Remember when the talking heads said to stay away from bonds? That the balanced approach was dead? Well, they were wrong. Not that I’m taking a victory lap, I’m not. Because now that the Fed has cut interest rates by a half point, fixed income investing just got that much harder. All those eschewing bonds […]
Interest Rates Your Dad Would Be Proud Of
America’s debt load is the highest it’s been since the post-WWII era. Look at the interest costs to carry all that debt in the chart below, and imagine you had such a personal debt load. Wouldn’t you want to reduce it? Of course, you would. Now, throw in the fact that the government can print […]
A Gold Standard Would Provide Discipline to Government
Your Survival Guy doesn’t want you to be in the interest rate prediction business because the talking heads just might end up being wrong. Sure, the Fed funds rate may come down, but what if the buyers for the rest of the yield curve have a different opinion? Bond prices trade in anticipation of what’s […]
Don’t Invite Problems into Your Portfolio
When you’re looking at dividend-paying stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs, you want to be selective because, historically, it’s not the highest payers that have performed the best. And when investors reach for yield and buy those highest payers, they tend to invite avoidable problems into their portfolio. There’s a difference between the dividend-centric investor who […]
Do You Look Marvelous? See My Friend Marc
Your Survival Guy visited my friend Marc Streisand this week, owner/proprietor of Marc Allen Fine Clothiers, Custom Suits, and Imported Sportswear, to pick up my handmade, bespoke cashmere sport coat. It’s such a beautiful piece, I can’t wait to put it on when we hit Paris for three weeks in October. Every time I leave […]
September RAGE Gauge: Win Friends and Influence People
Well, that was an interesting debate, wasn’t it? Not exactly a seminar on how to win friends and influence people. When I talk with you, you tell me it didn’t sway you one bit. And you feel the same way about the undecided voters—they weren’t compelled either way. When I think of Dale Carnegie’s classic […]
A Word on the Trump/Harris Dystopian Debate
We knew going in that former President Donald Trump would not get a fair shake from ABC, but it felt like we were watching a trial from The Hunger Games without the costumes. Vice President Kamala Harris was treated like the incumbent and heir to the throne by the moderators. The primetime show was borderline […]
You’re Ignorant, Learn to Know the Answers
When you invest in a passive index, is it passive? The idea behind “passive” is that the stock market is “efficient,” and that there are no real values to be had because of the wisdom of crowds. Tell that to Warren Buffett, who’s made a decent living for decades on investing against the ignorance and […]
A Word on Stock Prices and Their Nephew
A word on stock market prices and their nephew past performance. When investors pile into the S&P 500 the way so many do—automatically with their 401(k) contributions—there’s a tremendous amount of money riding on the same stuff. Investors, knowingly or unknowingly, get piled into the same boat, hoping and praying to get to their retirement […]
It’s Time to Evaluate Your Portfolio
When investors are feeling good about the stock market, like they are now, it’s time to evaluate your portfolio. As Warren Buffett said, you want “to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.” Remember the big pullbacks in stocks this century and think how you would handle […]
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