Current Events
Mike discusses current events and how they could be affecting your investments - or more likely, your perception.
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The Fracking Impact
The stock market selloff Thanksgiving week 2018 was the worst Thanksgiving week since the 1930s, during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. Why this sudden drop in a year of highs? And what impact will we see? In my opinion, the selloff stems from changes in the largest industry in the world. And few people recognize it. The Bush-era tax cuts, the largest ever passed, saved the average family $315 a year. The changes that are taking place now will save the average family $1,750 a year and will probably increase. Oil prices dropped from $76 a barrel to $51, and I expect oil will gradually drop even further. The energy industry…
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The Truth About China: How Did We Get Here?
There is growing concern that the US will find its way into a trade war with China. The US government announced tariffs on steel, aluminum, and possibly on other products as well. China has announced their “Made in China 2025” a plan by which Chinese leaders intend China to be the leading nation in robotics, biotechnology, etc. China was an agricultural society less than 50 years ago. Today they are the second-largest economy, behind only the United States. They are on a path that could make them the largest economy in the world, and surpassing the United States. How did that happen in such a short time? If you have…
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The Secrets of the Bond Vigilante
The Economist recently compared watching the market in 2018 to watching a horror movie. There is the character that walks out into the dark, the floor boards creaking and the swell of haunting music to build the tension. Is it Freddy Krueger or only the wind? In response to the drama of the market, the so-called “bond vigilantes” have reappeared. I have not heard mention of the bond vigilantes in over a decade, maybe two. My family sometimes questions my taste in novels, specifically when I started The History of Interest Rates by Sidney Homer. It goes back to 1988-89, when I was first in the business; I moved out…
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How Can Tulips Help Us Understand Bitcoin?
It is tulip season in Mt. Vernon, and for me that brings to mind a book. One of the classic investment books is Extraordinary Popular Delusions and Other Madness of the Crowd by Charles Mackay. Despite being first published in 1841, it is one of those books that I think has not only withstood the test of time, but is also, and unfortunately, relevant to modern investing every few years. The book begins in the 1600s and works its way through famous bubbles, such as the South Sea Bubble from 1719, John Law’s French Mississippi Scheme, and, perhaps most famously, Tulip Mania. Tulip Mania swept through Europe in the 1630s.…
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The Truth About 2017
One of the things that I believe sets me apart from other talking heads commenting on the state of the markets is that I hold myself accountable for my predictions. 2017 is over now, and that means that most people are talking about 2018, and prepared to let bygones be bygones – whether they were right or wrong. I think it is important to take stock of what I said back in 2016 about the year just passed, and critique myself. I said at the end of 2016 that I believed 2017 would see the stock market continue to grow, not from any short-term political ramifications, but because we are…
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The Truth about the Commodities Drop of 2017
2016 has been off to a rough start – in fact it is the worst start in history and for many, 2016 is stirring up memories of 2008. I believe that this fear is unfounded and stemming from misinterpreting the oil and commodities drop. They are symptoms, I believe, of the credit bubble bursting and the overproduction which stemmed from futures contracts in the 1990s and 2000s. Despite this, I still think that we are in a super cycle, and as with previous super cycles, there will be some winners and some losers. We wouldn’t be in a super cycle if everything was going smoothly. Where oil and other commodities…
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Mute the T.V.
As of January 14, the stock market had its worst start in history. Are we headed to another 2008? NO! In fact, I believe we will probably see a decent to very good market in 2016. But is that what you will hear during the presidential and congressional campaigns? No, you will be hearing doom and gloom. But how accurate is all the doom and gloom? Last December, Richard Bernstein published an article in Financial Advisor Magazine titled “Mute the TV,” in which he said “…2016 might be a difficult year for investors…not necessarily for investing.”[1] Again, it could be a hard year for investors, but not for investing. Why…
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January 2016
The outlook and predictions for 2016 are, frankly, awful. Between oil prices dropping, China’s repeated troubles, and the market opening only to drop 400 points, no one seems to have anything good to say about 2016. But how accurate is all the doom and gloom? Last December, Richard Bernstein published an article in Financial Advisor Magazine titled “Mute the TV,” in which he said “…2016 might be a difficult year for investors…not necessarily for investing.”[1] Again, it could be a hard year for investors, but not for investing. Why will it be so hard to be an investor, and why is the best advice you’ll get “mute the TV”? Because…
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Chinese Mercantilism and Yuan Devaluation
Only 40 years ago, China was an agricultural nation, and yet in what seems like no time at all they have become the world’s second largest economy – second only to the US. How is this possible? I have drawn the comparison both on About Money and on my blog about the methods China has used to burst into heavy industry and those Louis XIV and John Baptist-Colbert employed in 17th century France. In fact, there are many, many parallels that help us understand why China is where it is today. Like France in 1661, China’s economy was agricultural and found it difficult to compete on the world market. Both…
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Lessons Investment Advisers Need to Learn from Robo-Advisers
On May 1st, 1975 the government deregulated fixed commissions in the brokerage industry. At the time, I don’t believe many in the industry would have said this would make any great impact on revenues, and history shows most chose to carry on with the status quo. Few stock brokers (that was the title financial advisers used back then) felt there would be much change in their business. One man did see an opportunity, though, and moved to found a firm that charged significantly less in transaction fees. That man, of course was Charles Schwab, who would build a significant and competitive that would capture one-third of portfolios by 1999. I…