Monday, January 25, 2021
If our elected leaders are not concerned about the government deficit, should the citizens be worried? Governments world-wide spend more than their total revenue and borrow to make up the difference. The U.S. Debt Clock shows the US federal debt to be $21.6 trillion, averaging $177,283 per taxpayer. The government now pays interest on $21.6 trillion. Below […]
When David Galland approached me about writing an investment newsletter, I said, “I’m not a stock picker, I try to pick them out of newsletters. Sometimes I even screw that up!”. David asked me to explain. Expensive lessons In the late 1990’s I self-managed our retirement fund. The market soared; between 1995-2000 the S&P went […]
A friend asked why I have an offshore account. I countered, “Do you REALLY trust the government?” He felt the Fed saved us in 2008 with their Quantitative Easing (QE). The economy is great, and employment is rising. Ten years after the massive bank bailouts, let’s take a closer look at who was really saved. […]
Today I can fess up to a secret… Lou Betancourt, founder and president of Street Authority contacted me. I was flattered when someone as highly respected as Lou asked for permission to publish some of our articles. Street Authority has several subscription investment publications and a mailing list 100+ times bigger than our little publication. […]
October 2008 Bob and Ray were close friends; both retired and lived across the street from one another. One fateful morning, each took their coffee into the den, flipped on the computer and checked their brokerage account. As the data popped up, they both did a double take…. “What the heck is going on?” Overnight […]
Chuck Butler’s recent Dow Theory Letter article (behind paywall), “Central Bank Frustrations” was an eye-opener. Chuck removes any illusions about “trusting” central bankers. He quotes former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: “Given the fundamental factors in place that should support the demand for housing, we believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader […]
Diogenes would have a tough time finding an honest man announcing corporate earnings. In my article, Pepsi-Cola Hits The Spot?, I outlined how Pepsi trumpeted sales and profit increases, yet both actually declined. Investors have a difficult challenge managing their life savings dealing with phony, deceptive data. Corporate America blares misleading headline numbers hoping to drive […]
I was a senior, Sally was a freshman. We would hold hands and walk to the small lake on the other side of her family’s farm. The bank was angled, and we would lean back and stare at the distant sky and cloud formations. Sally (Name is changed but the story is real) was my […]
A New York Times (NYT) headline blared, “Too Little Too Late’: Bankruptcy Booms Among Older Americans”. They reference a Consumer Bankruptcy Project (CBP) study, “Graying of U.S. Bankruptcy: Fallout from Life in a Risk Society”: “For a rapidly growing share of older Americans, traditional ideas about life in retirement are being upended by a dismal reality: bankruptcy. …. […]
Millions of baby boomers and seniors are now discovering their retirement nest egg is not delivering like they anticipated. Unless you have a well-funded pension, your income projections are not being met. Why? Was there a mistake in the plan? What can be done once they have left the workforce? We hear a lot of […]
