Low interest rates have fueled our economy and stock markets for quite some time, and the Federal Reserve (Fed) says we will have them for the foreseeable future. Investors are excited about that. After all, who doesn’t love low interest rates? Few people get through life without taking out loans. Houses, automobiles, education, starting a…
DetailsIn 1990 Michael Jordan set a personal single game record by scoring 69 points against the Cavaliers. After the game, rookie Stacey King, who had scored a single point said, “I will always remember this as the game when Michael Jordan and I combined for 70 points.” That quote came to mind when an investor…
DetailsHedge funds have been in the news quite a bit lately with the now famous Gamestop short squeeze as well as the over-leveraged collapse of the Achegos fund. Both disasters have led investors to once again question whether such vulturous trading strategies should even be permitted. I felt much the same way until I travelled…
DetailsA popular video game is a story-based activity where players build an imaginary life on their own island. One aspect of the game allows players to buy turnips in what’s called a “stalk market” which can then be sold throughout the week at varying and random prices. The selling prices will either result in gains…
DetailsThis Easter weekend I would like to speak to the younger generation, those who in this very difficult time wonder about their future, or if they will even have one. When I got married, I lived in Las Vegas at a time when the nation was suffering through a very painful recession. Unemployment was high and…
DetailsThe nations’ largest retail chains made their fortunes by appealing to the human desire for a bargain. Entering the store, the first items you see are usually the ones on sale. And people rush to buy them. Wall Street has a sale rack too but often many investors try to avoid it, oddly preferring to…
DetailsDuring my early years living in Canada, I adopted the tradition of playing marbles on the playground at the first sign of Spring. Marbles was a game but also serious business. Marbles were our currency. We collected them, traded them and invented numerous games to win them from each other. The social hierarchy in my…
DetailsI want to follow up on my recent column regarding cryptocurrencies, and for the purposes here I will call them all, Bitcoin. Given the rising popularity of this new asset I feel there are a few things people should know before making a decision. Let’s begin with how you might actually own it. Bitcoin ownership is…
DetailsWhat is risk? The dictionary defines it as the possibility of loss. Sports fans understand risk. Even the best teams lose games. When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV this year, no one complained that they had lost 31% of their regular season games. It is the final result, not the occasional losses…
DetailsThe flight from our California office takes me on a route travelled daily by thousands of others. Last week while enroute I was alerted to a Gulfstream G3 jet passing above me. I was flying my normal 300 mph but the G3 was doing closer to 500. I watched the gap between myself and the…
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