Last year, orders for manufacturing technologies hit a new record, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology. In 2021, manufacturers purchased an all-time high of $5.9 billion worth of manufacturing technology. Industry Week reports: According to AMT, the later half of the year in particular saw orders increase dramatically. August through December 2021, the association reported, saw a streak of orders breaking $500 million each month, the first such five-month streak on the agency’s records. In total, the $5.9 billion spent on manufacturing technology in 2021 was more $2 … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2022
KNOW THYSELF: How Much Risk Can You Handle?
OK, you should have received your January statements by now, and probably you don’t like the looks of them compared to December’s. Aren’t we all “long-term” investors until there’s a down month? If you find yourself reaching for the phone to call your broker, maybe it’s time you think long and hard about how you’d handle a major hit to the stock market—say a 30% or more reduction—like we’ve seen thrice already this century. Because a down month is a drop in the bucket and might be a good prompt for you to understand your current risk and your tolerance for future risk. In my experience, … [Read more...]
Will Shale Drillers Come off the Sidelines at $100/Barrel?
With oil prices nearing $100 per barrel, many shale drillers may be rethinking their restraint. Since the COVID pandemic collapsed oil prices and demand, shale drillers have consolidated and restrained themselves from drilling too many new wells in what is a dwindling supply of the best producing areas. Now, some may be rethinking that restraint as high prices make increasing production irresistible. Derek Brower reports in the Financial Times: Oil’s vault above $95 a barrel is tempting US shale energy executives to fire up drilling rigs in search of more crude, risking the wrath of Wall … [Read more...]
Elon Musk Has Been Vocal About Freedom, But Is Still Putting a Tesla Design Center in China
The amount of pro-freedom messaging coming from Elon Musk's Twitter feed lately has been a welcome sight, but his decision to put a Tesla design center in Beijing makes his position puzzling. Yang Jie discusses Tesla's plans in The Wall Street Journal, writing: Tesla Inc. TSLA +4.35% is placing a design center in China’s capital, according to a Beijing government document. The electric-car maker had said it would build a design-and-engineering center to develop China-designed vehicles for the global market, but hadn’t said where the center would be. A list of key projects in the Beijing … [Read more...]
CAPE FEAR: Investors Paying Nearly Record Prices for Earnings
Judging by the popular CAPE ratio, investors are paying prices for earnings from publicly traded companies near their all-time highs. Jason Zweig reports in The Wall Street Journal: Robert Shiller, a finance professor at Yale University, who won a Nobel Prize in economics in 2013, measures how expensive stocks are by taking the price of the S&P 500 index, dividing by the average of its past 10 years of earnings and adjusting both the price and the earnings for inflation. The gauge is known as the cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratio, or CAPE. And, by that yardstick, stocks were … [Read more...]
It’s Still Risky to Retire Early
Despite all the money you may have made in the stock market lately, it's probably still to risky to retire early. During an elevated market, it may seem like a great choice to retire. But what if the market dips over 30%, or 40%, or even 50%? The threat mega bear markets of this century saw dips just like those. If another one happens, will your portfolio hold up? Anne Tergesen writes in The Wall Street Journal: If you own stocks or real estate, you’re probably richer than you were when the pandemic began. That could put early retirement within reach. Taking such a step is still … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy Remembers this Advice from Grandma
Happy Friday. Have you improved your personal safety and financial situation this week? Have you taken actionable steps to improve your self-reliance and financial independence? Where would your family be without you? It’s sad to think about, but it’s deadly serious business. It’s why your focus on personal safety and finance is so crucial. As Your Survival Guy, much of my day is spent talking with successful Americans like you about their lives and investments. They trust me as a partner in their financial well-being. But a huge part of our talks is how they’re living right now and the … [Read more...]
CIA Has Trove of Data “Outside Its Statutory Framework”
Senators from the Senate Intelligence Committee have raised the alarm over a trove of data kept by the CIA that they call "outside the statutory framework" of the agency. The Associated Press reports: The CIA has a secret, undisclosed data repository that includes information collected about Americans, two Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday. While neither the agency nor lawmakers would disclose specifics about the data, the senators alleged the CIA had long hidden details about the program from the public and Congress. Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich … [Read more...]
The End of COVID-19 is Here: Good Riddance
Good riddance, the end of Covid-19 is here. Don't confuse the end of COVID with the end of medical tyranny, government lockdowns, and other infringements on your freedom—they're here to stay. That is, if we allow them to rule with the constantly politicized "science." It's probably no shock to you, Your Survival Guy reader, that they did this with such ease—a mass inoculation on a scale never before seen in history. You were on the pulse from the very beginning with my COVID series: Stock Market Rocked by Coronavirus Coronavirus Infects Stock Market: Part II Coronavirus Infects … [Read more...]
Homeowners Facing Increasing Headwinds in Biden Economy
As both interest rates and housing prices rise, prospective homeowners are facing an increasingly difficult situation. Nicole Friedman reports in The Wall Street Journal: U.S. housing affordability worsened in the fourth quarter as home prices rose alongside mortgage-interest rates. The Covid-19 pandemic helped spark a nationwide housing boom, with prices rising rapidly in every corner of the U.S. But intense competition has pushed more buyers out of the market, especially at lower price points. Price growth for previously owned homes, which make up most of the housing market, slowed in … [Read more...]