UPDATE 5.17.22: There’s a lot to like about being self-reliant in times like these or any time for that matter. I wrote this piece for you with that in mind. Originally posted August 16, 2021. You may have noticed that every time America endures a crisis, people start getting back to the basics. Oftentimes that means farming. The Wall Street Journal's Krithika Varagur reports on a new wave of young Americans returning to the land in the wake of the pandemic and violence in the cities. She writes: More young Americans are joining the agriculture sector and changing what it means to work … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2022
Your Survival Guy: “Sell in May, Buy After Labor Day?”
Thoughts from Your Survival Guy: “Sell in May, buy after Labor Day?” Not me. The volatility is what separates the good investors from the great. You don’t need to be a hero, just “Survive and Thrive.” How do you think ESG looks when the lead proponent says it’s OK to change mid-course because of the problems in Ukraine? Isn’t ESG yet another climate change money grab? If you’re stuck in mutual funds and ETFs, the mothership is voting your shares. Don’t let the “woke” vote their politics with your money. Take a look at the top ten holdings of ESG funds. You might be surprised how … [Read more...]
China’s Economy Taking Hit from Zero-COVID Strategy
The draconian lockdowns China is using in its attempts to contain COVID-19 cases are hurting the country's economy, and risk harming the world's. Thomas Hale and Jennifer Creery report for the Financial Times: China’s economic activity contracted sharply in April as a wave of lockdowns across the country posed the most significant challenge to its growth prospects since Covid-19 emerged more than two years ago. Retail sales, the country’s main gauge of consumer activity, slumped 11.1 per cent year on year, compared with forecasts of a 6.6 per cent fall by economists polled by Bloomberg. … [Read more...]
Is Your Financial Advisor Hiding the Truth About ESG?
Is your financial planner, advisor, wealth manager, CPA, CFA, CFP, or whatever else they slap onto their business card on the same page as you? Are you all rowing in the same direction? Have you asked them about ESG, for example? Do they ask you? Because if you don’t know, it’s probably time you do. This is no time to be politically correct when it’s your money on the line. You know where Your Survival Guy stands on ESG. I hate it. And yet, in my conversations with you, a prospective client, you told me you asked your “guy” about ESG the other day, and you didn’t get a straight answer, as … [Read more...]
The Clock is TikTok-ing on Legacy Social Media Platforms
Have you used Tik Tok? It's a social media app owned by a private company based in China. It has attracted a massive userbase at the same time older social media platforms are finding it more difficult to grow. Can Tik Tok keep it going? Laura Forman reports in The Wall Street Journal: If the sun is setting on Facebook, then TikTok is dancing in the moonlight. How long can its short-form video hold consumers’ fickle attention? Just a few years ago, China-based ByteDance’s TikTok was an app for kids, with videos of anthropomorphic pets or freakishly talented children dancing. Now it seems … [Read more...]
PRICES SOAR: Diesel Shortage Could Cripple America’s Economy
Prices for diesel fuel are soaring, and shortages of the critical transportation fuel could leave economies, including America's, in shambles. At MarketWatch, Dan Molinski reports on the fears of a shortage of diesel, writing: One of the U.S.'s largest truck stops, Love's, said Wednesday it is closely watching its diesel fuel supplies in the Northeast amid growing concerns of industry-wide shortages, but said it has no plans to limit purchases. "Love's is monitoring the fluid situation on the East Coast, we have experienced minimal outages during low traffic hours," Oklahoma-based Love's … [Read more...]
CRYPTO: Has the Fire Gone Out?
In The Wall Street Journal, Peter Santilli and Corrie Driebusch write that "Last year cryptocurrencies were on fire and appeared to gain more legitimacy after years of being considered a fringe, speculative product." In the last six months, crypto has lost $1 trillion in market value. It's fair to ask, has the fire gone out? Santilli and Driebusch write: In November, bitcoin and ethereum, two of the most popular cryptocurrencies, reached all-time highs. Bitcoin’s value at 5 p.m. on Nov. 9 was $67,802.30; ethereum was worth $4,800. They are now down 58% and 60%, respectively, from those … [Read more...]
MARKET CHAOS: This May Take Time, Here’s How to Prepare
Do yourself a favor. Take a vacation (everyone else is, trust me). Turn off your phone, your computer, your TV, and take a mental break from your investments for a minute. Because in times like these, and they’re quite the times, it never ceases to amaze me how all of a sudden investors get “serious” about their money. They stay up late, study hard, and pull all-nighters trying to figure it “all” out. Come on. Are you kidding me? One of your greatest assets as a successful, long-term investor is the ability to keep your cool while others lose theirs. And as Your Survival Guy, I’m not going … [Read more...]
The Innovation Bubble Goes Bust
The innovation bubble looks like it has gone bust. The ARK Innovation ETF is down almost 80% from its all-time high. Those are dotcom-type bust numbers. Disruptive technologies that were supposed to change the world have been some of the best performing stocks over the last decade. The hype cycle reached a peak following COVID. Investors heard for years that this breed of disruptive technology firms was different than the dotcom bubble era companies. Why? Because these stocks had real revenues and real cash flows. We would note, no dividends to speak of, but yes there was real revenue and … [Read more...]
Institutional Investors Fall in Love with Oil, Again
By G B Hart @ Shutterstock.com It's been a few years since oil was a favorite of institutional investors, but the hiatus appears to be over. Institutional investors are coming back to energy as it becomes the market's best-performing sector. Gregory Zuckerman reports for The Wall Street Journal: Big investors are starting to warm to energy. For more than five years, endowments, pension funds and other so-called institutional investors shunned the oil-and-gas industry because of big losses and concerns about climate change. Now some investors are coming back as energy emerges as the stock … [Read more...]