A number of European insurers are fleeing the Net Zero Insurance Alliance, which pushes firms to use their financial muscle to enforce the E—environmental—activism of the ESG trifecta. Two French firms, AXA and SCOR, along with Allianz from Germany, have decided to leave the UN-backed group focused on pushing the climate change agenda. Reuters reports: A United Nations-convened climate alliance for insurers suffered at least three more departures on Thursday including the group's chair, as insurance companies take fright in the face of opposition from U.S. Republican politicians. At least … [Read more...]
A Three-Week International Research Trip to Paris via Rome
Happy Thursday. Your Survival Guy’s been up for hours, having returned yesterday from a three-week international research trip to Paris via Rome. I’ll have plenty to share with you in the weeks ahead. Don’t be a stranger. Beat the Friday email rush by checking in with me daily right here at www.yoursurvivalguy.com OK then, here’s my take on the lay of the land on the international front. The US dollar isn’t what it used to be, and Your Survival Guy doesn’t see it getting any better. Over the last eight years or so, Your Survival Guy’s been traveling to Paris, often twice a year … [Read more...]
Will Biden Repeat Obama with US Debt Downgrade?
In 2011, after years of unhindered stimulus spending by the Obama administration, Standard & Poor's downgraded America's AAA credit rating. Now, Fitch is poised to do the same in response to Joe Biden's refusal to negotiate a deal to cut spending in return for an increase in the debt ceiling. Ruth Carson reports in Bloomberg that Fitch has placed its AAA rating for US debt on negative watch, writing: The tension around the US debt-limit negotiations ratcheted up after Fitch Ratings warned the nation’s AAA rating was under threat from a political standoff that’s preventing a deal. Fitch … [Read more...]
What Does That Have to Do with Your Dividend?
You know Your Survival Guy loves dividends and values his fiduciary duty to clients. But Richard Vanderford writes in The Wall Street Journal that this year companies will be voting on issues like "abortion, guns and climate change." What does any of that have to do with your dividend? Vanderford continues: A backlash against companies taking on issues ranging from climate change to abortion rights is helping to push shareholder proposals to record numbers this year. More advocacy groups are using these resolutions to try to inject their voices into the corporate agenda, questioning … [Read more...]
The ESG Cartel
In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall exposes the behavior of big financial institutions that have created what could be described as an ESG cartel. He writes: Proponents of ESG—environmental, social and governance—investing are posing as champions of the free market. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and I testified earlier this month before the House Oversight Committee regarding our continuing investigations into several global financial alliances that aim to impose ESG policies on American businesses and consumers in defiance of our … [Read more...]
Two More States Nearing Passage of Permitless Carry Legislation
Already in 2023, Florida and Nebraska have added themselves to the growing list of states protecting the right of residents to carry without a permit. Now two more states are pushing forward legislation that could make them the 28th and 29th in America to have permitless carry. Louisiana's House passed a permitless carry bill on Tuesday, May 23, with a majority vote of 70-29. Greg Hilburn writes in the Shreveport Times: Louisiana is on the cusp of expanding gun rights after the House overwhelming passed a bill Tuesday that would allow adults 18 and older to carry handguns without permits … [Read more...]
How Activists Have Weaponized Corporate Boards
Your Survival Guy is focused on you, the millionaire next door, who wants to enjoy travel and family in retirement. You may even be the type of saver who doesn't want to stop working completely because you enjoy the skills you've developed over decades of working hard and saving til it hurts. When you invest your hard-earned money in a company, it's because you expect the managers of that company to work just as hard as you do to return your money and then some. But not everyone thinks like you. There are shareholders who want to weaponize corporations to pursue their political agendas. They … [Read more...]
Letter to the Federal Reserve Chairman from Your Survival Guy
Dear Chairman, Millionaires next door have questions—lots of them. But we’re not getting answers. Something earth-shattering is going on. And it seems no one in power is giving it much thought. Please review the chart series below. It looks like a bullwhip. A cliff. A ski slope. It’s dramatic, to say the least. How will this end? Your thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Thank you. Warm regards, Your Survival Guy P.S. Tomorrow, read about American investors' last line of defense. … [Read more...]
Big Blue Blob Cities Get Bad News from Census Report
The latest Census data is in, and it's another year of bad news for the high tax, high crime, high regulation, high cost of living blue blob cities on America's coasts. New York City lost enough people between 2020 and 2022—468,297—to fill the entire city of Miami. Los Angeles and San Francisco also lost big as residents fled for smaller cities with less crime and better affordability. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board reports: Population loss from big cities slowed last year, the Census Bureau reported last week. Was it trying to bury the lead? The bigger news is how Covid … [Read more...]
When Did You Become Serious about Your Money?
In my conversations with you, you tell me when you became serious about money. If it didn’t happen when your dad, grandad, or friend showed you Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report, it happened when you yourself became a subscriber. You needed to make good investment decisions for your retirement. Also, when you subscribed to Dick’s letter, you signed up for a handful of others too. Over time you let the other subscriptions lapse, you tell me. But you kept subscribing to Dick’s letter. His was the one you liked most because you felt he enjoyed writing to you and cared about your success. … [Read more...]