One Sure Thing When it Comes to Investing (Really) “Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for Third Time in 2019” –Headline, The NYT (10/30/19). Let me see if I’ve got this straight: If the economy is strong, corporate earnings are growing, unemployment low, etc. . . . the market goes up because the fundamentals are good....Read More
Booster Shot for Housing Market “10-Year Treasury Yield Falls Below 2%, Defying Expectations.” —Wall Street Journal headline (6/20/19). Thanks to diving interest rates, the housing market is getting a booster shot entering a time of year (mid-Summer) when things customarily start to slow down a bit. How dramatically have rates fallen? In just six weeks,...Read More
Dow Jones Drops 414 Points to Close at 22,445 Say what you will about the housing market’s up’s and down’s. But, I don’t know anyone who bought a home in early October for $270,000, that’s suddenly worth only $225,000 scarcely 10 weeks later. Yet, that’s almost exactly what’s just happened in the stock market. Just subtract...Read More
Saving Banks, Punishing Rewarding Bankers “In Sweden, if you ask a union leader, “Are you afraid of new technology?’ they will answer, “No, I’m afraid of old technology.” The jobs disappear, and then we train people for new jobs. We won’t protect jobs. But we will protect workers.” –Swedish minister for employment and integration, Ylva...Read More
Interest Rates a Double-Sided Coin “Companies are paying the most in nearly a decade for some types of short-term borrowing, the latest threat to the U.S. economic expansion.” –“Climb in Key Rate Pinches Borrowers”; The Wall Street Journal (3/28/2018). Funny, I would have put a different spin on the news that companies — many enjoying record...Read More
Call it “Financial Darwinism” “Bitcoin Surges Above $5,200 on Hopes of Renewed China Trade.” —The Wall Street Journal (10/12/2017). No, I’m not rooting for Bitcoin to skyrocket to the heavens because I have a position in it. God forbid! Rather, it’s because I see Bitcoin serving a useful economic purpose. Two, in fact: One. Lightning rod. ...Read More
