As Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, attempts to personally buy Twitter in what appears to be an effort to expand free speech on the platform, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided to, coincidentally of course, apply greater scrutiny than ever before to Tesla's autopilot feature. Bloomberg reports: Derrick Monet and his wife, Jenna, were driving on an Indiana interstate in 2019 when their Tesla Model 3 sedan operating on Autopilot crashed into a parked fire truck. Derrick, then 25, sustained spine, neck, shoulder, rib and leg fractures. Jenna, 23, died at the hospital. The … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2022
Intelligence Report: Dollar Destruction, Recession, Inflation, and Happy Easter
Happy Easter. Here’s a rundown of my conversations with you and other thoughts as inflation eats away at the chocolate bunnies: Financial Planning: Yes. I do it. It’s part of my regular conversations. What’s the key ingredient? Y-O-U. Like a four-star Michelin chef, I simply put the dining experience together for you. Are there planners out there who serve you the equivalent of a Happy Meal by just cranking out the food? Yes. Will they make good on the promises falling out of their mouths like crumbs? I’m not so sure. Listen, I’m Your Survival Guy, not your “order’s up, come and get it” … [Read more...]
Amazon Passes Inflation onto Suppliers
Amazon is charging its marketplace suppliers an inflation and fuel surcharge of 5% to compensate the firm for higher costs. That doesn’t sound unreasonable given soaring inflation, but it should be a reminder to all small businesses who hitch their wagon to big dominant marketplaces like Amazon, Facebook, and Google, that when times get tough, smaller partners' margins will be the first to get sacrificed. Etsy is imposing a similar price hike, raising their take of sales to 6.5% from 5%. Etsy sellers are trying to boycott, but Etsy holds all the cards in these relationships. The upshot for … [Read more...]
What Has Your Advisor Done for You Lately?
Does your advisor look at you like a source of revenue or as a valued customer who needs to be treated with the white-glove service you deserve? It’s worth asking, and I’ll get back to that in a minute, but first: What should you do if you’re thinking about retirement or just starting out in the workforce? America’s cities, especially its big blue cities, are a disaster, and that’s a travesty for the country. And I’m not just talking about New York, Chicago, and La La Land—you can add Austin, TX to my list. The one-time beacon of Texas’s economic freedom today resembles any old progressive … [Read more...]
PUMP THE BRAKES: Fed President Says Rates Must Go Higher Faster
St. Louis Federal Reserve bank president, James Bullard calls it a "fantasy" to believe that the central bank can raise rates enough to cool inflation without constraining the economy. Colby Smith reports for the Financial Times: A top Federal Reserve official has warned it is a “fantasy” to think the US central bank can bring inflation down sufficiently without raising interest rates to a level where they constrain the economy. James Bullard, president of the St Louis branch of the Fed, said the central bank needed to be more aggressive in its efforts to root out the highest inflation in … [Read more...]
April RAGE Gauge: The Separation of States Predicted
You can see with your own eyes the separation of states. This isn't Lincoln's Civil War; it's the virtual war of our times. Never in our lifetime has the crossing of borders from blue state to red meant so much for one's freedom. Look at the outcomes from COVID and how it was handled across red states vs. blue. The red states won by a landslide. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board writes: The nearby table shows the state ranking based on a combined score of the three variables. Utah ranks first by a considerable margin over Nebraska and Vermont. The Beehive State scored well across all … [Read more...]
It’s Time to Save More for Retirement
In the Financial Times, Philip Coggan examines the failure of markets to produce expected returns, and the need to save more for retirement than before. He writes: Global equity markets have proved to be remarkably resilient in recent weeks in the face of higher inflation, increases in interest rates and the economic disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But investors still face a long-term problem, as explained by Antti Ilmanen of quant-based investment firm AQR Capital Management in his new book Investing Amid Low Expected Returns. Investors have enjoyed strong realised … [Read more...]
Now Is the Time to KEEP What You’ve Made
You heard me here, here, and here, talking to you about making a plan. I’m not referring to the glossy reports you can get just about anywhere. I’m talking about your number one investment through the years—YOU. You’re the one who’s done the heavy lifting all these years to get to where you are today. It’s been a lifetime of saving and success. There’s a lot to be proud of. Now is the time to make sure you keep what you’ve made and look for a company that’s been around the block a time or two. As my father-in-law, Dick Young, writes: The Magic of Compound Interest Back in 1964, I began a … [Read more...]
Can the Fed Avoid Catastrophe?
Can the Federal Reserve avoid an economic catastrophe while offloading billions in bonds from its balance sheet? Colby Smith and Kate Duguid report in the Financial Times: After months of debate, the US Federal Reserve has a plan to shrink its $9tn balance sheet as it tries to tighten monetary policy and tackle the highest inflation in decades. Details of the plan were contained in minutes from the latest policy meeting in March, when the Federal Open Market Committee implemented the first interest rate increase since 2018 and signalled its intention to continue raising it to a “neutral” … [Read more...]
Here’s What Successful Planning Looks Like in a Disaster
You may remember back in 2018, when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, devastating the island and its infrastructure. And you may remember when in January 2020, the people of Puerto Rico suffered again after being hit by a violent earthquake. Needless to say, the island has been a case study in survival. After enduring so many disasters, Puerto Ricans have learned that self-reliance is the only way. Now the islanders have suffered another disaster, albeit not quite as severe. But their response shows how much the island has learned about resilience. On Wednesday, April 6, a fire hit one of the … [Read more...]