All Signs Are Pointing Towards a Crash – Are You Prepared?
Those of us who criticize the Federal Reserve’s conduct of monetary policy are often ignored and sidelined during boom times. We’re supposedly the ones who are crashing the party, harshing the market’s vibes, always predicting doom and gloom. Well, there’s a reason for that, and that’s because the Fed’s inflationary monetary policy will always end in a recession or...
Continuing Deterioration of Relations With China Could Worsen the Coming Financial Crisis
For anyone hoping for a restoration of normal trade relations between China and the United States, last week’s Bloomberg report on Chinese government hardware hacking came as a devastating blow. If the allegations are true that Chinese spies managed covertly and surreptitiously to place microchips into servers used by Amazon, Apple, and other large American corporations, that will just...
Dig Behind the Numbers to Find the Best Investments
While most investors know that past performance is no predictor of future performance, they nonetheless look at past performance as a potential indicator of the future. Particularly when you’re looking at mutual funds or index funds, judging fund managers on their ability to pick the right assets for a fund can be a very important part of doing your...
Has the Fed Really Ended Its Accommodative Monetary Policy?
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted last week to raise interest rates yet again, setting a target range this time of 2.00-2.25%. While that was expected by everyone and had been priced in already by markets, what took some people by surprise was the fact that the FOMC’s statement for the first time in years omitted the statement...
Insider Stock Selling Increasing as Buybacks Reach Record Highs
According to the latest estimates, stock buybacks will have reached an all-time high of $1 trillion this year. That’s a 46% increase from last year, and far higher than the previous high reached in, you guessed it, 2007. And that estimate could even be conservative, given that we’re still only three quarters into the year and stock prices have...