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.
The year was 1994: The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King and Forrest Gump were some of the top grossing films. ER and Friends debuted making Thursday night “must see TV” on NBC. Yahoo and Amazon were launched. Richard Nixon died. Kurt Cobain committed suicide. O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder. Major [...]
Do you consider yourself calm and rational? Cool under pressure? Master of your domain? Think again. According to Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman we make 95% of our decisions emotionally and subconsciously. It’s after we’ve made decisions that we try to rationalize them with logic. Luxury goods are a prime example. The manufacturers of luxury goods [...]
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Nice quote. Here it is in full: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. Oscar Wilde I’m not about to suggest that I’m great or that Apollo clients are mediocre. I will admit, however, that it’s flattering when clients use my quotes. [...]
There’s logic and there’s emotion. If you make decisions based upon the former the following is for you. If you prefer the latter (or delude yourself into thinking you’re the former but are truly the latter) skip the logic section. LOGIC: Over time the prices of financial assets such as stocks/equities generally increase. Stock prices [...]
Carl Icahn is considered by many a great investor. He likely considers himself an activist investor. The truth is he’s someone who takes control positions in corporations and uses them as leverage to agitate for activity that unlocks short-term shareholder value. Since we never want to let facts get in the way of a good [...]
Over the weekend Warren Buffett released his annual letter. In it he noted that Berkshire’s stock returned 11% in 2019 compared to a 31.5% total return (appreciation plus dividends) for the S&P 500. Put another way Berkshire trailed “the market” by its widest margin since 2009. Such dramatic underperformance means Warren Buffett has lost his [...]
When we’re kids it’s our parents. When we’re adults it’s our spouses. They tell us something and we ignore it. Someone else tells us the same thing and we think it’s an awesome idea. We share our newfound “revelation” with our parent, spouse, etc. and they roll their eyes while exasperatingly replying, “That’s what I [...]
On Wednesday the Internal Revenue Service announced tax year 2020 annual inflation adjustments. Impacts are negligible as if often the case. A detailed description of all adjustments is available in Revenue Procedure 2019-44. Those impacting the majority of taxpayers include: The standard deduction for taxpayers filing MFJ increases from $24,400 (tax year 2019) to $24,800. [...]