Yesterday’s trashing in the stock market offers us a chance to review the arithmetic of losses and the value in a counterbalanced strategy. Technology shares as represented by the Nasdaq composite index lost 3.8% on the day. Let’s say, for example you began the day with $10,000 in Nasdaq. By late afternoon, when the market closed, it was worth $9,620 or down 3.8%. You now need (not a good word in investing) a gain of 4% to get back to even. Now, imagine a string of ten days like yesterday, or a 38% decline. A 61% gain is needed just to get back to even, or where you began with … [Read more...]
Brazilians Excited to Get Their Gun Rights Back
Brazil is very near to becoming something of a gun rights unicorn, that's a country in which citizens have had their rights harshly restricted, but then they have taken them back. With the election of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilians are optimistic that they'll be allowed, once again, greater freedom to protect themselves on streets that have become some of the most violent in the world. Despite strict gun control, Brazil's murder rate is six times higher than that of the United States. Cartels have been battling each other on the streets, endangering disarmed innocents caught in the middle of … [Read more...]
Vanguard Founder Jack Bogle Sounds the Alarm on Index Funds
You pay attention when the founder of the Vanguard Group, Jack Bogle speaks. As the father of the index fund it would be hard not to include Mr. Bogle’s bust on the Mount Rushmore of financial legends. Therefore, when Bogle speaks, I listen. As do thousands of his groupies known as "Bogleheads." “There no longer can be any doubt that the creation of the first index mutual fund was the most successful innovation—especially for investors—in modern financial history,” writes Bogle here, “The question we need to ask ourselves now is: What happens if it becomes too successful for its own … [Read more...]
Congratulations to Boston Bruins Legend Rick Middleton #16
Last night was a special night at TD Garden Boston, as former Boston Bruin Rick “Nifty” Middleton had his number 16 raised to the rafters, only the 11th in the history of the franchise. I remember going to the old Boston Garden in the 80s with my dad. The first time walking up the concourse and then into the Garden is a memory I’ll never forget. It was just one of those moments you remember as a kid, and how incredible it was to be in the building. Even when we were seated in the nose bleed seats high up in the rafters you felt like you were part of the game. Middleton was simply … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive December: The Fed’s Powell in a Danger Zone
“When we were first starting out our mortgage rate was ten percent, not a two percent adjustable.” --says any parent who bought a home in the 1970s Dear Reader, Remember when you understood how the banking system worked? They lent you money, you bought a home, paid them back for what felt like the rest of your life and dreamed of a mortgage burning party. The bank was happy, you had a roof over your head and they spread more money around town. In other words, the fractional banking system worked. Today? Sure, houses are being bought and sold. But … [Read more...]
Maximize Your Retirement by Leaving Income Taxes Behind, Part II
You may recall this piece I wrote to you, Maximize Your Retirement by Leaving Income Taxes Behind. A reader friend of mine wrote and asked why our favored state of New Hampshire didn’t make the cut. After all, he noted, what’s not to like about no sales or ordinary income taxes? Agreed. But unfortunately, NH does levy a five percent tax on dividends and interest—a form of income especially in retirement. There’s always room for improvement. New Hampshire legislators introduced SB 404 on March 15, 2018, which would have phased out the five percent tax over a five-year period and ultimately … [Read more...]
Trump is Right to be “Angry” about GM
The drive by media has a lot of heart—giving President Trump a hard time about GM (Government Motors) cutting jobs—running headlines that he’s “Angry” and is “Threatening” the company. Talk about inheriting a government disaster. It was the Obama administration’s misguided bailout of the autos in 2008 that lead to this mess to begin with. And it was put on Trump’s plate. An industry reckoning was simply delayed as Obama doled out $11.3 billion to resuscitate—essentially an underfunded pension plan that happens to make cars and trucks—a dying business. And it was under Obama’s watch … [Read more...]
Top Gun: The Fed’s Powell in a Danger Zone
“When we were first starting out our mortgage rate was ten percent, not a two percent adjustable.” --says any parent who bought a home in the 1970s Remember when you understood how the banking system worked? They lent you money, you bought a home, paid them back for what felt like the rest of your life and dreamed of a mortgage burning party. The bank was happy, you had a roof over your head and they spread more money around town. In other words, the fractional banking system worked. Today? Sure, houses are being bought and sold. But who’s really … [Read more...]
The Second Amendment and the Senate’s Most Endangered Man
Doug Jones (D-AL) is likely the Senate's most endangered member. After his unpredictable win against accused child-abuser Roy Moore, Jones entered the Senate holding a set of liberal beliefs in contradiction to the conservative electorate he represents. In a recent interview Jones made an Orwellian hash of the English language by claiming that "he is not for “gun control,” just more gun regulations." Alabama news outlet, Yellowhammer News, reported on Jones' attempts to reconcile his anti-gun beliefs with the pro-rights stance of Alabamans. Sean Ross wrote: When Hammontree, later in the … [Read more...]
Cryptocosm and Life After Google Part IV
You’re witnessing what happens when markets dry-up as shown here with bitcoin (see chart below). I've been warning readers about what George Gilder calls the "cryptocosm." (Read Parts I, II and III). If you have been hitching your wagon to cryptocurrencies, you might have been enduring a rude awakening this week. Steven Russolillo, writing at The Wall Street Journal, calls it bitcoin's "Week from Hell." He explains Now, another worry has emerged: Cryptocurrency miners, the outfits that solve complex equations to generate new digital coins, seem to be losing interest. The amount of … [Read more...]
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