According to recent reports, for the first time since 2005, the U.S. Army missed its recruiting goal for the year, despite increasing its bonus pool by $200 million and approving additional waivers for bad conduct and health issues. The Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, with much smaller requirements, all met their recruiting goals for … Continued
A recent commentary written by Liz Szabo for Kaiser Health News discusses some of the issues relating to benefits and risks associated with cancer screening for the elderly. In her article, she states that, according to the American Journal of Public Health, nearly one in five women, with severe cognitive impairment, including older patients, are … Continued
Recently released global airline accident data indicates that not a single airline passenger suffered a fatality from a jet crash anywhere in the world in 2017. This is almost an unimaginable safety milestone, even though the average number of airliner accidents and fatalities has been declining since 1997. While there have been a few fatal … Continued
On September 7th, Equifax announced that the personal information of 143 million U.S. consumers was stolen from their servers. Hackers stole data that included full names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and addresses. This breach is one of the largest, and some say most damaging, to date. We understand that there are a lot of … Continued
In recent blogs we have noted that there has been an increase in large investor concerns over a trend toward a reduction in shareholders’ rights. Now we have the managers of the S&P 500 taking a stand in favor of shareholders’ rights by announcing a new policy that would bar new admissions to the index … Continued
This is a Latin phrase that means, “first do no harm.” Non-maleficence, which is derived from this maxim, is one of the principal precepts of bioethics that all healthcare students are taught in school and is a fundamental principle throughout the world. This approach to the practice of medicine enjoys widespread support and seems to … Continued
The price of oil has proven to be remarkably difficult to predict. While the long term outlook is likely to reflect supply and demand, near-term fluctuations have been prone to sharp, often inexplicable price changes. For at least fifty years, conventional wisdom was focused on the eventual depletion of all known reserves and an ensuing … Continued
The just played Super Bowl may well have been the most exciting in the games 51 year history. The biggest comeback in history! First Super Bowl to go into overtime! Hopefully, the last word on Inflategate. The game also has a useful lesson for investors. Don’t forget what got you there. When markets are going against … Continued
Virtually all human endeavors involve team work to some extent. In sports, the application to team sports is obvious. Even in sports where the individual appears to be crucial, a team is still a major factor. For example, NASCAR drivers, no matter how talented, depend on the mechanics who set up their cars and the … Continued
Investopedia, a privately owned for-profit American website that focuses much of its content on investing education and financial news, recently conducted a survey that concluded that investors using digital advisors are nearly as happy as those who work with traditional advisors. However, most respondents indicated that there are certain services that warrant human help. The … Continued
There are hundreds, or maybe thousands, of newsletter writers around the globe. All of them have a single purpose – to sell you something. There is a fertile field for stock market newsletter writers. It goes without saying that human beings are wired to seek self preservation. Numerous articles have been written about the “fight … Continued
On several occasions over my career providing wealth management counseling to clients, I have run across the phrase from new clients that, “My broker doesn’t charge me.” I usually ask, “Do you work for free too?” The confusion comes in when one does not explicitly “write a check” for services, but instead, has fees that … Continued
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