Retirement Numbers Are Hokum
An interesting article at Plaid Zebra cites work done at Harvard that says instead of believing that success leads to happiness, being truly happy is what leads to success with some data to back up the assertion. I believe embracing this mindset can also pertain to the accumulation of assets as part of a retirement plan. There […]
2018 Won’t Be A Repeat Of 2017
Global Equities & EM Debt Should Have A Solid 2018 The chart below shows the major asset classes’ performance in 2017. Global equities were up 23.9%. I expect a smaller increase this year because equities in many markets were left for dead in 2016. Optimism is now high, meaning it’s tougher to meet expectations. Even […]
Forex Strength And Comparison January 2018
In the Currency Strength table, the GBP was the strongest currency while the JPY was the weakest. There were some significant changes last month with the AUD and NZD gaining 3 points while the CHF lost 3 points. On a month to month basis the GBP and CAD showed a very good performance while the […]
US Dollar Update: Major Bear Market Indicated
As indicated in our September 7, 2017 article a major bear market would be underway with a successful breakdown of major circular support. Such activity would be seen as a repeat of the breakdown that occurred on April 2002. Here’s the 2002 time period for comparison: Also note the bottom and top formations at concentric circles 1¾ […]
Don’t Be Fooled By This 12% Yield
As I read the third quarter earnings release for Consolidated Communications (Nasdaq: CNSL), I wondered why SafetyNet Pro gave the company a low rating. After all, the telecom services provider has paid the same quarterly dividend since 2006 and claimed a reasonable payout ratio of 69% over the past nine months. This is where it’s […]
Construction Spending Accelerates
Construction spending rose more than expected in November. Revisions add to the gains. Here are some highlights from the Census Bureau’s Monthly Construction Spending Report for November 2017. Total Construction Construction spending during November 2017 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,257.0 billion, 0.8 percent above the revised October estimate of $1,247.1 billion. The […]
BoA: Short Crowded Stocks
The start of a new year always brings a deluge of tips from Wall Street analysts trying to pick the winners for the year ahead. Bank of America’s team of quant strategists, led by Savita Subramanian believe that the best strategy, based on past results, is to avoid the most crowded stocks and increase exposure to underweight […]
“Everything Is Overvalued”: Public Pensions Face Dangerous Dilemma In 2018
As we discussed a few weeks ago, being a pension investor these days has absolutely nothing to do with “investing” in the traditional sense of the word and everything to do with gaming discount rates to make their insolvent ponzi schemes look more stable than they actually are.Here was our recent take on CalPERS’ decision to hike […]
European Reform And The German Model To The Rescue
When we talk about winners and losers in Euroland as I did in yesterday’s post, the natural question is, “how can you make everybody a winner?”. And I think this is important while Euroland goes through a cyclical upswing since that’s when reforms can actually be the least painful. And there’s a whole body of work that […]
