Worrying about a Black Swan event can do serious damage to a portfolio. Jon Sindreu and Laurence Fletcher write at The Wall Street Journal: In the wake of the global financial crisis, fear of such “black-swan” events drove some investors into hedge funds that offered protection should markets plunge. But the swans have yet to return, and such strategies have fallen out of favor. The patience of many investors has run out after losing money during the intervening years of mainly benign market conditions. According to data by CBOE Eurekahedge, those who invested in these tail-risk … [Read more...]
Car and Driver: When Will You be Able to Buy an Autonomous Car?
I thought this was interesting from the September issue of Car and Driver "Upfront" section: Automakers define “autonomy” according to a scale established by SAE International (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers). The scale tops out with control-free pods at Level 5, but even adaptive cruise control counts as Level 1. What most people think of as full autonomy begins with Level 4, in which a car can handle the complete driving task without needing to defer to a human driver—in certain cases. Think of a car that can drive on the highway but may need a human to take over at the … [Read more...]
Class Warfare is Holding America Back
As the Senate and Congress ready themselves for a debate over tax reform, Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, writes that the policymakers should ignore the shouting of class warriors and, like Reagan, focus on the entire economy. Faster economic growth is the best solution to the problems of everyone in the economy. Mitchell writes: Reagan’s tax policy (especially the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981) was good because the President and his team ignored the class-warfare crowd. They didn’t care whether all income groups got the same degree of tax relief. They didn’t care … [Read more...]
Is the Amazon Story Wildly Inflated?
Amazon's effect on retail is an amazing story, but despite its disruptive nature, the company hasn't been generating profits or managing risk nearly as well as its retail competitors. Now Charlie O'Shea, an analyst from Moody's is attempting to deflate the Amazon bubble by poking holes in the myths surrounding the company's performance. MarketWatch reports that O'Shea believes Amazon's stock performance potential is overshadowing the on the ground operating performance advantages of its competitors. Amazon’s stock AMZN, +0.29% has outperformed rivals, but it’s mostly based on the company’s … [Read more...]
What Can We Learn from Denmark?
Under the heading of "even a blind squirrel finds a nut," Denmark targets deep tax cuts. What are we waiting for? Peter Levring writes at Bloomberg: By encouraging more people to work, the government expects to generate more revenue via sources such as value-added tax, Jensen said during a press conference in Copenhagen. "There’s still room for growth in public spending, and room to prioritize, as this government does, welfare for Danes," Jensen said. He said critics of the government’s plan were guilty of a "simplification" of economic principles. "This is not a zero-sum game" between … [Read more...]
America Can Fix This Lousy Deal for Workers
Writing at International Liberty, Dan Mitchell a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, says that Social Security isn't only basically bankrupt, it's also a "lousy deal for workers." He writes: The part of the crisis that generally is overlooked is that the program is a lousy deal for workers. They pay record amounts of tax into the system in exchange for a shaky promise of a modest monthly check. For all intents and purposes, they are being charged for a steak, but they’re getting a hamburger (with Medicare, by contrast, people are charged for a hamburger and they receive a hamburger … [Read more...]
They’re Baaaack: CDOs Rise Again
Despite the role they played in spreading risk during the financial crisis, CDOs (collateralized debt obligations) are making a comeback. Christopher Whittall and Mike Bird report in the Wall Street Journal that investors are coming back to CDOs. In the U.S., the CDO market sunk steadily in the years after the financial crisis but has been fairly flat since 2014. In Europe, the total size of market is now rising again—up 5.6% annually in the first quarter of the year and 14.4% in the last quarter of 2016, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets … [Read more...]
As if On Cue, Amazon Cuts Prices at Whole Foods
For months I've been outlining my Bezos Law (see here, here, here, and here), which states that any industry Amazon (and more specifically Jeff Bezos) enters, will see prices reduced. Now, as if on cue, Amazon has announced it is lowering prices at Whole Foods. Amazon will formally take control of the grocery chain on Monday. Once again, my Bezos Law persists. David Shepardson and Lisa Baertlein report for Reuters: The planned price cuts would have been a tough sell to Whole Foods’ investors, who had grown used to fat profits from the upscale chain, but are more in line with Amazon’s … [Read more...]
The Road Less Traveled: Deep in the Sub-Continent
Here's a picture from a client of a road less traveled. Karakorums in the distance Not the I-95, but a great road! … [Read more...]
Retail’s Rise of the Living Dead
Imagine the feeling you have when someone at a store you frequent remembers your name. It feels good. That’s the level of service national chains will need to bring to the table. It will have to be all about you, as it should be. I wrote about what it will take for retailers to achieve that level of customer satisfaction back in June: The relationship between company and client has never been more valuable. And Jeff Bezos understands this. In Bezos’ world, you will not be a pest. You will be that valued guest and you will be treated with the service you want. Do you want a personal … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 175
- 176
- 177
- 178
- 179
- …
- 257
- Next Page »