Saturday, October 24, 2020
Inflation is defined as, “A general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of currency.” Inflation is a silent killer of retirement dreams. Most retiree’s income can’t keep up with inflation; even with the social security inflation rider. Jeff Clark’s article, “How to Deprogram Your Friends & Family from the Cult of Fiat Currency,” […]
Gold has been around since the beginning of time. It sits in a lump, doesn’t pay interest; yet governments around the world hoard it, and investment pundits recommend we own some. As kids, we watched movies about pirates stealing it, governments fighting over it and women swooning when they receive it as a gift. Warren […]
Short selling is a trading strategy to bet that a stock price will fall. However, if many traders all short the same stock and the trade turns against them, they can get caught in a money-losing short squeeze. For high-yield stocks, selling short is often a bet on a dividend cut. When that doesn’t happen, […]
Anyone remember when our money was backed by gold? Top of the dollar bill said “Silver certificate”? Today our bills say, “Federal Reserve Note”; called fiat currency. Fiat currency is government IOU’s (political promises). The value of fiat money is based on supply, demand and faith in the issuing government. Adam Smith said, “All money […]
Remember the saying, “Everything comes to those who wait?” Investment gurus lectured us about patience and compounding. They blared, “Save $100/month, invest at 6% and you will be a millionaire when you retire.” Current interest rates make that impossible. 25 years ago, if you bought US treasuries, the compound interest doubled your money in 12 […]
I gave myself a wake-up call. Our recent article “Thinking About Retiring? Better Think It Through!” was a jolt for sure. For decades the mantra was save money and grow your wealth. We banked on the “rule of 72”. When the accumulated interest equals 72, you would double your money. Earn 6%, in 12 years you will […]
A friend recently asked me, “How is anyone going to be able to retire?” Since 2008, the retirement landscape has changed radically. This Atlantic article, How Retirement Was Invented provides some history: “In the United States, starting in the mid-1800s, certain municipal employees…started receiving public pensions…. By the 1920s, a variety of American industries…were promising their workers […]
I’ve always been a great fan of mysteries. But who needs Agatha Christie to weave a story when we have the U.S. stock market? Everyone has been wondering what’s sent technology stocks (mainly in the Nasdaq) on a parabolic journey. A major institutional buyer, mysteriously nicknamed the “Nasdaq whale” by traders, dominated the never-before-seen massive […]
Despite the major stock indexes hitting record highs, this hasn’t been the easiest market to trade for many investors. For starters, value investors have been left in the dust. This is certainly a growth market; however, even growth stock investors may be struggling if they aren’t in the handful of outperforming industries. Most of the […]
One of the hottest stocks this past week was Salesforce.com (CRM). The software company recently posted huge earnings and was also added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Being added to the DJIA is a big deal for a stock because index tracking funds have to buy it to add it to their portfolios. This […]
