At Bloomberg, John Authers explains how Apple and other FANG+ stocks are breaking the way active mutual fund managers work. He writes: The FANG phenomenon is adding to the torture for active investment managers, as the latest report into U.S. mutual funds’ holdings from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. illustrates. It is only possible to beat a narrow market like this if you grab on to a few of the big winning growth stocks and hold them. This is a problem, because the Russell 1000 Growth index, popular as a benchmark for mutual fund managers, is reaching record levels of concentration: You can … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2020
The Two Things Trump Should Do To Keep America Great
To keep America great in a lasting way, President Trump’s policy priorities #1 and #2 in a second term should be ending the Fed, and scrapping the personal income tax system in favor of a consumption tax. 1. End the Fed Ron Paul wrote in End the Fed, “A point we learn from this event [ed note: the 1907 banking panic] and every other banking panic in U.S. history is that crises have always led to greater centralization. A system that is mixed between freedom and the state is a shaky system, and its internal contradictions have been resolved not by tending toward a free market but rather … [Read more...]
Is This Time Different for Tech?
Apple is now worth more than $2 trillion, yes trillion. Apple is worth more than the sum of every company in the Russell 2000 index of small companies. Looking at this in terms of employees, there are almost 7 million people employed by the ~2,000 companies that make up the Russell 2000 index. Apple employs a mere 137,000 by comparison. That’s some pig! Exuberance in tech and mega-cap tech shares looks obvious to us. We recently questioned how Apple can be worth more than 3X what it was in 2015 when the company only makes about 6% more than it did in 2015. But Apple isn’t the only … [Read more...]
You Know in Your Gut Why My September RAGE Gauge™ Concludes This
Pre-China virus, anyone who wanted a job could get one. But for some, no matter how loud an economy roars, they’re too lazy to work. For them, any economy is a bad economy because living off your taxed wages is a whole lot easier. Let’s not forget, it’s the Real Americans who create jobs, have a job, or work for the benefit of their family for a lifetime. For them life is hard but it’s worth working for and worth following the virtue of perhaps doing what they must do to make ends meet—not look to someone else to do it for them. Meet the Real Americans, not the lazy ones. Stupid kids are … [Read more...]
Fed Says Greatest Bailout of Investors in History Creates No Moral Hazard
Here comes the propaganda from the Fed research staff. A new research piece from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York claims the greatest intervention and bailout of speculators, leveraged hedge funds, and others who took too much risk or borrowed too much is all roses and butterflies. The researchers claim the Fed’s bailout created no moral hazard. Really? Were these guys huffing paint fumes, or is this just another in a long line of propaganda pieces that claim everything the Fed does makes the world a better place? One hopes it was only the latter, but it's difficult to distinguish … [Read more...]
Looking to ReFi? You May not Get Those Record-Low Rates Everyone’s Talking About
You are your most valuable asset. I explained to you the mental checklist you should examine when setting goals. First on that list was being out of debt. In America that usually means owning your home, outright. I suggested you get rid of your mortgage, or at least do a refi to a 10 or 15-year mortgage that will make you a real homeowner sooner rather than later. The financial media have been shouting from the rooftops about the record low mortgage rates available today. But you need to be careful if you're pursuing a refinance mortgage. Ben Eisen explains at The Wall Street Journal … [Read more...]
The 1 Million Mile Battery
Tesla is rumored to be coming out with a 1 million mile battery that will be announced in September. Is this a game-changer for Tesla? Well no, there are other firms coming out with the same type of technology. They just aren’t as promotional or don’t have the same cult-like following as Tesla. The Economist has the details. Producers are now, though, planning to go much further than that, with the launch of “million mile” (1.6m kilometre) batteries. Zeng Yuqun, the boss of Contemporary Amperex Technology, a giant Chinese firm which produces batteries for a number of carmakers, said in … [Read more...]
Why You Are Your Most Valuable Asset
You have the unique ability to understand your financial situation if you can take emotion out of the equation. But unless you have an investment counselor you speak with regularly, that's a hard ask. We all get a little uptight when it comes to our money. I'm here to help you breathe a little deeper and to gain some much-needed focus. Here are my top five boxes for you to check as a mental exercise for goal setting. You'll know which ones apply to you. ☐ You're out of debt. You own your home. You and I know homeownership is an expensive endeavor. The cash goes out the front door, … [Read more...]
California’s Power Failure is a Preview of the Green New Deal
If you want to get a glimpse of what the Green New Deal will do to America, then take a look at California. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board writes: Electricity blackouts are awful at any time, but especially during an extreme heat wave and for reasons that are man-made. That’s what millions in California have been enduring in recent days, and their plight is a warning to the rest of America about the risks of Green New Deal policies. The California Independent System Operator (Caiso), which manages the state’s power grid, declared a high-level emergency Friday and Saturday … [Read more...]
Will Fortnite Lead an App Store Revolt?
Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has opened up a battle with Apple and Google over the fees they charge in their app stores. Will Epic lead a revolt against policies that many developers feel are unfair? Sarah E. Needleman reports for The Wall Street Journal: Apple and Google yanked “Fortnite,” one of the world’s most popular videogames, from their app stores in an escalating battle over the fees they charge developers to distribute their software and process in-app purchases. The conflict reflects growing pushback against Apple Inc.’s AAPL +0.60% App Store … [Read more...]