You’re telling Your Survival Guy about your recent fly fishing float trip to Wyoming, where your guide said, “We don’t wear masks around here.” Yet another reason I love the big, red, Cowboy State of Wyoming. Contrast Wyoming with NYC, and you realize the importance of having some space to move around. The same client tells me he booked a summer house on the Cape months ago but said it was a challenge booking for the fall. Your Survival Guy’s take: Welcome to the extended summer vacation and the extended spending to follow. But will the tap be dry this time next year? You’re telling me about … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2021
What Inflation? Rents Hit 14-Year High
While the Fed can't seem to find enough inflation to quench its thirst, Americans are paying the highest rents they've paid in 14 years. Bloomberg reports: Rents for single-family homes in the U.S. climbed to the highest level since September 2006 as the pandemic pushes Americans to seek out more space. Rent jumped 4.3% in March compared with a year earlier, according an index from CoreLogic Inc., led by double-digit increases in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. Housing costs are surging across the U.S., adding to concerns about rising inflation as vaccination campaigns and falling Covid-19 … [Read more...]
Time to Prepare: Big Time Summer Migration is On
Time to prepare. The summer migration is on, big time. The threat of gas shortages has everyone running on a full tank of 87 octane, preparing to cram two summers into one as if there’s a BOGO deal. Everyone’s going to the beach with loaded coolers and hot heads. Pay attention because nerves are frayed. You’re telling me traffic on I-95N is crazy, hotel prices are up, and if you don’t have a reservation, good luck finding a room. The help wanted signs are everywhere as anxious patrons (that’s being too kind) wait impatiently to be served. Is there any wonder workers are taking the summer … [Read more...]
Quantum Computing “Super Powers” Put Under Microscope
Will quantum computing seem like reading the future? In the Financial Times, Izabella Kaminska reports that as quantum computing approaches, banks are preparing for the "super powers" the technology will give them. She writes: If you had a sports almanac from the future as did Biff Tannen, the brutish bully of the time-travelling Back to the Future movie trilogy, how might you be inclined to take advantage of the foresight buried within it? The obvious temptation would be to place sure bets in the market that make you rich. In Biff’s case, the wealth is then used to change the world into a … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy’s Conversation with Gov. Scott Walker
You can imagine Your Survival Guy’s surprise when my cell phone rang while Becky and I were driving to dinner. Not recognizing the number, I picked up anyway. “Hi E.J., this is Scott Walker.” • You may recall it was Gov. Walker whose yeoman’s work broke the back of the unions and collective bargaining in Wisconsin. Now he’s the president of Young America’s Foundation whose mission is: “[E]nsuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.” Gov. Walker and I … [Read more...]
Netflix Finally Feeling the Competition
For years it seemed like legacy media just couldn't get it together to compete with upstart Netflix. Now, that time may be over. Anna Nicolaou reports in The Financial Times: Heavy is the head that wears The Crown. Once a scrappy upstart of the TV industry, Netflix has become the king of streaming with 208m subscribers — nearly half of the world’s total excluding China. But the latest round of quarterly results from media companies, which concluded on Thursday night with figures from Disney, has shown that the disrupter is now firmly in the role of defensive incumbent. Three of the … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy: Kicked to the Street in Boston
Yesterday, a Wednesday in May, clients were in town. The Mooring restaurant in Newport, RI, was packed. I looked to see if there was a graduation. No, just a nice day. Imagine what 4th of July, the official start of summer in Newport, is going to look like. As an aside, I checked out Clarke Cooke House after my meeting to book a table for any Friday or Saturday night. No go. They’re booked well into June—as far out as Resy was accepting them. Better call direct. How about the dining experience? Yesterday, excellent. But, on a recent trip to Boston, we learned you need to guard your table … [Read more...]
Biden’s Plan Taxes Like Never Before
In The Wall Street Journal, Phil Gramm and Mike Solon lay out the case against broadly applying high marginal tax rates on wealthier Americans. They make it clear that what is being proposed by the Biden administration is unlike anything that has been done before in America. Even though the nominal marginal rate will not be the highest ever, it will apply to a much broader swatch of taxpayers. They write: With deficits at levels not seen since World War II, the March $1.9 trillion stimulus only beginning to spend out, and President Biden calling for significantly higher marginal tax rates to … [Read more...]
Fidelity and the Flight to the Suburbs
Back in February, I wrote to you about how I started in the institutional research and trading investment business at Model Roland & Co. on Federal St. in Boston in August 1971. Just up the street from Model were Fidelity Investments, and Wellington Management, both of whom I called on from my very first hours on the job. Over five decades ago, Ned Johnson, aka “Mister Johnson,” ran the show at Fidelity. At Wellington, Jack Bogle, “Mr. Mutual Fund,” had not yet left Wellington to start Vanguard. My focus in the initial going was international research and trading, and remains so … [Read more...]
All Shooting Stars Burn Out Eventually
In The Wall Street Journal, Spencer Jakab cautions investors against joining "star managers," who have already had their biggest gains. He uses ARK Invest's Cathie Wood as an example. He writes: Just as unusual as ARK Invest’s marketing has been its performance, growing its assets more quickly than any active exchange-traded fund firm in history. Cathie Wood’s firm went from about $3.5 billion under management across several funds shortly before the pandemic struck to hit the $50 billion mark a year later. But that rapid growth has come back to bite her investors. Even after a major tumble … [Read more...]