Two Things You Must Do To Improve Your Portfolio’s Return

Two Things You Must Do To Improve Your Portfolio’s Return

The following is an excerpt from Rich As A King: How the Wisdom of Chess Can Make You a Grandmaster of Investing. by Douglas Goldstein and Susan Polgar.  Imagine if someone summarized your whole financial picture on one page. Wouldn’t that be great? Not only would it present all of your holdings, but it would also show you […]
Oil Slumps To 4 Year Low Ahead Of OPEC, Eurozone Yields New Record Lows: Summary Of Overnight Events

Oil Slumps To 4 Year Low Ahead Of OPEC, Eurozone Yields New Record Lows: Summary Of Overnight Events

While the US takes the day off after another near-record low volume surge to a new all time high in the S&P500, a level which is now just 125 points away from Goldman’s year end target for 2016, the rest of the world will be patiently awaiting to see if oil’s next move, as a […]
“The Stimulus Program Was A Smashing Success” – Gary Burtless

“The Stimulus Program Was A Smashing Success” – Gary Burtless

This Burtless Brookings Blog post really is a must read. Burtless notes that taxes and transfers (including both ARRA and automatic responses to the recession) prevented huge income declines for the lower 60% of US households during the great recession. In contrast high income households were hammered. Federal policy actually worked. The post is a guided tour […]
Netflix Down As It Airs Dirty Laundry

Netflix Down As It Airs Dirty Laundry

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) is in the midst of legal proceedings against Mike Kail, its former vice president of information technology operations, accusing him of fraud, breaching his fiduciary, and a host of other charges. Kail was responsible for buying computer accessories, as well as other services from outside companies. It is alleged that during his […]
How Do You Find A Billion Dollar Startup?

How Do You Find A Billion Dollar Startup?

Photocredit: Shutterstock  The secret is out that startup investing is binary, with the majority of VC industry returns concentrated on a few winners. And while Angel investors have addressed this power law via diversification, top tier US VCs have been more proactive, trying to predict breakout successes early and betting big. In other words, if we knew […]
December 2014 Economic Forecast: Modestly Better Rate Of Growth

December 2014 Economic Forecast: Modestly Better Rate Of Growth

Our December 2014 Economic Forecast continues to show a stable and growing economy – with a modestly better growth than last month. All portions of the economy outside our economic model – except housing – are showing expansion. There are few warning signs the economy is faltering, and few indications the economy is about to […]
Thanksgiving And Puritan Geopolitics In The Americas

Thanksgiving And Puritan Geopolitics In The Americas

The painting “Desembarco de los Puritanos en America,” or “The Arrival of the Pilgrims in America,” by Antonio Gisbert shows Puritans landing in America in 1620. By Antonio Gisbert (1834-1902) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Summary The first winter took many of the English at Plymouth. By fall 1621, only 53 remained of the 132 who […]
China Trading Booms; Return To Past

China Trading Booms; Return To Past

The surge in Chinese equity trading that coincided with market peaks in 2009 and 2010 has returned as the Shanghai Composite Index jumped to a three-year high. The 30-day average daily value of shares changing hands on the Shanghai exchange exceeded 200 billion yuan ($32.6 billion) for the first time in four years on Nov. […]
Manipulation Suit Filed In NYC Against Goldman – HSBC – BASF – Standard Bank

Manipulation Suit Filed In NYC Against Goldman – HSBC – BASF – Standard Bank

Four firms have been named in a lawsuit that was filed in the most corrupt court in the nation – the Southern District of New York where judges are free to change the very words spoken in court. I have constantly warned not to file suits there – they seem to go nowhere and are […]
Study Shows “Stimulus” Was Significantly More Contractionary Than Average During The Recovery From The Great Recession

Study Shows “Stimulus” Was Significantly More Contractionary Than Average During The Recovery From The Great Recession

Fiscal policy describes how the expenditure and revenue decisions of local, state, or federal governments influence economic growth. In this article, we create a comprehensive measure of fiscal policy called fiscal impetus, which estimates the combined effect of purchases, taxes, and transfers across all levels of government on growth. Our goal is to use this […]