correct. The BOJ, BOE, and Fed all meet this week. Expect more of the same. Paul Gordon and Piotr Skolimowski report for Bloomberg: European Central Bank policy … [Read more...]
June RAGE Gauge: Gold Shines as Investors Seek Safe Haven
My latest RAGE Gauge reading is in, and while perceived risk is down from last month, it’s still not pretty. What caught my attention is the noticeable bump in gold as investors seek safe haven investments. Remember though, while the yellow metal is an important component of a diversified portfolio, its lack of income or dividend payments make it an expensive asset for too much of your retirement money. Originally posted on Your Survival Guy. … [Read more...]
The End of Made in China?
Corporations are being forced to rethink their global supply chains, which for decades have relied on China as a foundation. With tariffs on China from the United States taking a bite, some manufacturers are looking for places to move production. Bloomberg's Cindy Wang reports: Giant Manufacturing Co. saw the writing on the wall early on. The world’s biggest bicycle maker started moving production of U.S.-bound orders out of its China facilities to its home base in Taiwan as soon as it heard Donald Trump threaten tariff action in September. “When Trump announced the plan of 25% tariffs, we … [Read more...]
Surprise! Even Kids Don’t Like YouTube Kids
If I told you kids don't like to be restricted or fed substandard entertainment, would you be surprised? The answer is obviously no, but somehow Google and tech media seem to be taken aback by kids' preference of the main YouTube app over the walled-garden of YouTube Kids. Bloomberg's Mark Bergen and Lucas Shaw report: In late May, the advocacy group Common Sense Media held a summit on “digital well-being.” Attendees gathered inside the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, to debate the long-term effects of apps, services and electronic devices once hailed as revolutionary. … [Read more...]
Retirement is No Fun if You’re Scared, Sick, or Broke
In a great piece in The Wall Street Journal, Glenn Ruffenach answers a question by a retiree who is looking to move. She wants a safe neighborhood, and Ruffenach explains that while most retirees looking to relocate are focused on the fun aspects of life like "climate, lifestyles, housing, shopping, cultural events," they should also be paying attention to things like "taxes, health care—and crime." Face it, if you're scared, sick or broke, it doesn't matter how many restaurants or shows are on Main Street, your retirement isn't going to be any fun at all. Ruffenach continues: Beyond the … [Read more...]
As Businesses Tie Themselves to Facebook, They Wonder is it an Anchor or Balloon?
Visa, Mastercard, and other businesses are incorporating their operations more and more with Facebook, but with all the media scrutiny and scandal surrounding the social network, is it an anchor that will pull them down, or a balloon that will lift them up? Facebook Inc. gained as much as 2.5%, making it one of the few tech names moving higher in early Friday trading, after reports that it’s making progress toward its cryptocurrency ambitions. A group of payments and other companies, including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Uber, agreed to invest about $10 million each in a … [Read more...]