Young Research & Publishing Inc.

Investment Research Since 1978

Disclosure

ECB Preparing to Copycat Potential Fed Rate Cut?

By

If the Fed cuts rates, is the ECB prepared to join it? The bank signaled that could be the case. Tom Fairless and Brian Blackstone report for The Wall Street Journal: The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged but several officials raised the prospect of rate reductions, amplifying a global trend toward easier monetary policy to combat weaker growth. In a nod to the recent erosion in the global economic outlook, the ECB extended the time frame before any rate increase to the middle of 2020 from the end of this year. In a statement on Thursday, the ECB said it would hold its … [Read more...]

Write These Six Words Down

By

If you are looking for the best advice I can give anyone getting started in investing, you’ll need to travel back to November 1989. At the time, I was debriefing on the Blanchard’s NCMR New Orleans Investment Conference of that year, at which I had spoken. An attendee asked me a question, and my answer included the six most important words in investing. I wrote of the scene: THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN INVESTING I’ve just returned from speaking at the biggest investment conference in the U.S. I now speak at only one national conference per year, and Blanchard’s NCMR annual extravaganza is … [Read more...]

Disney is Already Beating Netflix and Amazon in Streaming in India

By

While Americans await the roll-out of Disney+, Indians are already enjoying a Disney-owned streaming platform known as Hotstar. The service is a home-grown streaming platform that was acquired by the House of Mouse in the Fox deal. The best part of buying Hotstar for Disney is the vast portfolio of local language content that came along with it. Amazon and Netflix simply can't compete with that. Newley Purnell reports for The Wall Street Journal: India’s plummeting mobile-data prices and cheap smartphones have triggered an internet-access revolution in the world’s second-most-populous … [Read more...]

Healthcare Could Cost You Your Retirement: Part II

By

Yesterday I explained to you how even frugal retirees can have their savings sunk when unexpected health care costs arise. Running out of money in retirement is not something anyone wants. Many Americans end up working through what should be their retirement years because they failed to plan properly. If you want to better formulate a plan that includes provisions for health care costs in retirement, read through this guide from Fidelity. If you are like most Americans, health care is expected to be one of your largest expenses in retirement, after housing and transportation costs. But unlike … [Read more...]

Did Powell Just Signal a Cut?

By

Today, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the bank will “act as appropriate” in response to risks from the current trade war. Does that include a rate cut? The bond markets have already priced one (or more) in, but only time will tell. Reuters' Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir report: U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Tuesday the central bank will “act as appropriate” in response to risks posed by a trade war, remarks that may open the door to the possibility of a rate cut. “We do not know how or when these issues will be resolved,” Powell said. “We are closely monitoring the … [Read more...]

Healthcare Could Cost You Your Retirement

By

Americans tend to work hard their entire lives, saving pennies and dimes wherever they can to build a retirement nest egg. When they finally do retire, Americans are generally frugal, with retired couples having just an 80% spending-to-income ratio on average, according to research just released from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Where things go bad for retirees though, is usually when healthcare costs rise. According to Rebecca Moore at PLANSPONSOR: EBRI found housing expenses were by far the largest item in all groups’ budgets. For the average single retired household, … [Read more...]

Facebook is About to Go Under the FTC Microscope

By

Calls for scrutiny into Facebook are not new, but after the privacy scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, the knives really came out for the social media company. Now, it appears the FTC will get the chance for a deep dive into Facebook's business practices. Other big tech companies are coming under fire as well. Brent Kendall and John D. McKinnon report for The Wall Street Journal: Federal antitrust enforcers and lawmakers are poised to scrutinize the nation’s largest technology companies for potential anticompetitive practices, bringing a new regulatory focus to the vast markets for … [Read more...]

Big Banks Buy into Blockchain

By

UBS and a number of other big banks around the world are working together to develop a cross border trade settlement platform that uses blockchain technology. I've been skeptical of bitcoin and other crypto-currencies, but I have always maintained that blockchain technologies would prove the most valuable part of the crypto-currency revolution. Paul Vigna reports at The Wall Street Journal on this latest effort: A group of financial firms led by UBS Group AG UBS -0.70% plans to start using a bitcoin-like token to settle cross-border trades, one of the biggest developments yet in the effort to … [Read more...]

Did Google Harm Competition?

By

The tech industry may get a new jolt of anti-trust clarification soon, as the Department of Justice is readying a new antitrust probe into Google. The probe could find that Goolge has hampered competition, and the ramifications could be broad. The Wall Street Journal reports: As Google cemented its powerful position in recent years, the tech giant’s executives said they believed they were helping web users get information and letting publishers and advertisers connect more efficiently. Rivals saw a more sinister goal, and the question now is whether U.S. regulators will determine that the … [Read more...]

No More MetroCards? Use Your Device Instead

By

The New York MTA will soon be testing some new payment options for the city's subway. Rather than swiping the notoriously finicky MetroCards, riders will be able to use devices enabled with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay or Fitbit Pay to purchase tickets. WIRED's Aarian Marshall writes: As any New Yorker knows, the proper way to swipe a MetroCard to get into the subway system—the timing, the speed, the downward pressure—is tricky, but possible to master. The successful MetroCard swipe separates the tourist from the hardened commuter, the New Yorkers of taxicabs and Ubers from the New … [Read more...]