Broad Equity Market Tone:Advance/Decline Line: Substantially HigherSector Performance: Almost Every Sector RisingVolume: Around Average Market Leading Stocks: Outperforming Equity Investor Angst:Volatility(VIX) 19.0 -10.5% Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 122.46 +.04% Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 8.78 -1.24% S&P 500 Implied Correlation 47.58 -3.7% ISE Sentiment Index 92.0 +13.6%Total Put/Call 1.10 -5.2% NYSE Arms .50 -64.0% Credit Investor Angst:North American Investment Grade CDS Index 59.05 -4.79%America Energy Sector High-Yield CDS Index 428.0 +1.11%European Financial Sector CDS Index 68.10 -5.37%Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 208.0 +3.5 basis pointsAsia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 68.76 -3.0%Emerging Market CDS Index 204.24 -2.4%iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 164.64 -.01% 2-Year Swap Spread 1.75 +.75 basis pointTED Spread 23.0 +1.5 basis points 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -11.75 +4.5 basis points Economic Gauges:Bloomberg Emerging Markets… [Read More...]
What Would It Take To Build A World Without Globalists?
Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com, You can bet that whenever you find people analyzing the root of a problem you will also find other people trying to derail those efforts with dishonest arguments. For reasons that we can guess at but are rarely able to confirm, there are some folks out there that get rather agitated at constructive discussion among their fellow humans. One of the most common tactics for hijacking the discussion of a problem is to suggest that it is “all pointless” unless those same people can offer a grand solution to the problem. This is Alinsky-style disruption 101. The reality is that most problems can only be solved once at least a portion of the public is made aware of them. … [Read More...]
When Is It a Bad Choice to “Go Cheap”?
One of the challenges of trying to minimize one’s spending is knowing which situations where you aim for minimum spending result in unexpected negative consequences as a result of cutting too much spending. I’ll give an example of something that’s a clear misstep: an old friend of yours is coming in from out of town and wants to spend some time with you. Rather than going out to eat together somewhere in town, you invite the friend over for a meal you prepare yourself, but the meal consists of barely-seasoned beans and rice. Your friend feels like you’re being cheap, the meal and conversation don’t go well, and that friendship gradually withers away. Obviously, that’s a bad choice. You don’… [Read More...]
Investing Blog Roundup: Preparing for the Possibility of Cognitive Decline
One concern I know many readers here share is the possibility of diminished cognitive ability as they age. Many of you who are already retired have mentioned to me that you have opted to simplify your portfolios (in some cases switching to an all-in-one fund). And some of you have mentioned such concerns as one of the reasons you chose to delay Social Security and/or purchase an annuity. This week we have an article from CPA/CFP Jeffrey Levine, walking you through the basic options for different types of accounts/documents that can allow your family members to help manage your finances, in the event that you do end up needing such help. Options For Allowing Family Members To Help Manage Accounts In The … [Read More...]
Bitcoin Back Above $10k As Fear/Greed Index Back To "Extreme Fear" Dec 2018 Lows
It’s been an ugly week for cryptos… Source: Bloomberg Although Bitcoin is managing to hold just above $10,000… Source: Bloomberg Nevertheless, as CoinTelegraph’s Marie Huillet notes, Bitcoin investors are no longer as buoyant as they were three months ago, judging by the latest readings from the Crypto Fear and Greed Index (CFGI). image courtesy of CoinTelegraph On Aug. 14, the Bitcoin-only index — which plots investor sentiment on a scale of 1 to 100 (where 1 represents doom and foreboding and 100 indicates blithe optimism and greed) — hit its lowest levels since December 2018. Today: “fear,” yesterday: “extreme fear” Just under three months ago, in late June, Bitcoin (BTC) investors had seemingly hit a level of unbridled optimism, with the CFGI reporting readings of as high as 95. As of press … [Read More...]
Using Serendipity to Maximize Frugality
There’s nothing better than an unexpected positive event happening purely by chance. What’s even better? Serendipity when the price tag is very small or nonexistent, or when you’re able to multiply the value of your dollar enormously. The challenge, of course, is to put yourself in situations where serendipity is likely to occur without inherently having to spend a lot of money. For example, you might experience serendipity in the aisles of an electronics store, but the price tag is going to be steep. As a frugal person, you’re better off seeking serendipity elsewhere. So what can you do to open yourself up to frugal serendipity? Here are eleven things you can do to widen the possibilities without emptying the wallet. Keep an … [Read More...]
Stocks Slightly Higher into Final Hour on US Economic Data, Less European/Emerging Markets/US High-Yield Debt Angst, Short-Covering, Financial/Utility…
Broad Equity Market Tone:Advance/Decline Line: LowerSector Performance: Most Sectors DecliningVolume: Heavy Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming Equity Investor Angst:Volatility(VIX) 21.9 -.8% Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 122.30 -.16% Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 9.0 +.78% S&P 500 Implied Correlation 50.3 -1.9% ISE Sentiment Index 82.0 +18.8%Total Put/Call 1.15 -9.5% NYSE Arms 1.55 -56.6% Credit Investor Angst:North American Investment Grade CDS Index 62.69 +2.2%America Energy Sector High-Yield CDS Index 423.0 +5.17%European Financial Sector CDS Index 71.97 -3.5%Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 204.5 -11.25 basis pointsAsia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 71.32 +2.2%Emerging Market CDS Index 21210.97 -2.4%iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 164.65 -.01% 2-Year Swap Spread 1.0 +.25 basis pointTED Spread 22.5 +5.5 basis points 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -16.25 -1.5 basis points Economic Gauges:Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 65.65 +… [Read More...]
Is The Geopolitical Chessboard Now Digital?
Authored by Tim Kirby via The Strategic Culture Foundation, Geopolitics is based on the nature of politics and relations defined by the real spaces in which we live. Over time thanks to technology these spaces have changed and have become much closer. The seas that used to make a ground invasion impossible have become much smaller on a planet where a nuclear strike could hit any location in the world in a matter of hours or some would speculate minutes. Technology has also opened up new spaces onto which a geopolitical logic can be applied. In fact there is a surprising correlation between the layout of the world’s current military landscape and its digital geopolitical landscape and this is not by some bit of random chance. If … [Read More...]
Books With Impact: The One Thing
The “Books with Impact” series takes a deeper look at specific books that have had a profound impact on my financial, professional, and personal growth by extracting specific points of advice from those books and looking at how I’ve applied them in my life with successful results. The previous entry in this series covered You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham. If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one. – Proverb Sarah and I are very passionate about the goal of financial independence. We want to reach a point where we no longer have to work to earn money and instead have complete freedom over our time. That’s a powerful and important goal for us. The challenge is… that it’s not the … [Read More...]
Motif Investing Is Another Free Brokerage Option For Dividend Investors
Last year, I launched my premium newsletter titled Dividend Growth Investor Newsletter. In the newsletter, I build a portfolio of dividend growth stocks with the intention to generate $1,000 in monthly dividend income. I allocate $1,000 each month to ten attractively valued dividend growth stocks every single month using broker Robinhood. I used Robinhood, because the stock broker doesn’t charge… To read the whole article, please click on the article title above. [Read More...]
Handling Melancholy Without Buying Stuff
Like a lot of people, I sometimes fall into periods of melancholy. I don’t view it as anything like actual depression, which is a serious mental health condition that deserves proper treatment by professionals, but it’s a sense of feeling sad about my life. I tend to let ordinary routines and habits slide a bit in those moods, I tend to become less productive, and I also tend to be much more prone to impulse buying and the influence of advertising. I am much more prone to these feelings during the winter months, as I think it combines with mild seasonal affective disorder (basically, the winter blues). In fact, I’ve written specifically about my seasonal affective disorder and frugal strategies for beating it. Over … [Read More...]
Saudi Arabia And Russia Unlikely To Agree On New Oil Cuts
Authored by Venand Meliksetian via OilPrice.com, OPEC is dead, long live OPEC+. Arguably the collaboration between the world’s two largest exporters of oil, Russia and Saudi Arabia, is a significant development caused by and comparable to the shale revolution in the U.S. Desperate times require desperate measures. A decade ago, a partnership between Moscow and Riyadh would have seemed impossible due to contradicting interests. Recent developments have somewhat aligned the countries into what has been dubbed OPEC+. However, this doesn’t mean that Russian and Saudi exporters aren’t competitors anymore. In fact, the oil behemoths are contending more than ever for market share in Asian markets such as China. Also, Moscow and Riyadh take into consideration the relative position of their competitor and partner during further … [Read More...]
Stocks Falling Substantially into Afternoon on Global Growth Fears, European/Emerging Markets/US High-Yield Debt Angst, Oil Decline, Retail/Financial…
Broad Equity Market Tone:Advance/Decline Line: Substantially LowerSector Performance: Almost Every Sector DecliningVolume: Heavy Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line Equity Investor Angst:Volatility(VIX) 21.6 +23.5% Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 122.51 -1.1% Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 8.9 +2.1% S&P 500 Implied Correlation 50.3 +4.1% ISE Sentiment Index 74.0 -11.9%Total Put/Call 1.23 +33.7% NYSE Arms 1.95 +126.8% Credit Investor Angst:North American Investment Grade CDS Index 61.14 +5.5%America Energy Sector High-Yield CDS Index 401.0 +.22%European Financial Sector CDS Index 74.55 +6.1%Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 215.75 -7.0 basis pointsAsia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 70.25 unch.Emerging Market CDS Index 218.45 +5.9%iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 164.66 -.12% 2-Year Swap Spread .75 +1.75 basis pointsTED Spread 17.0 -2.5 basis points 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -14.75 +5.0 basis… [Read More...]
7 Reasons To Stand Against Red Flag Guns Laws
Authored by John Miltimore via The Foundation for Economic Education, The Associated Press reports Congress is seriously considering red flag gun laws. These laws, also called “extreme risk protection orders,” allow courts to issue orders allowing law enforcement to seize firearms from people who’ve committed no crime but are believed to be a danger to themselves or others. President Trump has signaled his backing of bipartisan Senate legislation sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms and that if they do those firearms can be taken through rapid due process,” Trump said in a White House speech. Red flag … [Read More...]
The Impact of Financial Lock-In
As I’ve discussed many times before, the low point for Sarah and I (in terms of our finances) came on a beautiful spring day when our oldest child was still an infant, when we realized that we didn’t have enough money in our checking account to pay our bills and we wouldn’t receive a paycheck again until several of the bills were past due. For some, that’s a far more precarious financial situation than they’d ever want to be in. Others have been through far worse. For us, it was enough to force us to sit down and really re-think our financial situation. At the time, our incidental spending was pretty bad, but that really wasn’t the worst part. The … [Read More...]
Dow Futures Dump 700 Points To Critical Support, Yuan Slide Is Accelerating
Dow futures are extending overnight losses, now down 700 points as the cash Dow nears its 200DMA and yuan tumbles… Yesterday’s buying-panic gains are a distant memory… Dow cash is falling very close to its 200DMA once again… will it hold this time. And Yuan is starting to catch down to stocks… Source: Bloomberg Gold is bid… But oil is tanking… And we know who to blame (according to President Trump) “The Fed has got to do something! The Fed is the Central Bank of the United States, not the Central Bank of the World.” Mark Grant @Varneyco Correct! The Federal Reserve acted far too quickly, and now is very, very late. Too bad, so much to gain on the upside! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) … [Read More...]
Our True Taxes
[T]he taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly; and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement. – Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth There are some topics I don’t often delve into on The Simple Dollar, and taxes are one of them. Yes, almost all of us pay a lot in taxes. We pay income tax each year to the federal government, … [Read More...]
Stocks Surging into Final Hour on Diminished China Trade Deal Tensions, US Economic Data, Less European/Emerging Markets/US High-Yield Debt Angst,…
Broad Equity Market Tone:Advance/Decline Line: Substantially HigherSector Performance: Almost Every Sector RisingVolume: Above Average Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line Equity Investor Angst:Volatility(VIX) 17.9 -3.2% Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 123.77 +.9% Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 8.7 +.8% S&P 500 Implied Correlation 43.4 -10.4% ISE Sentiment Index 92.0 +24.3%Total Put/Call .92 -23.3% NYSE Arms .88 -58.7% Credit Investor Angst:North American Investment Grade CDS Index 57.3 -6.65%America Energy Sector High-Yield CDS Index 402.0 +1.0%European Financial Sector CDS Index 70.25 -5.7%Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 222.75 -6.75 basis pointsAsia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 69.27 -.55%Emerging Market CDS Index 203.44 +2.1%iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 164.85 +.03% 2-Year Swap Spread -1.0 -.25 basis pointTED Spread 19.5 unch. 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -19.75 -5.5 basis points Economic Gauges:Bloomberg Emerging Markets… [Read More...]
Beating the Diderot Effect
I recently enjoyed a great article by James Clear on the Diderot effect, as he names it. What is the Diderot effect, you ask? The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption which leads you to acquire more new things. As a result, we end up buying things that our previous selves never needed to feel happy or fulfilled. The article uses an example from the life of Denis Diderot, the French philosopher for whom the effect is named, in which he uses a windfall to purchase new clothes, then notices that all of his other clothes now look shabby by comparison, spurring a round of clothes-buying that ended up hurting him financially. In short, the new clothes, which … [Read More...]
Who Inflicts The Most Gun Violence In America? The US Government And Its Police Force
Authored by John Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute, “It is often the case that police shootings, incidents where law enforcement officers pull the trigger on civilians, are left out of the conversation on gun violence. But a police officer shooting a civilian counts as gun violence. Every time an officer uses a gun against an innocent or an unarmed person contributes to the culture of gun violence in this country.” – Journalist Celisa Calacal Yes, gun violence is a problem in America, although violent crime generally remains at an all-time low. Yes, mass shootings are a problem in America, although while they are getting deadlier, they are not getting more frequent. Yes, mentally ill individuals embarking on mass shooting sprees are a problem in America. However, … [Read More...]
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