Your Survival Guy's looking forward to getting out on the boat this weekend, cruising from Newport, RI, to visit family in Mattapoisett, MA. You know I advise the island life for you because it's the island life I love for me. I eat my own cooking. That being said, thank you for sticking around. I know you might be getting sick of hearing from me every single day. It's a bit much, even for me, hearing from Your Survival Guy. It's like, "OK, enough already." Here's the deal, Your Survival Guy's boating so far this summer? Zippo. It's my fault. Sure, I can blame it on the rain, but when is … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy Living the Life with YOU
You know that when it comes to making money, my number one investment is YOU. You’re the one who’s saving money, doing less with more, and taking care of your family. You’re the one doing what it takes. But somewhere along the line, your success makes doing what you do just a little bit more difficult. Sure, you know how to make money. But now what? What you need to figure out is how to keep it, and get a little growth to keep pace with inflation. I know. Easier said than done. In my conversations with you, you’re telling me about the business environment in your neck of the woods. … [Read more...]
Food Shortage Shutting Down Summer Camps in America
Summer camp is a rite of passage for many Americans. Day camps and stay camps care for millions of kids each summer while parents are working. But now a new problem has emerged at some camps, food shortages. Camps in New Hampshire are reporting that they can't get enough food to feed their campers and that logistical and labor at foodservice companies are forcing them to shut down camp for the summer. The Concord Monitor reports: The summer was barely getting started at Camp Quinebarge in Moultonborough when it abruptly ended. On July 2, the camp’s directors informed parents the camp … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy: Panic? Stocks Fall 700 Points
OK, stocks go down, as witnessed by yesterday’s 700-point drop in the Dow. Does that mean it’s time to panic? Well, that depends on how you’re invested. If you’re with me, as I hope you are, you know that stock market drops are a blessing in disguise to Your Survival Guy. Because when prices are lower, I smile at the better prices I’m getting with reinvested dividends. It’s like real estate. Imagine you’re a landlord like Your Survival Guy was in his early- to mid-twenties. My multi-family in Marlborough, MA, was a cash-generating machine. Rents would come in every month. I’d pay down the … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy’s Best Money Advice in Times Like These
Your Survival Guy’s best money advice in times like these is to get out of debt. I know, I know, how boring, especially when you’re reading about how everyone’s borrowing on margin to juice returns. But here’s the deal. Take a step back for a second and consider how valuable each and every dollar you save really is. Because when interest rates are a half of one percent, you need $200 to make a buck in interest. If you’re carrying debt then get out of it. Plain and simple. Your cash money is just too important to risk losing it. This is not a time to lever up. This is a time to escape DEBTORS’ … [Read more...]
The Fed is No Queen’s Gambit Child Prodigy
You need a magnifying glass to see how low interest rates are today. I save you time with my chart series here. When everyone's saying, "the Fed isn't raising rates until late 2022 or early 2023," don't you think that's already baked into today's cake? Of course, it is. When inflation is already an issue, the Fed doesn't want to rock the boat and increase the cost for payments on our nation's debt. The Fed is hoping for a good outcome just like any other human. And that's the problem with human nature: hubris. Instead of having a set of instructions and rules to follow in setting rates, … [Read more...]
Do You Know the Five Colors of Hydrogen?
We’re in the early innings of the green energy ballgame. Don’t let windmills and solar farms blind you to the unique opportunities being unearthed over the rainbow. Read here some of Dave Sheppard's piece in the Financial Times on hydrogen. He writes: Hydrogen has been billed as a fuel of the future, with oil and gas companies and governments hailing it as the solution to decarbonising parts of the economy that are not easily electrified. Yet the fuel has experienced previous false dawns, and energy majors backing hydrogen are having to step up their efforts to explain what role they see … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy Is Uneasy about This Market
Your Survival Guy received a chart package yesterday that leaves a lot to be desired. I’m talking about the desperate state of the yield on Treasuries thanks to three nasty cracks in the stock market so far this century. Note: When stocks fall, Treasury prices usually rise as investors flee to the full faith and credit pledge of U.S. government bonds, for whatever that’s worth. Take a minute to see how low yields are (which move in the opposite direction of bond prices). The series of charts below runs from the beginning of this century and displays maturities from as short as 12-months to as … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy Feels Like Jason Bourne Inside “I-Rock”
Your Survival Guy feels like Jason Bourne writing to you about a secret, underground black-ops finance story—like I’m uncovering some hidden truth. A secret. But in reality, the truth isn’t hidden at all—it’s right in front of our eyes. More like in front of our “I.” That’s the beauty with stories full of EGO and hubris—they just can’t keep their success to themselves. So here we go. You know about my concerns with “You Invest, They Win” and how EGO plays an unfortunate role in “high” finance. We get a front-row seat to all of this in Blackstone founder Stephen A Schwarzman’s book, What It … [Read more...]
FUNDS: These Models Are the Ugly Kind
You have here yet another reason why certain exchange-traded funds and mutual funds are dangerous because MODELS break. That's when things get ugly. Dawn Lim reports in The Wall Street Journal what happened when some BlackRock models were altered. She writes: When BlackRock told brokerages that it had tweaked rules around its flagship model portfolios in late May, that set in motion synchronized buying and selling across its own funds. A BlackRock fund that tracks financial stocks took in a record influx of money for a day too. As part of changes on the week of May 26, BlackRock also cut the … [Read more...]
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