Friday, August 28, 2026
I’m at a conference this week, and one of the presenters raised an interesting question about debt: “If you have a $1,000 balance on a store card and $10,000 on a credit card with a high interest rate, which should you pay off first?” Mathematically, paying down the high interest debt makes sense because it […]
“The Father of the 4% Rule Has New Ideas About Retirement Income,” proclaims a recent article from the Daily Upside. For those who may not be familiar, the 4% rule states that when someone retires, they can start drawing from their savings at a 4% rate, increasing the amount by inflation each year. The theory […]
Last night I dreamed about silver prices and trends. I am sure it’s a sign that I spend too much time reading, researching, and thinking about how to invest in silver and precious metals. But while it’s on my mind, I thought I would share my current thoughts about precious metals investing. As you may […]
Over the past few weeks, I’ve received questions about the volatility indicator I reference in my weekly trading services and how it was developed. The answer goes back to my research, which earned the 2015 Charles H. Dow Award. Like many investors, I was intrigued by the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, commonly known as […]
Starting in late 2025, a fear gripped investors that the loans from software companies held in private credit funds would default in large numbers. The thesis was that because of AI, companies could easily write software for their own needs, and therefore, software companies would lose a large portion of their clients and revenues. […]
Over the last few years, Kurv has been very creative with new funds in the high-yield option strategy space. Several of the Kurv exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are in the recommended portfolios for our various newsletter services. Kurv’s newest fund goes a bit old school, which, with its strategy, means all the way back to January […]
If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ve probably heard me say that I spend a lot of time reading. While much of it focuses on markets and investing, I also make a point of reading outside finance. Some of the best ideas come from people solving completely different problems. Recently, I read an […]
Over the last five or six years, I invested in fine wine and whisky casks through a company in London. I had accumulated a nice collection of investable wines. In October 2025, I received an email from the wine investment firm stating that the company would soon be under new ownership. Then, a month later, […]
The stocks in the S&P 500 are divided into eleven business sectors. The State Street Select Sector SPDR ETFs let investors pick which sectors they believe have the best return potential. For stocks this year, there has been a wide range of returns across different sectors. Year-to-date returns have ranged from a negative 5.3% for […]
People are often surprised to learn that I have a degree in Intelligence Studies and spent much of my military career in intelligence. On the surface, intelligence analysis and investing seem to have very little in common. One focuses on national security, while the other focuses on financial markets. The reality is that both disciplines […]
