SHOULD INVESTORS LISTEN TO THE MEDIA FOR INVESTMENT ADVICE?
As we all know, the media loves to hype up stories because the hype creates bigger audiences. At about this time into the Obama administration, the media was hyping the rise of countries like Brazil, India, China and South Africa (the “BRICS”). Many talking heads also encouraged investors to invest in these “rising” countries. Over […]
SELL IN MAY AND GO AWAY – A FLAWED APPROACH!
The media loves to hype up anomalies in the market and there are two many of us are hearing now. We believe investing based on these anomalies is a flawed approach. Let’s look at both the “Sell in May and Go Away” trading strategy and the Presidential Election Cycle anomaly. We would argue that market […]
LACK OF CASH – WHY THE MARKET IS SLOWING DOWN
Investors can learn a lot about the securities markets if they understand the dynamics that occur at an auction. When an auction has very few people in attendance (or there is limited cash available to purchase the items on auction), prices tend to be depressed because of a lack of competitive buying. On the other […]
THE FEDERAL RESERVE RAISES INTEREST RATES AND GOLD RALLIES. WHY?
The Federal Reserve (“Fed”) raised interest rates yesterday. According to many pundits, that is bad for gold prices. Get out now while you can!! This is consistent with the misconception many people have that higher interest rates are always bad for gold. Despite this sentiment, gold rose by 1% on Wednesday. Why – because the […]
Why the Federal Reserve May Keep Rates Low as Inflation Rises
After the “Great Recession”, US households carried a lot of debt and were hurting economically from that burden. One of the reasons the Federal Reserve (“Fed”) decided to initiate its quantitative easing program was to ease this burden on households while at the same time propping up the general economy. Households benefited by refinancing their […]
The End of Multi-National Company Dominance?
Over the last thirty to forty years, multi-national companies have dominated not only the American business landscape but that of the entire world. If you go to “any town” USA, they all look similar with the same national restaurants and stores. Multi-national companies have benefited from globalization, cheap capital and increased regulation over the last […]
2017: Things to Watch for in the Market
It is always dangerous to make predictions, especially when trying to make them for an entire year. Nonetheless, reasoned judgments should be considered for their potential impact on investments. Here are our general thoughts going into the New Year: The US energy sector will be one of the best investments over the next few years. […]
What Sector Will Benefit from Trump?
Over the past 100 years, there have been two periods in which the stock market was driven higher mainly by one sector of the economy. In the 1920’s, it was utilities and in the 1990’s, technology led the way. Why did this happen? In the 20’s, people were getting electricity in their homes for the […]
Next round of the Euro Crisis set for this weekend?
If you turn on CNBC there is a sense of euphoria – Trump’s growth strategy, consumer confidence is high (last time it was this high was in July 2007, a good contrary indicator) and the stock market is at an all-time high (actually, the market as measured by the S&P 500 Index is only up […]
The Trump Market Crash – Not stocks, but bonds!
While watching the election on Nov. 8th, one not only got minute by minute updates on the voting results but also saw the Dow futures plummeting down over 800 points and heard pundits talking about the market crashing because it looked like Trump was going to win. As it turns out, they were right about […]