If being a successful long-term investor was easy, everyone would be doing it. Building wealth over time is hard. Saving money is hard. Sacrifice is not fun. But as Your Survival Guy, it’s my job to help you through times like these when uncertainty prevails. Your Survival Guy knows investing can be tough when prices are down. Question: Why is it that everyone loves a sale at the store but can’t stomach one with stocks? I learned a long time ago the pain from lower stock prices far exceeds the joy of higher ones. Your key to surviving in times like these is to keep your focus on your own … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2023
Can Banks Compete with Apple Pay and PayPal?
Banks are tired of sharing their customer experience with Apple and PayPal. Now, they want to develop their own digital wallets to compete. AnnaMaria Andriotis reports in The Wall Street Journal: Big banks are teaming up to launch a digital wallet that people can use to shop online. Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and four other banks are working on a new product that will allow shoppers to pay at merchants’ online checkout with a wallet that will be linked to their debit and credit cards. The digital wallet will be managed by Early Warning Services LLC, the … [Read more...]
America’s Super States and Stocks that Respect YOU
When you look at my Super States map, you instantly get a feel for where your freedom is better respected in one state vs. another. Yes, this is a competition. There’s a reason certain regions are more competitive than others. Look at the northeast, for example, a region where politicians always seem to be looking for what you can do for them rather than the other way around. It’s why my favored New Hampshire stands out as a beacon for freedom. And when the northeast is compared to, for example, Florida, it's night vs. day. Dear investor, look at the carnage in the tech industry with … [Read more...]
Markets Are Calling the Fed’s Bluff
Market participants don't believe Fed officials' assertions that the central bank will maintain its course and continue raising rates. Kate Duguid and Colby Smith report in the Financial Times: Investors and Federal Reserve officials are at odds over the path of US interest rates this year, widening a gap between the forecasts of policymakers and market expectations. Markets suggest the central bank will back off and reverse its months-long campaign to raise interest rates, the most aggressive since the 1980s. Senior Fed officials insist it will hold firm. The divergence reflects … [Read more...]
Don’t Let Your Lazy Cash Eat all Your Food
With bond yields this high and considering you might have some lazy cash still sitting around doing nothing, isn’t it time to put it to work? It’s been a while since we’ve seen full faith and credit treasuries with yields this high. Let’s not get into the prediction business. Will the Fed raise rates further? Will it be forced to cut later this year? Not my concern. My concern is you building a portfolio focused on generating income. Action Line: When inertia gets in the way, the result could be another year of your lazy cash sitting on your couch and eating all your food. Instead, put … [Read more...]
How Will China’s Economic Reopening Affect Global Inflation?
As the world's second-largest economy reopens, analysts are trying to determine how its economy will affect the trend of global inflation. Paul Hannon reports for The Wall Street Journal: China’s abandonment of its zero-Covid policy is good news for global economic growth but it could give a fresh boost to inflation in Europe, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Friday. “The change of this Covid policy will revive the economy,“ said Ms. Lagarde. “That is positive for the rest of the world, but there will be more inflationary pressure.” The comments add to … [Read more...]
ESG Money Managers Are Feeling the Heat
You may be wondering if relatively small measures like GOP states pulling their pension funds from BlackRock can make a difference when the company's business dwarfs any withdrawals. Despite the small relative size of withdrawals by states like Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and West Virginia, CEOs of ESG-pushing money management firms like BlackRock's Larry Fink are paying attention. Fink is distressed that investors don't want their money used to push his personal agenda. Ben Zeisloft reports for the Daily Wire: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink denounced criticism of the ESG movement and expressed … [Read more...]
Invest with Peace of Mind and Comfort
When will the coast be clear, dear investors? Let’s take a minute and think about that question. When investors were gobbling up tech shares at the beginning of this century, the crash that followed was brutal. The phrase "this time it's different," turned out to be wrong. Later that decade, the idea that real estate values "would always go up," also proved to be wrong. What seems to me to be a better bet is to make sure you have an anchor to windward in full faith and credit Treasuries to help get you through thick and thin. Action Line: Hope is not a strategy. Look for safety … [Read more...]
Housing Market Dragging on China’s Economy
China's housing market has gone from growth driver to drag, pulling the economy down despite the country's post-COVID-19 lockdown reopening. Rebecca Feng and Cao Li report for The Wall Street Journal: China’s housing market flipped from being a growth driver to an economic drag in 2022, with sales slumping, prices falling and widespread job losses. The prognosis for this year isn’t much better, compounding Beijing’s efforts to get its economy back on firmer footing. Sales of new residential properties in the country tumbled 28% last year to the equivalent of $1.7 trillion in value terms, a … [Read more...]
Forty Years Ago, Jogging a Mile a Day and Still Going
“Forty years ago. After getting out of bed, I jogged a mile on the streets of LA to make my 29-year-old self feel better,” begins Dan Shaugnessy, long-time sports columnist for The Boston Globe. “And I never stopped. One mile a day. A four-decade, slow-motion grind that has taken me more than 14,500 miles, across America and back — twice! Practically Gumpish.” You know Your Survival Guy is a big fan of compounding. Literally putting one foot in front of the other can create miracles for investors. I’m living proof of that. You don’t need to run a marathon a day to do it. Shaugnessy … [Read more...]