OPEC expects oil demand to grow beyond pre-pandemic levels by 2022. And while Joe Biden has acted to restrict the number of drilling permits on public lands, reducing oil production, OPEC is more than happy to fill increased demand. The Wall Street Journal's David Hodari writes: The world’s thirst for oil will exceed pre-pandemic levels next year, with improving vaccination rates and increasing public confidence in governments’ management of Covid-19 spurring a recovery in travel, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Monday. In its closely watched monthly market … [Read more...]
Work Hard in NY and CA? Prepare to PAY Under Democrats’ New Tax Plan
Are you one of your state's most productive citizens? Do you already pay hundreds of thousands, or even millions in taxes to state and federal governments each year? Your hard work is appreciated by House Democrats, who are happy to relieve you of even more of your money. Democrats have released a tax plan aimed at paying for their planned $3.5 trillion spending bonanza, and it takes direct aim at high-income Americans. Here's a brief of the plan from Robert Frank of CNBC: The proposals include a 3% surtax on taxpayers earning more than $5 million a year. They would also raise the top … [Read more...]
Chinese to End Ant Group’s Data Powered ‘Monopoly’
The Chinese Communist government is stripping Alipay, owned by Jack Ma's Ant Group, of its lending platforms Huabei and Jiebei. The government will also force the company to turn over user data. Sun Yu and Ryan McMorrow report in the Financial Times: Beijing wants to break up Alipay, the superapp owned by Jack Ma’s Ant Group that has more than 1bn users, and create a separate app for the company’s highly profitable loans business, in the most visible restructuring yet of the fintech giant. Chinese regulators have already ordered Ant to separate from its main business the company’s two … [Read more...]
I Can’t Believe I’m Agreeing with George Soros, Here’s Why
I can’t believe I’m agreeing with George Soros of all people, but what he writes here is correct (except for the part about ESG investing). What’s incredible to me is George Soros has spent the last years of his life fighting tooth and nail against America. Why the change of heart? Perhaps he’s got some money stuck in China? BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has begun a major initiative in China. On Aug. 30 it launched a set of mutual funds and other investment products for Chinese consumers. The New York-based firm is the first foreign-owned company allowed to do so. The launch … [Read more...]
Here Comes the Regulatory Onslaught and the Nanny State
In the proposed $3.5 trillion bill Democrats want to pass is a provision to force companies to automatically enroll workers into IRAs. The Wall Street Journal reports: Democrats have included a provision in their $3.5 trillion healthcare, education and climate bill that would require companies without retirement plans to automatically enroll workers in individual retirement accounts. The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday voted 22-20 to approve the measure, which committee chairman Richard Neal, (D., Mass.) has supported for years. Should the package pass, the move could … [Read more...]
AMERICA DOESN’T RUN ON TOFU: Unhinged Biden Advisor Deflects Inflation Failure
It's hard to imagine how the Biden administration, with a straight face, can blame the meatpacking industry for inflation, while at the same time handing out checks like candy, and supporting the Federal Reserve's policy of nearly unlimited liquidity. But it's happening. Rather than take responsibility for driving up the prices on Americans' favored forms of protein, Biden & Co. are instead choosing to blame businesses. In what may have been one of the most tone-deaf speeches ever, Biden's Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese told Americans that if you remove beef, … [Read more...]
September 2021 Update: Fidelity Still Number One
In my conversations with you, you ask me why we use Fidelity Investments as our custodian for client accounts. As you know, we have a long history with Fidelity going back to when Dick Young called on the firm during his Boston days, well before he started Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report. As Dick tells the story, Fidelity was always the high-water mark, along with Wellington Management, especially for the institutional business, and clearly was moving strongly into retail. Fidelity simply never looked back and continues its dominance today. So, if you’re going to trust your lifetime … [Read more...]
Billions Pour Into Amazon Seller Roll-Up Funds
Investors can't get enough of roll-up funds that buy Amazon sellers. John Thornhill reports for the Financial Times: Any sober seller might think twice about doing business with a company whose founder was wedded to the idea that “your margin is my opportunity.” But many merchants, desperate to stay afloat as retail sales shifted online during the pandemic, have had little choice but to sell on Amazon’s vast marketplace. At last count, some 56 per cent of the units sold on Amazon’s platform were made by 1.9m third-party sellers. Jeff Bezos may have blasted out of the chief executive’s seat … [Read more...]
BOOMTOWNS: Americans Flee Mandates for Freedom
As you and I discussed recently, big blue cities are exporting jobs to places like Florida, where their money is treated with respect. Today, let’s talk about Main Street America that’s been forgotten by big businesses that have moved America’s manufacturing base to China. How can this be a good long-term trend? I remember like it was yesterday, studying globalization—“the next big thing.” Now, look at where we are. But attitudes are changing. One thing I noticed from a trip to our log cabin in New Hampshire this summer was, the area in and around the beautiful White Mountains were packed … [Read more...]
Bair: Payment for Order Flow Is a Problem That Needs to Be Fixed
Former chair of the FDIC, Sheila Bair, calls out a murky practice in markets today, payment for order flow (PFOF), which she defines as "brokers selling their retail orders to makers of markets outside of regulated, public exchanges." PFOF had mostly flown under the radar until it was highlighted in January during the GameStop share crisis faced by commission-free investing tool Robinhood Markets. Bair writes in the Financial Times about new scrutiny being placed on PFOF by the SEC's Gary Gensler: Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler has cast a long-needed spotlight on the … [Read more...]