Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Richard Maybury grabbed my attention: “Think about it. There are really only two choices. Either you will own you, or someone else will.” I’ve subscribed to Richard’s “U.S & World Early Warning Report” for years. I re-read the section about capitalism and socialism. Here are some tidbits: (my highlights) “Laissez-faire (less-aa-fair) is from the French laissez nous […]
Politicians of all flavors continually remind us social security is in danger of going bankrupt. Now our esteemed leaders want to fix it by increasing benefits. What could possibly go wrong? Newsmax Finance reports on a recent interview with former fed head (Big Al) Alan Greenspan: (my emphasis) “Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warns that cuts […]
Realizing you are wrong about a basic belief is tough. The last two weeks we discussed “The Bond Fund Risks Your Broker Won’t Tell You” and“Closed-End Bond Funds, Friend or Foe?” We concluded holding top-rated bonds is OK – individually, not in a publicly traded fund. Fund managers, chasing high returns, take risks I’m not comfortable with. […]
In our article, “Is Your Money Manager Really Listening?”, subscriber Rick G. reported a bad experience when his money manager invested in a closed-end bond fund: “…. He put me in several Closed-End Bond Funds (CEFs). He said they were good deals as they were selling at a discount to Net Asset Value (NAV). Upon further […]
Historically, funds holding investment-grade bonds have been considered a safe investment. Lending money to hundreds of well-known companies had little chance of major default and provided interest income. Has your broker mentioned new risks emerging? Bonds ratings fall into two major groups, investment grade and high yield (called junk bonds). The bond rating generally determines […]
Former Fed Chairs, Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke took great credit for steering the world recovery from the great recession. When something good happens, it’s a result of their masterful strategic planning. Why are they totally surprised when negative news gets reported? The Business Insider headline blared, “A record 7 million Americans have stopped paying their […]
The Government surprised the world in 2008 when the Fed bailed out the banks at the expense of seniors and savers. The Fed dropped interest rates to historic lows while buying U.S. treasuries and bad loans through their Quantitative Easing (QE) program. Seniors and savers lost over $4 trillion in interest income they would have […]
Mike Maloney’s video, “If You Don’t Think QE4 & QE5 Are Coming, You’re Smoking Something”, raised a red flag. The Fed did not raise rates and didn’t rule out more Quantitative Easing (QE) in the future. Mike fears QE may include bailing out companies that can’t pay their debts. QE was different Unlike historical fed interest […]
Apple was the first $1 trillion company. In May 2018 they announced a $100 billion stock buyback program. Their stock was over $225/share at the end of August. In November, Tony Daltorio, one of our panel of experts, wrote “Two Smartphone Makers Nipping at Apple’s Heels“. Apple’s stock dropped around 16% since Tony’s warning. Tony’s […]
Dear Mr. Culp, I wish you the best in your new challenge. This Motley Fool article about your background is encouraging. Why am I writing this? During the Jack Welch era, GE contracted with my training company, Value Selling. GE’s needs were different. Jack’s vision was clear. Each business was required to grow market share and improve […]
