Concerned about stock market performance if Joe Biden wins the White House and the Democrats take a majority in the House and Senate? History suggests maybe you shouldn’t be. Dating back to 1951 there have been eighteen years in which the Democrats controlled the legislative branch. in fifteen of those eighteen years (83.3% of the [...]
The income side of fiscal policy (i.e. taxation) is always highly politicized. The song never seems to change. Republicans think everyone pays too much. Democrats think everyone pays too little. An oversimplification? Maybe. Nonetheless a basic understanding of the proposals independent of the emotionally-charged rhetoric can go a long way towards achieving Thomas Jefferson’s view [...]
Two plus two equals four. That’s math. It’s real. It’s measurable. It’s fact. That’s how finance is supposed to work. But maybe four is not enough. Maybe it’s too much. How quickly can I get from two to four? I used to be at four but now I’m at two and since four is ‘right’ [...]
When the government rushes out a program that lacks oversight and is based upon arbitrary rules it’s going to create many unintended consequences. If you’re pro-Democrat or pro-Republican you can find what you like/dislike about ‘stimulus’ payments and head over to Twitter for ‘reasonable and intelligent discourse.’ This post is not about commentary. We’ve already [...]
Maybe it’s fight or flight but when times are good people tend to worry about the next downturn. When times are bad people tend to worry it can only get worse. It’s why those preaching negativity sound astute whereas those being pragmatic or positive sound out of touch with reality. Consider the economy and its [...]
After Friday’s jump (credited to the jobs report but, frankly, “pundits” always confuse correlation with causation) the S&P 500 was roughly even YTD. After Mon’s increase the S&P 500 closed positive for the year. That’s right – despite all the handwringing and proverbial jumping out of windows by many investors the S&P 500 is positive [...]
The human condition prevents us from accepting a rather simple truth – no one knows the future. Anyone claiming to have insight is intellectually dishonest at best or an unqualified liar at worst. It’s no surprise, then, that we’re big fans of this commentary.
In Oliver Stone’s Wall Street the character of Lou Mannheim was expertly played by Hal Holbrook. Should any less have been expected from such a phenomenal actor? The character was written as a seasoned veteran and included in the film to impart wisdom on the young and relatively inexperienced. Here are a couple of his [...]
The current COVID-19-induced economic and financial shocks aside there are some fascinating trends developing in the United States with equally fascinating socioeconomic implications. OBSERVATIONS People are angry. It isn’t hyperbole to suggest the country has never been more divided at any other point in time but for the issues of slavery and states’ rights in [...]
Now that the noise has died down (a bit) we've opted to say a few words.