Happy Friday. It’s tax season. Unfortunately for mutual fund investors, this can be the time of year you realize your fund was down, but you still owe taxes. Because of its structure, a mutual fund puts you in the same boat as other investors. If some head for the exits, the manager is forced to […]
What’s Happening to Charles Schwab?
Remember, Charles Schwab operates as a bank too. One of the reasons I like doing business with Fidelity Investments is because it’s not a bank and because it is privately owned. It’s not under the gun to meet Wall Street’s quarterly estimates. It’s a family business. Justin Baer and Charley Grant report on Schwab’s current predicament […]
Is Vanguard Voting Against Your Political Beliefs?
You’re not supposed to talk about religion or politics in the investment business. Your Survival Guy broke that rule on day one. I’ve always felt it’s important to know who you’re dealing with. The big firms try to play it right down the middle. They try to please everyone and no one at the same […]
Call It the Difference between Normal and Crazy
In The Wall Street Journal, Judy Shelton explains the problems with the policies implemented by the Federal Reserve and the federal government over the last few years. She concludes: Normalization after the pandemic, however, might have fundamentally changed the landscape for lenders even as it confounded the Fed’s operating model. This may explain why financial […]
“I Need Preservation of Principal and Growth”
Is there anyone more important than you? You’ve made some promises: In sickness and in health, family first, love thy neighbor, etc. You’re the reason there’s so much to worry about. But in my conversations with you, you don’t always know—you. Let me explain. You’ve worked a lifetime to get to where you are. You […]
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR: Biden’s ESG Veto “Absolutely Infuriating”
After both the House and a bipartisan group in the Senate passed a bill to strike down Joe Biden’s executive order encouraging the use of ESG in retirement accounts, Biden used his first veto to kill it. The veto angered Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who called the veto “absolutely infuriating.” Al Weaver […]
Are You Fairly Wealthy? I’m Listening
Did you catch the Sunday New York Times article on the supper clubs in Palm Beach? Look, Your Survival Guy loves Palm Beach, especially lunch at the Brazilian Court, but a supper club? Sounds expensive. But wait a second. When I started running the numbers, I thought, “Self, it could actually work.” That is, if […]
How Long Is Your Water Supply Chain?
How long is your water supply chain? Do you have an artesian well that bubbles up to greet you each day? That’s about the shortest your water supply chain can get. You don’t even have to use electricity to pump it out of the ground. Perhaps you have a deep well with lots of water, […]
Your Survival Guy’s BEST Insider’s Guide to Key West
Happy Monday from New England. Your Survival Guy’s thin blood is adjusting to the cold, having just returned from a tropical island getaway to Key West. I’m here to report that the Conch Republic is alive and well. And notice it’s not a democracy. The Republic is where you go to get that neighborhood walkability […]
Be Wary of Those Who Wrap Themselves in Capes
Andy Kessler, a longtime favorite of Your Survival Guy’s, hits the nail on the head: Be wary of those who wrap themselves in capes. He writes in The Wall Street Journal: Isn’t it bizarre that so many people who cause problems then turn around and become heroes fixing the same problems they created? Between the […]
For Whom Is Your Portfolio Serving?
Pressure and prices are no friend of the Prudent Man. When there’s pressure for your portfolio to “do something,” then you’ve already lost the game. The same is true with prices. If you need prices to get to some level, then forget it. Pressure and prices? These are terms for the speculator. Someone Your Survival […]
ESG: Are Markets Ready for “A Needed Dose of Reality?”
You have been reading for years here on YourSurvivalGuy.com about the dangers of ESG investing. Here’s a small sample of what Your Survival Guy has been telling you about ESG investing and its proponents: You Invest, They Win: ESG Is a Money Grab The Woke ESG Investing Money Grab is Falling Apart Your Survival Guy […]
Was Silicon Valley Bank a Victim of ESG?
You know that markets need a dose of reality when it comes to ESG investing. But was Silicon Valley Bank brought down by ESG? That’s the question Kimberley Strassel asks in The Wall Street Journal. She writes: While the main reason SVB failed was its decision to buy bonds at the top of the market […]
Are You Living Your Best Life?
Sitting in my cave today. Looking out at the beautiful landscape. Thanking myself for peace of mind. Knowing it’s my own decision to take shelter. It’s been a long time. Independent thinking is a lonely journey. Yes, it helps knowing this storm, too, will pass. But when? Will they ever learn? Because it’s in times […]
March RAGE Gauge: Will the Black Swan Usher in Digital Dollars?
What’s most disturbing about a black swan event is how it affects the rest of us. What will this non-bailout, bailout of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature usher in? Will we have a new way of banking where the Fed gets to call the shots? Will digital dollars be their way to control us? Risk […]
Gretchen Whitmer Reviving Forced Unionization in Michigan
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the state’s legislature are working hard to bring back forced unionization in the Wolverine State. Michigan has been a Right to Work state since 2012, and because of that, companies have been busy investing in the state’s future. Now, Gretchen Whitmer, who implemented devastating lockdowns on the state in response […]