On several occasions over my career providing wealth management counseling to clients, I have run across the phrase from new clients that, “My broker doesn’t charge me.” I usually ask, “Do you work for free too?” The confusion comes in when one does not explicitly “write a check” for services, but instead, has fees that … 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
In making investment decisions it is important to understand the difference between that which we know and what we believe. They are not synonyms. According to Dictionary.com, know is defined as, “to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and withcertainty.” Believe is defined as, “to have confidence in the truth, the … Continued
Recent reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) suggest that water levels in the Great Lakes are likely to stay at or above the long-term average over the next six months. With the exception of Lake Ontario, lake levels are currently above the seasonal long-term … Continued
“Let us enter the New Year cheerfully. Let us resolve to look on the bright side, to make the best of whatever may befall, to maintain faith that doing the right thing will ultimately bring victory. Let us cultivate sunniness, resist sourness. We can better wrestle with difficulties, obstacles, problems in a spirit of buoyancy … Continued
These three words, while all different, are all applicable to the near term outlook for the stock and bond markets. It seems that the equity markets are being buffeted by more frequent and larger percentage changes than in recent memory. Commodity prices have sustained large price changes with major declines in the price of oil … Continued
Any attempt by investors to strategize based on government data should consider that virtually all announced monthly statistics are subject to almost endless revisions, some of which may be substantial. It is also clear that the media will precede actual announcements with a seemingly endless and widely diverse array of projections, followed by a minute … Continued
Wikipedia defines scalability as the capability of a system, network or process to handle a growing amount of work, or its potential to be enlarged in order to accommodate that growth. This is an important concept for investors. In a business setting, scalability defines a system whose performance improves after additional investment proportionally to the … Continued
The question of bundled or unbundled products or services is becoming an increasingly important issue across a wide range of industries. Bundling is buying a total package that includes a fairly substantial menu of services, compared to unbundled, in which you buy just the specific product or service that interests you. In the world of … Continued
During the 1992 presidential elections, a wealthy individual ran a substantially self-funded presidential campaign as an independent, in competition with the established parties’ candidates, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The impact of Ross Perot’s run on the eventual outcome remains a subject for debate, with no clear consensus as to which of the … Continued
This declaration was part of a justification on the part of Greece’s Education Minister, Aristides Baltas, for his plan to return control of Greek universities to students. This may work for Greek higher education, or not, but investors would be well advised to continue to carefully consider management when committing funds. The importance of management … Continued
According to Wikipedia, in the United Kingdom and in some other places, the “silly season” is the period lasting for a few summer months typified by the emergence of frivolous stories in the media. In U.S. politics and life styles, the “silly season” is the period from early summer until the first week of October … Continued
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