I’ve noticed lately that inflation continues to “surprise” to the downside, to a small degree here in the US but mainly overseas (notably Europe, Australia and Canada), creating expectations of further monetary easing. This is leaving many people who have been calling for hyperinflation and the collapse of fiat currencies scratching their heads. They say…
Global Imbalances & Expected Investment Returns
There has been a lot of news lately that has me thinking about the bigger picture of where the global economy is heading. I’ll touch on each of these separately and then tie them all together with my macro view at the end. I should say in advance that as a fiduciary of other’s money,…
Risk Management, Cash & Selling Put Options
(Today’s blog post will be a bit more advanced if you’re not familiar with stock options. However, if you want to learn more, I have a video series you can subscribe to on my company’s website.) With the uncertainty over the debt ceiling, I wanted to talk about the importance of cash in a portfolio…
Take a Walk
In honor of Congress’ ineptness and 10% approval rating, how about a song for the weekend. Enjoy! I think Congress should take a walk…and never come back.
Market Round Up
Stocks & the Japanese yen I’ve had my eye on the Japanese yen the past few days. For years, the yen has been at the center of the “carry trade,” where traders will borrow in yen at near zero interest rates to leverage their investment in markets that are moving higher – like stocks. The…
Emerging Markets, China & Currencies
I lightened up on Emerging Markets (EM) a little this week. Many of the EM markets took off to the upside after Bernanke announced no change to the current Quantitative Easing program. However, I see the current rally as just another cyclical blip that will quickly lose steam. At the heart of the issue remains…
The Little Market That Could…
This stock market continues to chug along, like the little engine that could. This has been the most resilient market since the 1990’s, showing just how much money is trying to work its way into stocks. This is forcing people to buy on the shallowest of dips. The market action this week tells me there’s…
Why the Dow Will Go Up Forever
Today, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that they’re swapping out three companies from the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJIA) – “The Dow” that everyone talks about so often when referring to the US stock market. The DJIA is an index of only 30 stocks. It’s price weighted meaning a $50 stock has a larger…