Over the past 52-weeks, you’ve received over five percent on any combination of short to mid-term agency, corporate, and/or treasury bonds, and that’s not counting today’s expected bond rally. Remember, bonds tend to go up when stocks go down. As the coronavirus creates panic for stock investors (futures are way down as I write to you), bonds along with safe-haven gold are rallying. What the coronavirus will mean for stock investors this year is unknown. But what’s clearly known is many stock investors head for the exits when panicked. Your key takeaway is to make sure you have your bond … [Read more...]
Breaking News: Why Fidelity is #1
You now have yet another reason to consolidate your assets with my favored Fidelity Investments: Fidelity takes protecting your most valuable financial information seriously. Yesterday, it was announced that Fidelity is spinning off software start-up Akoya, a platform that gives customers more control over how their bank-account information is shared. Without a service like Akoya, apps can scrape your account gaining access to information you may wish to keep private. “The platform,” explains Justin Baer in the WSJ, “aims to put an end to ‘screen scraping,’ the process where the app … [Read more...]
Americans Flee the Big City Blues
According to the scholar Richard Florida, "the great urban revival is 'over.'" Americans are leaving "luxury" cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Joel Kotkin writes at New Geography: Since 2010, urban inner rings, including central business districts, accounted for barely 10 percent of population growth in the nation’s 53 largest metropolitan areas. More revealing still, the country’s three largest metropolitan areas — New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago—are now losing population. Since 2012, suburbs and exurbs, which have seven times as many people as the core, are again growing … [Read more...]
Tech Bubble Echos in the S&P 500 Twenty Years Later
Twenty years after the Tech Bubble decimated investors' savings, there are echos of it in the S&P 500. Reuters' Noel Randewich and lewis Krauskopf report: At the height of the dot-com era, technology stocks accounted for over 35% of the S&P 500’s value. Today, the tech sector accounts for about 25% of S&P 500 market capitalization, according to Refinitiv Datastream. But combining the tech sector with the communications sector, which includes Internet-related companies like Alphabet, Facebook and Netflix (NFLX.O), the group accounts for 35% of the S&P 500. There is growing … [Read more...]
You May Be Feeling Uneasy with Growth Stocks: You’re Not Alone
Some investors "could take Apple’s warning on Monday that it won’t meet revenue expectations for the current quarter as a sign that the growth stock run is over," notes Gunjan Banerji in The Wall Street Journal. Over the long-term, he continues, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks. He writes: As they grapple with a murky outlook, investors will turn their attention this week to the Fed’s latest meeting minutes and fresh reads on manufacturing. Meanwhile, results from Walmart Inc. on Tuesday will offer new insight into the health of the consumer. The run in value stocks “was short … [Read more...]
Senate Pushes Back Against Sound Monetary Policy
President Trump has nominated Judy Shelton for a position on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The White House described Shelton's experience: Dr. Judy Shelton most recently served as United States Executive Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The United States Senate confirmed her by voice vote in 2018. Dr. Shelton previously served as Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy in 2017, having served as Vice Chairman from 2010 to 2014 and on the board from 2005 to 2014. She was also a founding member of Empower America and a staff economist for the … [Read more...]
“Mr. Smart Guy’s” Bullish Signal for Stocks
This is the time of year when you start figuring out how much you support Uncle Sam, literally. As you tally up the numbers, it’s hard not to wonder if you’re paying too much in taxes. Be careful, though, because going down this road leads to thoughts like: “Well, if I just invest in stocks, I’ll avoid taxes, and, if I need to sell, I’ll pay the more palatable capital gains rate.” Don’t get distracted and let “tax planning” ruin your portfolio. Take a deep breath. Look around you and consider your environment and how it relates to your situation. Don’t Let the Wise “Guys” Get in Your … [Read more...]
The Big Winners When You Faithfully Give to a Cause (Retirement)
If you didn’t read about the massive fund controlled by the Mormon Church, you will. With 16,000 plus members tithing 10% of their earnings, the fund has amassed a $100 billion fortune—a cash-generating behemoth that would make Warren Buffett blush. Roger Clarke, the head of the investment fund Ensign Peak that controls the church’s money, used to be a professor at Brigham Young University, reports Ian Lovett and Rachael Levy for the WSJ. He was running an investment firm in Los Angeles when he got the call. “It certainly wasn’t the most attractive financial office,” Mr. Clarke said. “But … [Read more...]
RAGE Gauge: Booming Gun Sales Are A Sign of Trump’s Strong Economy
You know I have clients in the gun business. They tell me the last couple of months were record-breakers for their business. Typically booming gun sales are a sign gun control supporters are making another push to ban Americans’ firearms. This time though, it’s a sign that more Americans have jobs and have more money in their pockets to spend on hobbies. The quality of jobs is getting better as well. U6 unemployment, the measure of unemployment that includes temporary and part-time workers, is near all-time lows at 6.9%. If Americans want full-time work, they are having a much easier … [Read more...]
Remembering Bob Marley: Natural Mystic
It’s not every day you get to go to Jamaica. I remember going for Spring Break one year while studying at Babson. When you’re in Jamaica, you hear Bob Marley songs in the wind as if he’s playing somewhere off in the distance. A special surprise at the end of our trip was hearing his songs performed live by his son Ziggy to a huge crowd on the cliffs of Negril. Last week Bob Marley would have turned 75, and in a way, he will always be with us thanks to the reggae sound he created. In an interview with NPR, Ziggy explains that his father kept things light even when they visited him on … [Read more...]
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