Riddle me this: Why would anyone ever buy junk bonds or a junk bond fund? Before we get to the answer, I would like to point something out that seems to be a given, but that astonishingly few investors think about: bonds are debt instruments, so investing in bonds means investing in debt, governmental or corporate.
How to Find Junk Bonds That Don’t Stink Read More »
The wealth effect has been used as a justification for quantitative easing and a root cause of consistent overly optimistic growth expectations by the Federal Open Market Committee. The Fed’s over reliance on the so-called “wealth effect,” is a major cause of this optimism and consistently wrong projections. The wealth effect says that an increase in consumer wealth, through higher stock prices or home values will lead to increased consumer spending.
Research suggests that the concept of a wealth effect is in fact deeply flawed. It is unfortunate that the FOMC has relied on this flawed concept to experiment with over $3 trillion in asset purchases and continues to use it as the basis for what we believe are overly optimistic growth expectations.
How’s the Wealth Effect Really Doing? Read More »
There is an old saying, “Those who do not study the past are condemned to repeat it” and another that goes along with it which says, “History may not repeat itself but it does rhyme.”
Recently I came across some articles that we published quite a few years ago but I thought they were worth mentioning again in an effort to learn from the past. So here they are:
Asbestos litigation has been a hot topic since asbestos was banned in 1977. For more than 30 years new cases have continued to be diagnosed. As more and more cases of asbestos continue coming in, the trend in asbestos litigation in the United States is on the rise, with respect to average settlements, costs, attorney’s fees, and outside financing. Those who have been exposed to asbestos and suffered, as a result, may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, hospital bills, and lost wages.
Current Trends in Asbestos Litigation Read More »
The environmental impact of “fracking” has been the subject of some debate in recent years. It is the process of pumping water and some other agents into oil wells under pressure in an effort to open cracks in the rock and allow the oil and gas to get out. This process is largely responsible for the massive expansion in U.S. natural gas production allowing us to approach energy independence. So oil companies are very protective of the technology. Environmentalists on the other hand have ascribed everything from water pollution, drought and earthquakes to the process. In today’s article, we will look at a new wrinkle to the fracking debate relating to off-shore fracking.
New EPA Rule Requires Chemical Disclosure for Offshore Fracking Read More »
If you’re ready to do some investing, you need a broker to be able to buy stocks, options, and pretty much anything else. Deciding on the right broker for you can be difficult. If you’ve made the rounds of the local brokerage firms you’ll notice a trend: they all charge a lot in commissions. If you start looking online you’ll notice the commissions are decidedly lower but are these brokers a good deal or just a good deal of trouble?
Choosing a Brokerage Firm Read More »
A look at the big picture of politics in the Middle East including Egypt’s economic woes, Saudi Arabia’s problems, Russia’s involvement & the “Army of Mohammed”.
Egypt Marches to Saudi Drummer Read More »
While common sense tells us “printing our way to prosperity” seems like an unlikely longer-term outcome, in the short run it can help push stock prices higher. From Bloomberg: The global currency wars are heating up again as central banks embark on a new round of easing to combat a slowdown in growth. The European
Currency Wars: Money Printing- Wind at Stock Market’s Back Read More »
Whether it is fishing, sailing, cruising or just floating along on rivers, lakes, bays and even the ocean, people love being on the water. But owning your own boat or yacht can be expensive. The old joke goes that a boat is just a hole in the water to throw money into. In addition to maintenance,
Do You Own a Boat or Yacht? Read More »
In the U.K. the opposition party appoints a person to “shadow” the person in office thus learning the job and able to speak intelligently about alternative policies. Following the speeches of Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Party Leader Ed Miliband, we now know more about how Labour plans to treat business. So if the Labour party wins the 2015 general election, would they help U.K. business or hinder it?
Will the Labour Party Help or Hinder U.K. Business? Read More »
