Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

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Yay, Yay Claude Monet, Part II

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By Simbert Brause @ Shutterstock.com

Did you make it to Sotheby’s or Christie’s for the auctions? No? Well, in case you haven’t noticed, it was a big week in the art world. Claude Monet’s “Haystacks” sold for $110 million—a record for his work and for any impressionist—and Jeff Koons’ sculpture “Rabbit” went for $91 million—a record for a living artist.

In 1986 when “Rabbit” was created by Koons, Monet’s “Haystacks” was sold for $2.5 million or two percent of what it sold for this week. But what’s changed? Instead of reading about greed, ambition, class and politics in Bonfire of the Vanities we stream Billions.

Your Survival Guy’s takeaways:

  • Easy money and Bull Markets are the breeding grounds of fools. When $91 million is paid for a sculpture that looks like a balloon from Disney, everyday investors need to pay attention.
  • $110 million is 44X what “Haystacks” sold for in 1986 and the Fed says there’s no inflation. What’s happened to the dollar then?
  • $200 million for a couple pieces of art. The word untethered comes to my mind.
  • “Haystacks” and “Rabbit” won’t put food on your table. What’s your survival plan if you own dead assets that depend on another “sucker” paying you a higher price for them?
  • Time to make adjustments to your portfolio to protect yourself from the downsides of asset inflation.

Read part I here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com