Your November Rage Gauge™ is in, and it’s at a record high, but you don’t need me to tell you that—just look around you. This week you learned Social Security’s cost of living adjustment will average about twenty bucks a month next year. You remember a time when a crisp twenty-dollar bill meant something to you. It meant I had to cut my neighbor’s lawn twice or scoop ice cream for five hours. Today you’re looked at as old-fashioned when presenting one for payment—as if cash is an inconvenience. “Just Venmo me.” What could possibly go wrong with the digitalization of the dollar? What … [Read more...]
October RAGE Gauge: Stocks Down Over 33% Thrice this Century
With stocks down more than 33% three times now this century, it’s clear that investors have a short-term memory problem—forgetting how bad they felt in March 2001/2008/2020—which is why my RAGE Gauge continues to signal my highest risk level. The new normal we’re living with is a manmade China virus and manmade chaos created by blue state government. Schools are a mess as lawyers lick their chops, ready to pounce with class-action suits, and parents seethe because they want their kids in the classroom where they belong. Anecdotally, at my son’s school, a positive test (kid feels fine) means … [Read more...]
You Know in Your Gut Why My September RAGE Gauge™ Concludes This
Pre-China virus, anyone who wanted a job could get one. But for some, no matter how loud an economy roars, they’re too lazy to work. For them, any economy is a bad economy because living off your taxed wages is a whole lot easier. Meet the viewers of the DNC infomercial. The puppet Biden and his masters tell their followers: “you work for me.” The little Caesar-like mayors and governors in blue cities and states find their holy grail with a health crisis (probably on the way out the door) to shut down an economy to keep the plebes locked up, to turn against each other, and under their … [Read more...]
RAGE Gauge™ July: Fortunes Are Being Lost in a Matter of Weeks
You’d never guess by the soaring stock market that we’re in a government-induced depression and that there’s rioting in the streets. My latest RAGE Gauge shows a nation on edge, savers penalized with a risk-free rate of no return, and government creating a Grand Canyon size gap between the haves and the have nots. Anyone see how this could turn ugly? If you were uncomfortable with your stocks in March and hung in there, it’s in times like these where you need to think about self-reliance and self-preservation. Fortunes are being lost in a matter of weeks. Is this the calm … [Read more...]
New! RAGE Gauge™ I’m Busier than Ever
The numbers ain’t pretty. Unemployment went from a near-record low to high in a matter of weeks; the T-bill rate, the investor’s North Star, is a fallen one (see below); gold is up, and background checks are still high (about double compared to this time last year). Elevated risks are everywhere and yet the Nasdaq trades as if there’s “nothing to see here,” as retail investors run ‘em up like .com days. It’s truly breathtaking. In my conversations with you, you’re telling me it’s because of times like these you’re with us. You also tell me, if you’re not a client, how much … [Read more...]
What My RAGE Gauge™ is Telling You
Coronavirus Infects Stock Market: Part XXVI Before you dig into my latest RAGE Gauge™, let’s spend a few minutes defining the coronavirus pandemic: It has been way harder for some than it needed to be. I’m not talking about the poor. I’m not talking about those who are living paycheck to paycheck, either. Unfortunately, for a large swath of Americans, a $1,000 shock to monthly income is devastating. That may never change. The group I’m talking about is, perhaps, the fifth of you who have savings: the wealthy, the upper-middle class, the middle-class, the doctors and lawyers and … [Read more...]
RAGE Gauge: Booming Gun Sales Are A Sign of Trump’s Strong Economy
You know I have clients in the gun business. They tell me the last couple of months were record-breakers for their business. Typically booming gun sales are a sign gun control supporters are making another push to ban Americans’ firearms. This time though, it’s a sign that more Americans have jobs and have more money in their pockets to spend on hobbies. The quality of jobs is getting better as well. U6 unemployment, the measure of unemployment that includes temporary and part-time workers, is near all-time lows at 6.9%. If Americans want full-time work, they are having a much easier … [Read more...]
RAGE Gauge: Trump Powers Positivity
My RAGE Gauge shows Americans feeling good about their lives right now. Risk is still elevated but has been trending in a better direction. One place Americans seem to be worried about is their Second Amendment rights. After calls in the Democrat primary for the outright confiscation of guns, Americans started buying firearms at increased rates for the first time in years. FBI data show that November was the first year-over-year increase in the number of background checks for gun sales in well over two years. Unemployment is at a 50-year low, the stock market has been strong, and America … [Read more...]
June RAGE Gauge: Gold Shines as Investors Seek Safe Haven
My latest RAGE Gauge reading is in, and while perceived risk is down from last month, it’s still not pretty. What caught my attention is the noticeable bump in gold as investors seek safe haven investments. Remember though, while the yellow metal is an important component of a diversified portfolio, its lack of income or dividend payments make it an expensive asset for too much of your retirement money. … [Read more...]
May RAGE Gauge: Time to Salt Away some Gains?
You can thank the Trump economy for this stock market. It’s nothing short of a miracle. That’s why it’s a great time for you to review where you stand with your portfolio. Have you considered taking some of your gains and salting them away in bonds in preparation for tougher times ahead? Don’t forget I want you to “Thrive and Survive” no matter what comes our way. … [Read more...]