THE FOUR ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL BEAR MARKETS

My Comments: This article comes from January, 2009 and was written by Nick Murray. Two months later, the bear market that started in mid 2008 was over, though it took some time to realize. Meanwhile, we’ve been in a bull market for over six years now, and many are suggesting we are overdue for a …

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Sunny with a Chance of Turbulence

My Comments: Many of us were blindsided by the severity of the pullback that happened in 2008-09. Many of us are still trying to get back to where we were and are fearful of it happening again soon. Some on TV are pushing the idea that it’s just around the corner. It’s not. The chance …

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Insurers Backed Obamacare, Then Undermined It; Now They’re Profiting From It

My Comments: Remember those frantic days right after the PPACA was passed? How soon would we see death panels? Could Grandma survive? The world would end very soon. In my writings, I've argued there are five primary stakeholders in the health delivery system here in these United States. 1. Insurance companies; 2. pharmaceutical companies; 3. …

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Here’s What the Next Recession Could Look Like

My Comments: There is no doubt that both politicians and financial people generate success by evoking fear in those to whom they are talking. Sometimes it’s legitimate, but much of the time its BS designed to persuade you to part with your vote and/or your money. What follows here is consistent with my belief that …

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5 Dumbest Investing Bets

My Comments: There is a distinction between dumb and ignorant. The second you can fix with mental effort, but the first just happens. Sometimes I wonder if people are born this way or whether they have to work at it. These five ‘bets’ happen often. Many times it’s because someone has “sold” them the idea, …

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Connecting the Dots

My Comments: Interest rates change. For the past 35 years, they’ve been on a downward trend, matched only by the down trend from 1861 to 1898. It’s a given that the Fed is going to start moving them up, probably in September. A stream of positive data supports a September rate hike, but summer storms …

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Bond Crash Across the World As Deflation Trade Goes Horribly Wrong

My Comments: You can call me an alarmist if you like, I really don’t care. We are long overdue for a market correction, from both a stock value perspective and interest rate perspective. If you don’t believe it’s coming, I have some nice real estate just east of Daytona Beach I can sell you for …

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Flawed Math on Student Loans

My Comments: The staggering level of student loan debt has the potential to sink the economic future of this country. Young families with the debt hanging over them will be less likely to buy a house, to buy a new car, to spend money on consumption items, all of which means economic stagnation. Income earned …

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A Dishonest History of the Last War

My Comments: I'm already very tired of this story. But given we are near the start of the next presidential election cycle, it’s not going away. Too bad. Articles like this one serve to improve my bulls@@t meter as I’m assailed by the media and bombasts trying to persuade me they are the ONLY ONES …

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Republicans Dismiss Latino Concerns At Their Peril

My Comments: I’ve talked before about immigration issues. As an immigrant myself, I’m perhaps more sensitive to these issues, even though I arrived as a child from Europe. My father was looking for a better way to provide for his family and since he had lived here as a child and had a degree from …

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