A recent headline in the Sunday Free Press, “Does MDEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) Put Economic Growth Ahead of People?” suggests that the writer may not fully understand the importance of economic growth and the extent that individuals benefit from a strong economy. Responsible and informed regulation should be able to protect the public … Continued
Last May my colleague Marisa Bradbury wrote a great piece titled, “Putting Investors First,” in which she articulated the title as the principle of the fiduciary standard. Please read it if you have not had a chance and you are interested in this hot topic, https://sigmainvestments.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/May-SigSumm-2015.pdf. In the investment advisory business, there are two standards … Continued
According to Wikipedia, the term saber-rattling, was based on an incident in Chilean history that took place on September 3, 1924, when a group of young military officers protested against the political class and the postponement of social measures by rattling their sabers within their scabbards. The term is now applied generally to cover an … Continued
The world is awash in irresponsible borrowing. Governments, companies and individuals borrow money without a clear path to repayment. In addition, governments and companies commit to long-term obligations, primarily in the areas of retirement and health care, without appropriate funding. Unfunded liabilities are, for all practical purposes, debt. This tendency has been exacerbated by unusually … Continued
Puerto Rico is facing a financial crisis that is likely to pit the interests of creditors against those of public employee pensioners. Puerto Rico is currently believed to have about $72 billion of financial debt outstanding, most of it in the form of municipal bonds. Concurrently, the employee pension system is nearly out of money … Continued
Voting in the Michigan primary today, I began to ponder how we got into the political mess we’re in. I am enamored of neither of the leading parties’ leading candidates. It appears likely at this stage that one of them may end up being president, unless an indictment surfaces for one, or anger subsides and … Continued
Attempting to predict the stock market can be hazardous at best and usually unsuccessful. However, there is an old, and frequently accurate, adage that suggests that the market tends to fool most of the people, most of the time. In that regard, data recently published by LPL Research, suggests that there are fewer bulls today … Continued
A few days ago, the first export cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) departed the U.S. for Europe. While current export volumes of natural gas to Europe from the U.S. are nominal, the longer term implications are material. Western Europe is highly dependent on Russia’s Gazprom for natural gas supplies. The availability of increasing volumes … Continued
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