Investing in cryptocurrency has always been controversial. In that regard, we have previously posted several blogs that suggest that legal tender is what the government says it is. Recently, China has made it clear that it does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender and the banking system does not accept cryptocurrencies or provide relevant services. … Continued
Yield hunting is a term used in the financial community to identify efforts to preserve a desired yield on fixed income investments that are no longer consistent with changed market conditions. For example, long-time investors may consider 4% as the historical and appropriate yield on the 10-year treasury, when the actual yield, in today’s environment … Continued
As our elected officials keep rolling out trillion dollar spending plans, allegedly to be financed by proposed increases in taxes on corporations and the wealthiest individuals, one might wonder, what happens if revenues fall short? None of the details relating to planned spending and tax increases have been released, and it will probably be several … Continued
Much has been said about an apparent mismatch between unemployment data and the forest of help wanted signs around every corner. While there are a number of possible explanations, many have suggested that overly generous, no questions asked, unemployment benefits may be, at least, part of the problem. While most of the stimulus disbursements have … Continued
Wikipedia defines intellectual property (IP) as a category of property that includes creations of the human intellect. There are many types of IP, and some countries recognize more than others. The most well-known types of IP are copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets. The main purpose of IP law is to encourage the creation of … Continued
Anxiety is a normal human emotion, until it goes to extremes and leads to the potential of irrational behavior. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. This was President Roosevelt’s (FDR) response to the public’s fears during the Great Depression and reflected FDR’s conviction that the U.S. would emerge as a stronger, … Continued
Supply and demand theory postulates that the relationship between supply and demand determines pricing and capacity adjustments. This is true, but more likely to develop over the long term. Supply/demand imbalances can have many causes and it is incumbent on investors to understand the underlying factors. For example, the early 2020 apparent lack of TP … Continued
China’s economy is heavily dependent on coal powered electric energy. We have previously discussed China’s dependence on coal. (See our blogs titled Climate, Coal and China and Coal). In order to meaningfully reduce China’s dependence on coal, solutions to two primary roadblocks will have to be found. Specifically, the availability of scalable and economically practical … Continued
A theme seems to be emerging as we monitor the release of information made by public companies’ earnings reports and shared forward looking guidance – the decision to increase prices on their products and services. A company’s decision to increase prices can be made based on current or anticipated increased costs of production. The time … Continued
That should be obvious. While current unemployment data is confusing at best, and may be obscuring the probability that the U.S. is looking at a longer term labor shortage, employers should be recognizing the long-term importance of being an employer of choice. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, one of the country’s largest private employers, … Continued
With the current atmosphere in Washington, it might be a good time to recognize that some federal, state and local taxes are partially or substantially voluntary, and/or deferrable depending on personal choices. For example, capital gains tax liabilities are currently triggered by the sale of an asset at a profit. Any liability can be entirely or … Continued
That depends on how you define raisin. There has been a significant increase in the number of exchange traded funds (ETFs) offering a focused emphasis on current fashionable investment themes. While a diverse portfolio may offer the best long term results, many investors, at least with part of their portfolios, are seeking opportunities to concentrate … Continued
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