My Sunday morning lazing-about-the-house-ate-too-much-this-weekend reads:
• If Factor Returns Are Predictable, Why Is There an Investor Return Gap? (Research Affiliates)
• Metals prices are falling knives. Don’t make the mistake of catching them (Bloomberg)
• Myth: Stocks Are In Trouble When Commodities Tank (Ciovacco Capital)
• Why driving in the US is making a big comeback (Vox) see also 50 Years Ago, ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’ Shook the Auto World (NYT)
• Is It Too Late To Sink Your Teeth Into F.A.N.G. Stocks? (Dana Lyons)
• The DEA has failed to eradicate marijuana. Some members of Congress want it to stop trying (Washington Post)
• Trouble in the Checkout Line: Which Way to Pay? Holiday shoppers must figure out whether to dip or swipe, wave or tap as payment methods proliferate (WSJ) see also Black Friday looks like being the latest victim of the disruptive power of the internet (Telegraph)
• The Surprising Benefits Of Gratitude: Sure, you may know that you should be thankful, but did you know that a lack of gratitude could be hurting your health and career? (Fast Company)
• The Subsidy Gap: The $10 Billion Divide Between Elite Sports Programs And All The Rest (Huffington Post)
• Jeff Bezos vs. Elon Musk: A Thrilling, New Space Race (Bloomberg)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Ken Fisher of Fisher Investments, who manages $68 billion dollars.
Managed Futures Growth in AUM 1980 – 2014
Source: Fund Reference
Where can I get one of those cool Eagle has Landed patches?
Colorado Springs Shooting Suspect’s Ramblings Suggest Animosity Toward Planned Parenthood
http://abcnews.go.com/US/colorado-springs-shooting-suspects-ramblings-suggest-animosity-planned/story?id=35469417
The rambling seething hatred of the right wing.
Where are the Republicans on stopping this?
It is getting worse in Houston
http://www.businessinsider.com/it-is-getting-worse-in-houston-2015-11
We NEED OPEC to raise their cartel pricing to save this great city! And keep their income taxes low (and property taxes very high)
Houston can’t operate in a free market economy! We need Foreign cartels to keep our income taxes low (but our property taxes high!)
INVADE! We must INVADE the Middle East to save this shining beacon of freedom! Houston Texas!
Yup!
Why financial markets blow up at exactly the wrong time
“…One effect of quantitative easing across the globe has been to make investors rather careless about who or what they invest in…”
http://www.businessinsider.com/financial-markets-blow-up-at-wrong-time-2015-11
John Stepek of MoneyWeek has no idea what he’s talking about. The energy junk bonds used to finance US drilling that the Saudi’s have halted due to their cartel pricing isn’t because investors are stupid due to quantitative easing.
It is because SOME oil company owners wanted something-for-nothing junk bond-type leverage so that the equity slice of all this drilling, fracking etc make them even richer. They are greedy SOBs who want more, more more the capital structure be damned.
If frackers did all equity financing, they wouldn’t be defaulting. Debt is ALWAYS a problem, whether interest rates are at zero or fifteen percent.
Don’t believe the Republican nonsense about the Fed being the problem. Greedy Leveraged speculators are the problem. But they’re getting theirs. And since their frail egos can’t take it, they blame others.
Take responsibility for your debt-fueled Ownership Society GOP Rock Ribbers, stop blaming others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ownership_society
Obama and Pelosi have set the stage to clean up your mess. Accept low returns or be doomed to repeatedly go Bk like your hero Trump.
Why Terrorists Weep: The Socio-Cultural Practices of Jihadi Militants
http://hegghammer.com/_files/Hegghammer_-_Wilkinson_Memorial_Lecture.pdf
state corruption?
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/11/what-are-the-only-3-states-that-score-higher-than-a-d-in-the-corruption-index.html
why is it we ignore that? and fixate on Federal corruption?
Where is Illinois? F minus?
Colorado governor urges toned-down abortion debate after clinic rampage
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/29/us-colorado-shooter-idUSKBN0TH05O20151129
Attention Colorado!
The rest of America doesn’t want your non-weed-smoking, anti-abortion nut refugees.
Good to see a few 0.1% folk organizing for equity rather than privilege.
Patriotic Millionaires
The Patriotic Millionaires are a group of more than 200 individuals with annual incomes over $1 million and/or assets over $5 million who are committed to raising the minimum wage, combating the influence of big money in politics, and advancing a progressive tax structure.
Best line of the day: For those unable to fully embrace a contrarian stance, they should at least consider adopting a buy-and-hold strategy. Indeed, most investors might benefit from simply forgetting the ID and password to their trading account.
Observation: not the usual TBP commenters on the Isis post. Hmm.
Wish I had an audience for once in my life: the way to defeat Isis is jobs, jobs, jobs. Young men who are well fed, have a nice girlfriend, have something to do, who feel valued, who feel they had a future ahead of them, who have hope are not going to be seduced by crazies in the desert offering adventure and the prospect of hope.
Many Americans Believe They Don’t Need The Flu Vaccine
Updated November 27, 2015
Flu season is in swing and likely won’t let up until April.
It seemed like high time to check in on how Americans feel about flu vaccination, so we asked more than 3,000 adults in the latest NPR-Truven Health Analytics Health Poll, conducted during the first half of October.
All told, 62 percent of people said they had been vaccinated or intended to get vaccinated against flu.
Those who hadn’t been immunized and don’t plan on it cited a variety of reasons. The top factors include a belief that a flu shot (or spray) is unnecessary for them (48 percent of the group), concerns about side effects or risks (16 percent) and worries that the vaccine could infect them with the flu (14 percent). About 8 percent of the people who plan to skip vaccination said it’s because they believe it’s ineffective.
….
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/11/27/456202280/many-americans-believe-they-dont-need-the-flu-vaccine
Anne Frank and her family were also denied entry as refugees to the U.S.
By Elahe Izadi
November 24, 2015
Many have noted the historical parallels between the current debate over Syrians seeking refuge in the United States and the plight of European Jews fleeing German-occupied territories on the eve of World War II.
Among the many who tried — and failed — to escape Nazi persecution: Otto Frank and his family, which included wife, Edith, and his daughters, Margot and Anne. And while the story of the family’s desperate attempts ending in futility may seem remarkable today, it’s emblematic of what a number of other Jews fleeing German-occupied territories experienced, American University history professor Richard Breitman wrote in 2007 upon the discovery of documents chronicling the Franks’ struggle to get U.S. visas.
“Otto Frank’s efforts to get his family to the United States ran afoul of restrictive American immigration policies designed to protect national security and guard against an influx of foreigners during time of war,” Breitman wrote.
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/24/anne-frank-and-her-family-were-also-denied-entry-as-refugees-to-the-u-s/
Bernie Sanders is right: The top 0.1 percent have as much as the bottom 90 percent
By Max Ehrenfreund
November 19, 2015
What democratic socialism means to Bernie Sanders
Being a democratic socialist means believing that government must guarantee its citizens’ material well being in order to truly protect their freedom, Sanders said, citing President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
“Real freedom must include economic security. That was Roosevelt’s vision 70 years ago. It is my vision today,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “People are not truly free when they are unable to feed their family. They are not truly free when their are unable to retire with dignity. They are not truly free when they are unemployed, underemployed, or when they are exhausted from working 60 or 70 hours a week.”
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-is-right-the-top-0-1-have-as-much-as-the-bottom-90/
Silence from Washington?
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/washington-trade-press/417366/