Total Compensation

Most Americans are not contributing enough to their retirement plans in order to comfortably retire by the age of 65. With the gradual demise of defined benefit pension plans, in favor of defined contribution plans, it is incumbent on individuals to take responsibility for their long-term financial security.  However, because the shift to defined contribution … Continued

Logistics-Package Delivery

Wikipedia defines logistics as the detailed organization and implementation of a complex organization.  In a general business sense, logistics is the management of the flow of things between the point of origin and the point of consumption. We recently discussed the concept of the “last mile”, primarily in the context of the telecommunication industry, (see … Continued

Are Defined Benefit Pension Plans History?

Over the last several decades there has been a sea change in funding for employee pensions.  Historically, pensions have been based on defined benefit formulas that provided retirees with a set dollar amount, based on salary, tenure and other factors.  Under the defined benefit system, any shortfalls in funding were the responsibility of the employer.  … Continued

Turnover

In the context of human resources, turnover is the process of replacing a departing employee with a new hire.  An organization’s turnover experience is measured as a percentage rate, which is referred to as its turnover rate. Investors should be aware of the turnover rate when considering an investment opportunity.  High turnover has often been … Continued

Short Squeeze

Wikipedia defines a short squeeze as a rapid increase in the price of a stock that occurs when there is a lack of supply and an excess of demand for the stock. Short squeezes result when short sellers seek to cover, or are forced to cover, their short positions, either because they can no longer … Continued

The Last Mile

According to Wikipedia, the last mile is a phrase widely used in the telecommunication industry to refer to the final leg of the networks that deliver telecommunication services to retail end-users.  The actual length of the “last mile” may be more or less than a mile. The “last mile” is typically the speed and cost bottleneck … Continued

“Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated”

This well-known quote is reputed to have been Mark Twain’s response to news of the publication of his obituary. Investors might want to note that premature obituaries can also occur in the world of stock market punditry.  Recall that throughout the fourth quarter of 2018, conventional wisdom was suggesting that the stock market had peaked … Continued

Don’t Look Back….

The full quotation is “Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.”  This quote is often associated with inspirational or positive thinking messages because looking back at bad things won’t change anything in the present.  There is a message here for investors. Don’t look back at the trades you wish you had made.  Wishing that … Continued

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth

This phrase, or something like it, is often associated with the swearing in of witnesses while giving testimony in court, and, by extension, in other contexts.  The idea behind this relatively comprehensive approach probably reflects, in part, concern over testimony that may be technically true, but may be misleading, taken literally, due to omissions or … Continued

Cash or Credit?

We have previously discussed the gradual movement away from cash in many retail establishments (see blogs titled “Is Cash Obsolete?” and “When Cash is Embarrassing”). The movement towards credit-only transactions appears to be driven by efficiency and the problems associated with accepting and handling cash. Now comes government.  San Francisco is about to require brick-and-mortar … Continued

Is The Jig Up For The GIG Economy?

The great recession precipitated relatively high levels of unemployment and a material reduction in opportunities for full time work.  Consequently, people were open to new things, such as picking up temporary, low-commitment contract work.  Workers in this type of work are generally not legally employees and, while they gain flexibility, they lose out on traditional … Continued

Retirement Planning

How and when to retire may be the most complicated financial decision that most of will have to face.  There are a number of variables, many of which require estimates that are subject to unexpected future events.  Perhaps the most difficult factors include, estimating your (and a partner’s) life expectancy, inflation and investment returns over … Continued