In The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Henninger details a Monmouth poll on Americans' feelings about the importance of law and order in their communities. He writes: A Monmouth poll out this week finds 65% of respondents say “maintaining law and order” is a big problem. The poll’s self-identified party affiliations are 28% Republican, 41% independent and 31% Democratic. Here’s the election’s ticking time-bomb: Among “non-Republican” blacks and other minorities, more than 60% agree that civil disorder has become a big issue, while just 46% of white non-Republicans see it as a problem. Looks like … [Read more...]
It’s Never a Bad Time to Downsize Your Home
Now, more than ever may be a good reminder that it's never a bad time to downsize your home. Americans are house rich and cash poor, not a great mix in times of economic turmoil. Wealth in cash is very liquid, you can spend it on what you need when you need it. Even stocks and bonds are relatively easy to sell to generate funds. But houses, they're a lot harder to sell quickly if you want to get all the value from them you deserve. In the Wall Street Journal, Ryan Dezember explains how many house-rich but cash-poor Americans are faring today, writing: Americans with mortgages have … [Read more...]
Is Your Stock Portfolio Suffering from the Dunning Kruger Effect?
You could be suffering right now from the Dunning Kruger effect and not even know it. Worst of all, it may be affecting your stock portfolio's performance. If you are one of the recently arrived "Robinhood" investors and think you have cracked the market code, you may, in fact, be suffering from the Dunning Kruger effect. The syndrome is named after Justin Kruger and David Dunning, who outlined it in their 1999 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The authors introduced their paper by describing the effect: People tend to hold overly favorable views of their … [Read more...]
2020: College Is not What You Signed up For
This year, college is not what the freshmen were signing up for. COVID-19 tests, distance learning, no campus activities, parties banned, very little of the true college experience available. In the Boston Globe, Thomas Farragher tells the story of University of Massachusetts students, who are now on campus and facing a very different experience than the one they thought they'd receive. He writes: "I can’t believe this is our life now. I’m really speechless about it,'' said Caroline Ricciardi, a 21-year-old senior from Cherry Hill, N.J., enrolled in the UMass College of Nursing. “I’m sad. … [Read more...]
Chinese Virologist Says China Manufactured COVID-19, Calls it “Frankenstein” Virus
Last night, Tucker Carlson interviewed Dr. Li-Meng Yan about the origins of COVID-19. Dr. Yan told Carlson that the Chinese had manufactured the virus, and called it a "Frankenstein" virus. Watch the interview: After the interview with Dr. Yan, Carlson asked Dr. Marc Siegel for his reaction to Dr. Yan's comments. Here is their discussion below: … [Read more...]
Are You Prepared? A Long, Cold Winter for Stocks is Nothing New
The stock market/Wall Street has made a full recovery from March, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way on Main Street. The 10-year treasury pays you peanuts and that’s about what local businesses have earned compared to pre-virus. Why will they stay in business, especially in cooler New England when outside dining is basically gone for the winter? Cities like Boston that depend on sports/entertainment/dining are not coming back this season. In times like these, you can be your own barber—you can handle a bad haircut—but will you be your own investment counselor … [Read more...]
Who Wants to Live the Island Life? You Do: Part II
You read yesterday about how to live an "island life," whether that be on an actual island, or by simply protecting yourself from the dangers around you. One of the best parts of living on an actual island is access to the beach. But many islands with top beaches come along with a high cost of living. Thrillist has put together a list of the "World's Most Beautiful Beach Cities Where You Can Live for Dirt Cheap." There are some nearby places like Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic, and some further afield like Canggu, Bali. The author writes: More than a few Americans fantasize … [Read more...]
Second Amendment Principles Become Self Defense Practicality
You may be one of the many Americans who has long supported the Second Amendment but never felt inclined to own a firearm yourself. That group of Americans is shrinking rapidly, as those who have long believed in the Second Amendment but never owned a firearm are purchasing guns at record rates. First-time gun ownership is soaring, and it's not because of some newfound philosophical understanding of the Second Amendment. Gun ownership is soaring because of the practical need for self-defense. Americans are literally watching their police forces sent home. Cities across the nation are … [Read more...]
Who Wants to Live the Island Life? You Do
Imagine sitting under a palm tree, toes in the sand, gazing across a turquoise sea with not a care in the world. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel like this most days of the week rather than only on vacation, especially in times like these? Now, I know it’s not exactly practical, even if you have a tropical island as the backdrop of your Zoom calls. But you’d be surprised at how much island life is right in front of your eyes. For example, when it comes to investing, my favored Prudent Man certainly stands alone as an island far away from your everyday stock traders: For years my father-in-law … [Read more...]
After Democrats Encourage Riots, Biden Wants to Take Away Citizens’ Guns
After two LA County deputies were shot in their patrol car, President Donald Trump called for a fast trial and harsh punishment for the perpetrator of the attack. Meanwhile, from his basement bunker, Joe Biden tweeted out that "Weapons of war have no place in our communities. We need to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines." There is a video of the shooting, and the shooter definitely wasn't using an "assault weapon," at least as normally defined by the Democrats trying to ban them. The shooter plainly used a pistol. It can't be determined whether or not the shooter was using … [Read more...]