Attempting to forecast or time the stock market is a losers game given that many studies demonstrate the significant negative impact of missing out on even a few good days in the stock market. So, what follows is strictly for informational purposes and...
This chart shows the amount of assets currently held in money market funds, and you will note that we are at an all-time record of about $7.4 trillion. I can think of several explanations for this amazing cash hoard. First, the economic uncertainty...
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis produces the following chart which shows the average household’s allocation to stocks as a percentage of total financial assets. At 51.1%, the percentage of the average investor’s portfolio allocated to stocks is just below an all-time...
For the past ten years, the S&P 500 has given us an annualized return of 13% versus the long term average of 9.9%. To what do we owe this munificence? With a little analysis, it is possible to break down the annual return...
Harry Truman once asked for a one-armed economist having tired of his economic advisors saying “On the one hand, this. On the other hand, that.” Well, I’m going to be a two-handed economist in this blog. Despite concerns that we might experience a...
The “right” level of taxation and spending is a perennially contentious issue that sparks passion on all sides and is particularly timely given the new administration. Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox published a balanced piece on January 23rd containing some very insightful data and...
