A Few Dollars More

There was a time when one of the rules of asset allocation was to always keep a little cash in your portfolio. Cash was the safest bet you could make. It became the place where we retreated when the markets were in free fall. Today, however, cash as an asset class, earns almost nothing. As [...]

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The Japanese yen’s recent run-up against most other currencies has investors perplexed. After all, Japan’s interest rates are close to zero and have been at that level for a long time. The Nikkei, Japan’s stock market, has been leading world markets lower this year and is now officially in bear territory. What is so attractive [...]

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Global markets are exhibiting a high degree of correlation, above 80% and that trend is expected to continue for several years into the future. As a result, the way most investors had invested in the past simply won’t work in the future. Here are the tools you will need to navigate the new normal in [...]

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“There is no difference,” you might say and you would be wrong. The answer, unfortunately, is that we are dealing with a stock market. Today and possibly for years into the future, this important distinction will require an entirely new mindset for most investors who want to preserve wealth and, at the same time, grow [...]

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You may have heard the term or even read the book “Black Swan” by Nassin Taleb sometime over the last few years. Most people mistakenly believe that a so-called “Black Swan Event” was all about the inability of Wall Street to manage risk leading up to the financial crisis of 2008 but that’s only partially [...]

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The next time you run out of ideas for that perfect gift, save this column. I am about to give you over 200 one of a kind gift ideas that will cost you only as much as you want to spend and at the same time make anyone happy. Global Giving beats the heck out [...]

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The stock market’s sell-off this week amidst high volatility has triggered worries among investors that we were heading right back into those bad old days of 2008-2009. Those fears are understandable given that for the first time since the markets bottomed in March of 2009, we are having our first official correction.

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I forecasted gold would rise to a price of between $1,200 and $1,300/ounce back in October, 2009 (“All that Glitters”). This week gold hit $1,250/ounce before falling back. I think the precious metal needs a break, call it a period of consolidation, before resuming its move higher.

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You can’t open a newspaper or watch television this week without hearing something about the coming legislative battle to reform our financial system. If you didn’t know the name of the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee before now, you will certainly get to know Christopher Dodd hence forward.

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Hallelujah! It’s been a long time coming but finally, someone, someplace looks willing to end one of the worst scams in financial history.

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