Recent market volatility, with daily multi-hundred point moves for the Dow Jones Industrial Averages, may be attributable to investors focusing, less on what the news actually means, but rather, interpreting every news item, on a given day, as either all good or all bad. Obviously, the outlook for individual companies or the general economy, does […]
Read MoreThis is a quotation from FDR’s first inaugural address when the country was in the middle of a severe depression. Obviously, we are not currently seeing any serious economic stress. But rather, we are looking at a very strong economy and a strong stock market, generally just a few, single digit percentage points from all-time […]
Read MoreThis is the title of a recent Wall Street Journal article written by Walter Russell Mead. It is not practical to attempt to summarize Mr. Mead’s comments, but the underlying theme of his position is, “low energy prices enhance U.S. power at the expense of Moscow and Tehran”. We have previously looked at the potential […]
Read MoreWith bitcoin down 80% from the peak, and similar declines for other cryptocurrencies, what’s likely to happen next? We have previously commented on the cryptocurrency phenomenon, see Coin of the Realm, posted 16 Feb 2018 and Tulips and Bitcoins posted 16 Aug 2017. We have been somewhat less than enthusiastic regarding the investment merit of […]
Read MoreThe Right Stuff is the tittle of a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the pilots engaged in U.S. postwar research with experimental rocket-powered high-speed aircraft as well as documenting the stories of the first Project Mercury astronauts. The Right Stuff can also refer to necessary or ideal qualities and capabilities, such as courage, confidence, […]
Read MoreAretha Franklin’s wasn’t. Prince’s wasn’t. Pablo Picasso’s wasn’t. When you die and have not listed beneficiaries for your assets or titled your assets in the name of a trust, the courts in your state determine where your assets go. Many people don’t realize that a will does not avoid probate. A will simply informs the […]
Read More