Greg Ip points out that the tariffs the Trump administration plans to enact on Chinese goods are not a preemptive strike. China has been engaged in predatory trade practices for years. This is well worth a full read and helps to put the tariffs into perspective . If there’s a trade war between the U.S. and China, don’t blame Donald Trump : China started it long before he became president. Even free traders and internationalists agree China’s predatory trade practices—which include forcing U.S. business to transfer valuable technology to Chinese firms and restricting access to Chinese … [Read more...]
How to Win in Retail? Unique Products
If a retailer is selling the same product lines as e-commerce giants Amazon.com and Walmart, it will be hard to compete. Unique product lines and a custom shopping experience seem to be the way for retailers to thrive in the post e-commerce world. One store that has been successful using these strategies is Crate & Barrel. The Wall Street Journal interviewed Crate & Barrel Chief Executive Neela Montgomery (Crate & Barrel is owned by Otto Group). Here's what she had to say about unique products. WSJ: Setting retail prices has become more complex. What is Crate and Barrel doing to … [Read more...]
World’s Largest Fund Manager Bets Big on Algorithms
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is making a big bet on quantitative investing. BlackRock’s quant group has shown strong results, so Larry Fink, the firm’s CEO, wants to double down on the group. That may sound like a good idea, but when you are the world’s biggest asset manager, and you start shifting hundreds of billions, if not trillions, into quantitative strategies, don’t the profits start to erode? Indeed they do. The FT has more. With increasingly efficient markets and an arms race between traditional and quantitative investors to be the first to spot even transitory … [Read more...]
UPS: The Beginning of the End of the Internal Combustion Engine
Soon the entire fleet of UPS trucks traveling in London, England will be powered solely by electricity. The company says this is the beginning of the end of its reliance on the internal combustion engine. UPS has said new charging technology has enabled it go ahead with plans to more than triple the number of electric vehicles it runs in London over the next few years, to 170. Camilla Hodgson reports in the FT: “We certainly believe this to be groundbreaking,” said Peter Harris, director of sustainability at UPS Europe. The development will herald “a new generation of sustainable urban … [Read more...]
UK-EU Brexit Breakthrough
It appears negotiators have made a breakthrough in the ongoing discussions over how Brexit will unfold. Alex Barker and Mehreen Khan report for the FT: “We were able to agree this morning…on a large part of what will make up an international agreement for the ordered withdrawal of the UK,” said Mr Barnier. Under the time limited period, the UK will have to abide by all existing EU rules but will lose its say in the decision-making process. The negotiators published a colour-coded draft text of Britain’s withdrawal agreement, showing areas of agreement and dispute. The two most difficult … [Read more...]
Ready to Pay Your Bitcoin Taxes?
After raking in some profits on bitcoin (if they were lucky enough to find a greater fool) investors are now being targeted by the IRS. Apparently few bitcoin investors seem to be paying taxes on their gains. Most of them probably thought the anonymous currency wouldn't be on the radar of the IRS. Turns out however, that the IRS has forced Coinbase, one of the largest "digital-currency wallets" to give the government its customers' information. Laura Saunders reports in The Wall Street Journal: By March 16, the IRS will have data on about 13,000 Coinbase account holders who bought, … [Read more...]
House Prices Jump 9% in February
Home prices rose almost 9% on a year-over-year basis in February. That’s the biggest gain in four years. U.S. house prices are now 6.3% higher than their peak in July 2006. The ratio of house prices to income is creeping toward levels hit during the height of the last real estate bubble, yet housing affordability remains significantly better. What’s the difference between today and 2006? One of the biggest differences is the level of mortgage rates. At a maximum 28% of gross monthly income (ignoring taxes and insurance) today’s median income family can afford a mortgage of $356,000. Raise … [Read more...]
Will 3% Bond Yields Sink the Stock Market?
If yields rise above 3%, stocks will end the year down. That is according to Jeffery Gundlach, manager of the Doubeline Total Return Bond Fund. Gundlach is of course a bond fund manager, so one should take his views on stocks with a grain of salt, but he may not be wrong. Three percent yields aren’t high by historical standards, but global central banks have kept rates so low for so long that economies may have become overly dependent on ultra-low rates. Bloomberg reports: If yields on the 10-year Treasury break above 3 percent, there’s a high chance U.S. stocks will end the year down, … [Read more...]
The Irony of Bitcoin
The FT comments today (quoted below) on an upcoming meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers on bitcoin. One of the benefits of bitcoin, according to some of its proponents, is that it is a currency not controlled by government. That is indeed a benefit, and in a perfect world, bitcoin would supplant fiat money and we would all again have a hard currency to preserve purchasing power. But perfect isn't the world we live in. The primary purpose of the Fed is to manipulate the value of the currency. Take away the government's power to print money and you also takeaway their power … [Read more...]
Is the Goldilocks Market Being Chased Away by Bears?
For years now the markets have been in what participants called the 'Goldilocks zone,'' not to hot, not too cold, just right. Well, with increased volatility, and some worrisome inflation numbers, that may be changing. Riva Gold and Georgi Kantchev write that after nine years, Goldilocks conditions may be gone. Nine years into a roaring stock bull market, fund managers are paying their last respects to Goldilocks. Investors broadly remain bullish on stocks and other investments, aided by an upbeat U.S. jobs report on Friday. But repeated bouts of market volatility in 2018 and signs of a … [Read more...]
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