Back in 1994, Your Survival Guy, a recent Babson College graduate, decided to put his diploma to work, and hopped on a plane to Greece to spend some time with a fraternity brother who summered on one of the Greek Isles. “When else are you going to get an opportunity to do this again?” my dad said. And with that, I coordinated with my high school friend, a recent Duke grad, to meet up in Rome and tour Western Europe for a month or so. “Meet you in Rome,” I said. “I’ll figure out how to get there from Athens,” I said. This was not a quick boat ride to Martha’s Vineyard. Your Survival Guy … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2023
Money Market Assets Hit Record High: $5.4 Trillion
Investors looking for alternatives to low-interest-rate bank accounts have flooded money market accounts with their cash. Harriet Clarfelt and Kate Duguid report in the Financial Times: US money market fund assets have swelled to a record high this week, as the best yields available in years and the early May collapse of First Republic Bank kept investors piling into the low-risk vehicles. Total net assets in money market funds, which invest in high-quality, short-dated debt, reached almost $5.4tn as of Wednesday, according to data from the Investment Company Institute. The figure is up … [Read more...]
A Three-Week International Research Trip to Paris via Rome
Happy Thursday. Your Survival Guy’s been up for hours, having returned yesterday from a three-week international research trip to Paris via Rome. I’ll have plenty to share with you in the weeks ahead. Don’t be a stranger. Beat the Friday email rush by checking in with me daily right here at www.yoursurvivalguy.com OK then, here’s my take on the lay of the land on the international front. The US dollar isn’t what it used to be, and Your Survival Guy doesn’t see it getting any better. Over the last eight years or so, Your Survival Guy’s been traveling to Paris, often twice a year … [Read more...]
The Mania in AI Stocks Has Arrived
Nvidia’s sales of chips used for generative AI are booming. The company delivered an impressive boost to its outlook for the next quarter. The street loves it. Shares are up 28% in pre-market trading, adding over $250 billion to the company’s market value (more than the total market value of its chief competitor AMD). If the gains hold, it would be the largest single-day increase in market capitalization for a company in history. Whether the gains are deserved or not is another question. Nvidia is the street’s preferred play in AI today, so there is a lot of hype and premium built into the … [Read more...]
What Does That Have to Do with Your Dividend?
You know Your Survival Guy loves dividends and values his fiduciary duty to clients. But Richard Vanderford writes in The Wall Street Journal that this year companies will be voting on issues like "abortion, guns and climate change." What does any of that have to do with your dividend? Vanderford continues: A backlash against companies taking on issues ranging from climate change to abortion rights is helping to push shareholder proposals to record numbers this year. More advocacy groups are using these resolutions to try to inject their voices into the corporate agenda, questioning … [Read more...]
The Wisdom of Sam Zell
Famed investor Sam Zell passed away last week. In Barron's, Oscar Schafer discusses Zell's life, writing: Sam Zell, the renowned real estate investor, died last week and, knowing we were close, the editors at Barron’s kindly asked if I would write a few words. People read Barron’s to learn about investing, and there are so many lessons one can learn from Sam. It is hard to know where to start. I could highlight his bold bets on out-of-favor industries or his creative knack for complex structures. I could mention his prescient sales at the top of the cycle or perhaps his repeated warnings … [Read more...]
How Activists Have Weaponized Corporate Boards
Your Survival Guy is focused on you, the millionaire next door, who wants to enjoy travel and family in retirement. You may even be the type of saver who doesn't want to stop working completely because you enjoy the skills you've developed over decades of working hard and saving til it hurts. When you invest your hard-earned money in a company, it's because you expect the managers of that company to work just as hard as you do to return your money and then some. But not everyone thinks like you. There are shareholders who want to weaponize corporations to pursue their political agendas. They … [Read more...]
Is an Investment Property Disaster Looming?
The Wall Street Journal's Will Parker, Konrad Putzier and Shane Shifflett explain the fate of Jay Gajavelli, and investors like him across America, who are reeling after using low-interest rates to fund their investment empires. They write: Few investors rode the pandemic-era housing boom as high as Jay Gajavelli. Fewer still have fallen as far. Before Gajavelli found his real-estate career, the 61-year-old immigrant from India was just another information-technology worker, putting in 60-hour weeks for a middling job in Dallas. Last year, Gajavelli’s company owned more than $500 million … [Read more...]
Letter to the Federal Reserve Chairman from Your Survival Guy
Dear Chairman, Millionaires next door have questions—lots of them. But we’re not getting answers. Something earth-shattering is going on. And it seems no one in power is giving it much thought. Please review the chart series below. It looks like a bullwhip. A cliff. A ski slope. It’s dramatic, to say the least. How will this end? Your thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Thank you. Warm regards, Your Survival Guy P.S. Tomorrow, read about American investors' last line of defense. Originally posted on Your Survival Guy. … [Read more...]
Is Japan Rising Once More?
In a long piece in the Financial Times, Leo Lewis examines Japan's current ascendance and wonders if the country is truly turning itself around, or if this is one more false alarm. He concludes: The problem with the “rising sun” thesis is that, in several cycles and across multiple decades, it has been rapidly followed by a decisive reversal as concerns around the shrinking and ageing population have resurfaced and derailed brief spurts of optimism. Rallies are always strongest in Japan when there is a pro-reform regime in government and a perception that there will be action as well as … [Read more...]
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