On November 30, 2022, we posted a blog titled “The ESG Conundrum“, that suggested that rising interest in ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments presented a challenge to prospective investors.  With no clear definitions, we concluded that ESG was essentially what the portfolio manager said it was.  We also questioned whether the pursuit of ESG criteria … Continued

Week of March 25, 2024 Last week the EPA pushed back its CO2 emissions requirements by two years to 2032. Gas powered cars will not be able to make up more than 30% of an auto manufacturer’s sales. This gives the likes of Ford and General Motors two extra years to figure out how to … Continued

Historically, homeownership has been viewed as a conservative path to building wealth.  However, the recent housing bubble, that saw values peak in 2006 and not fully recover until some ten years later, gave pause to the idea that owning your home is the best option.  For most people, a home is both an investment and shelter.  … Continued

Week of March 18, 2024 Last week brought more troubling news (news, as in multiple cases of cause for concern) for the iconic plane maker, Boeing.  The stock price, trading near its 52 week low in an otherwise rising market, forces investors to take notice of how once dominant companies can so easily go off … Continued

But you can’t make it drink.  This old proverb may be applicable to the current state of demand for electric vehicles (EVs).  After an initial surge of enthusiasm, fueled in part by Tesla’s success in the face of limited competition, unsustainable subsidies and strong initial demand by early adopters, realism seems to be setting in. … Continued

Week of March 4, 2024 On June 1, 2022, the CEO of Chase Bank – Jamie Dimon – warned employees of the bank to “brace yourself” for an economic hurricane.  This caused quite a stir among government policy makers, investors and consumers given the powerful role that the bank played – and plays – in … Continued

Week of February 26, 2024 Two noteworthy developments came into sharp focus last week with noteworthy, long-term, global repercussions. The first – the wonder called artificial intelligence (AI) as exemplified by the dramatic business success of Nvidia, the chipmaker powering AI and which announced its most recent financial results. The second – the death of … Continued

It is generally understood that most developed countries have, to varying degrees, problems with homelessness, labor shortages and immigration.  Governments, at all levels, have sought to find solutions, and many have considered some form of universal basic income.  We have discussed this in a series of blogs posted over the last several years. Ben Henwood, a … Continued

Week of February 19, 2024 The January 2024 PPI and CPI both came in hotter than expected, and the CPI gains were led by the 6% rise in shelter costs.  Paradoxically, the rise in interest rates engineered by the Fed to quell inflationary pressures, had the opposite effect as higher interest costs on mortgages of … Continued

According to Wikipedia, this is an aphorism which means insistence on perfection often prevents the implementation of good improvements.  It might seem that the administration’s pause on approvals of new LNG exporting projects, if not eventually withdrawn, may prove to be a good example of this. The pause, implemented under pressure from the climate lobby, … Continued

Week of February 12, 2024 We have changed our China Signal from Yellow to Red. The Shanghai Composite stock index is down by about 50% over the last three years. Geopolitical Futures, a global forecasting service, recently wrote that “Beijing will have to address … a much more potent challenge that affects its long-term economic … Continued

In light of the heightened interest in threats to international navigation, you might be interested in our blog “Freedom of the Seas” from May 2013. All comments and suggestions are welcome. Tamika Hall & Walter Kirchberger, CFA