According to InvestorWords.com, talking your book is an investing expression which means arguing for a scenario that, if true, would end up making you money because it follows your investing strategy. In other words, when investment professionals publicly express their views regarding an investment opportunity, in which they hold a position, they are “talking their … Continued
Ethanol is a renewable, domestically produced alcohol fuel made from plant material, such as corn, sugar cane, or grasses. In the U.S., corn is the primary source of ethanol, while other countries, particularly Brazil, use sugar cane. Using ethanol can reduce oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. Ethanol use in the U.S. has increased dramatically … Continued
Investors should recognize that news is intended to be a money making industry. Instead of simply reporting the news in a straight forward manner, most media reporting has morphed into editorials, with an emphasis on the spectacular, the stirring, and the controversial. The emphasis is no longer on getting the facts right, but rather, a race … Continued
According to Wikipedia, dynamic scoring is a forecasting technique for government revenues, expenditures, and budget deficits that incorporates predictions about the behavior of people and organizations based on changes in fiscal policy. A dynamic scoring model may include expectations as the population adapts to the new policy. Alternatively, static scoring makes simpler assumptions regarding behavior … Continued
The importance of corporate governance and shareholder rights has recently made headlines with the implosion of the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of WeWork. We discussed this issue in our blog, “Corporate Governance/Shareholder Rights,” posted 15 Mar 2017. It is evident that investors have now become somewhat more discriminating in evaluating potential IPOs. While governance … Continued
“You Need to Calm Down” is the title of a recently released song by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. While this is probably good advice for all of us, it is particularly appropriate for investors. With a constant drum beat of conflicting investing and political commentary, markets tend to be subject to frequent, short-term, and often ill-advised, … Continued
The global auto industry is scrambling to meet carbon-emission mandates and, currently, EVs appear to be the solution of choice. Unfortunately, advances in battery technology and cost are not cooperating. Cutting the cost of batteries is probably the industry’s most urgent challenge. Batteries are estimated to account for 35%-45% of EV total costs. Unless EV … Continued
Beta testing is generally defined as external pilot-testing of a product before commercial quantity production. At the beta test stage, the product has already passed through first-level, internal pilot-testing (alpha testing) and glaring defects have been addressed. Beta testing puts a new product through “real world” testing by selected customers under normal, everyday conditions. Investors … Continued
One of the few things that investors can absolutely count on is that there will be a next recession. Currently, recession talk has completely taken over the discussion on Wall Street and CNBC. Economists and other prognosticators seem to be constantly competing with each other to be the first to predict the next downturn in … Continued
Near record unemployment rates and an increase in help wanted signs would suggest that there is a labor shortage. If this is the case, we should be seeing the signs of a tight labor market, with wage growth and inflationary pressures. Surprisingly, wage growth has been modest and inflation has been relatively benign. What is … Continued
According to Wikipedia, survival of the fittest is a phrase that originated from Darwin’s evolutionary theory as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection. In the corporate world, perhaps an appropriate corollary would be, survival of the lowest costs, and the probable fate of high cost producers as an industry develops excess capacity. … Continued
Purely on the basis of anecdotal, personal experience, it appears that English is increasingly becoming the world’s second language. As of 2019, there are 55 sovereign states and 27 non-sovereign entities where English is the official language. More important to business and leisure travelers, even in countries where English has no official status, there seems … Continued
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