Will we ever have to bail out the banks again?
The subject of this interview is the fellow who made a fortune shorting the big banks going into the financial meltdown of 2008. He is not a naive cheerleader for the banking industry, so his current opinion, which reflects my own carried weight. As many clients know, we have been investing in preferred stock issued by regulated banks for over [...]
What to know about Money-Market Funds
From the Wall Street Journal, "5 Things Investors Should Know About New Rules on Money-Market Funds - Brace for the possibility of fluctuating share prices and temporary blocks on redemptions" by Daisy Maxey, August 9, 2016 Investors in money-market funds should prepare now for extensive new rules in mid-October that promise to fundamentally change the $2.7 trillion industry, fund managers [...]
Japan’s decreasing population
From the Los Angeles Times, "As Japan's population shrinks, bears and boars roam where schools and shrines once thrived" by Julie Making, July 11, 2016 The red-roofed temple at the top of the hill closed about a decade ago, and now Yoshihiro Shibata can’t even remember its name, though the 54-year-old dairy farmer has lived in this picturesque village all [...]
Brexit and You
After a constructive quarter for our clients, it appeared all would be undone as we neared quarter end and voters in the U.K. made the historic decision to back out of the European Union. Notables such as former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, George Soros and Bill Gross worried that we may be entering an era [...]
Faith in US Stocks?
I wanted to share some charts that appeared in a recent Bloomberg.com article. They confirm my own experience in speaking with clients and prospective clients at this time: everyone is nervous and untrusting of the stock market. Fortunately, bear markets usually begin from a psychological place of extreme bullishness. So the emotional conditions suggest we are not about to see [...]
How could someone rich and famous like Prince die without a will?
From the Los Angeles Times: "Op-Ed: How could someone rich and famous like Prince die without a will? It's not unusual. Just ask an estate lawyer" Jack B. Osborn, April 28, 2016 How could Prince die without a will? He didn't amass a $250-million estate just through exceptional musical talent. He was also a shrewd businessman. Two years ago, Prince [...]