Commodities have been crushed in the last 5 years. Gold is down over 40%, silver is off 70%, copper is down 45%, oil is down 55% and the Bloomberg Commodity Index is down 60% from its 2008 peak. We all know by now that many of the theories for owning c…
A perspective of the economy from the CFO of CSX….
Barry Ritholtz has a new article on Bloomberg discussing San Diego County’s firing of a risk parity firm that used to manage part of its pension. Risk parity strategies often engage in using leverage. Cliff Asness, who runs AQR, a firm implem…
2015 has me wondering – is this a precursor to what the future could look like? That is, are the low returns across so many asset classes likely to be a sign of what’s to come? In a BNN interview from this morning I laid out the case for …
I have to admit that I’ve been a little bit shocked by how quickly people are concluding that the Euro needs to be scrapped entirely. I’ve been very critical of the Euro for the last 7 years here and I even said Greece should leave a long t…
Since the Q&A’s have always been so popular I am going to make an Ask Me Anything section a regular fixture on the site here. This will be a nice middle ground between having a comments section (which is too much work and trouble) and havi…
That Wall of Worry. Here’s a chart from the latest Merrill Lynch Fund Managers Survey showing the number of asset mangers who have taken out protection against their portfolio. The Greek “crisis” appears to have put the fear of Lehm…
Greece is obviously the big topic this week so I have what I hope will be a few last thoughts on this issue. Now, I don’t want to downplay the seriousness of this whole situation, but that’s precisely what I am going to do on several matt…
I really liked this post by Morgan Housel on the Hierarchy of Investor Needs. Morgan provides a very simple way of prioritizing the investment process. I’ve changed his hierarchy just a little bit and I wanted to quantify and expand on the proces…
About once every 18 months I try to update my paper ” Understanding the Modern Monetary System” to account for important new understandings and potential evolutions in the monetary system. It has essentially become a living paper which I …
There’s an economic battle occurring over whether Greece should leave the Euro or not. Economists on the left tend to say they should leave, bring back their old currency and go their own way. Economists on the right tend to say that Greece shoul…
What a day. The NYSE halted trading for half the day, Chinese stocks crashed and Greece is always waiting in the wings with arms wide open ready to ravage any hope of a happy day. Let’s talk about all of this.
One lesson from Warren Buffett has served me particularly well over the years: “Never invest in a business you cannot understand.” Of course, this can be extended across much of the financial world. As a general rule I adhere to “never inve…
Charles Schwab has thrown a gigantic wrench in the hot new “Robo Advisor” business model. Since announcing their free Robo offering (which does the same thing the other Robos do, but without the management fee) and their Institutional platf…
Here’s the last bit of the Q&A. Thanks again for all the great questions. If you asked a specific advisory question I can’t answer it. Sorry. You should talk to an advisor for specific advice. The internet is not a great place to get…
Unfun is synonymous with “very important” in finance. Anyhow, here are some of the answers to the weekend Q&A. I hope it’s helpful. Samantha asked: Why couldn’t interest rates just be left at 0% forever? Would that be a bad idea…
Well, Greece just got very interesting. The Greeks voted no pretty decisively in the referendum today. Here’s what that means: The Greeks reject the terms of the Euro bailout. Syriza and Tsipras will go back to the negotiating table emboldened. …
I haven’t opened up the comments section in a long while so I figured I’d take this holiday weekend to let readers ask some questions. So have at it. Or, if you just have something general you’d like to share please have at it. If you…
This post will involve some math and will require some prior understanding of sectoral balances/stock flow consistent accounting. It would be best read with a stiff drink, but the post alone could act as a sedative. Read at your own risk and do not ope…
I was flipping through TV this evening when I came across this image projecting that the USA was on course to become Greece: Aside from the spurious 30 year trend line, this appears like an alluring story. Greece is a country. The USA is a country. If…
Diversified Asset Allocation Portfolios For Your Plans
| Vanguard ETF: | 10%* |  |
| Diversified Core: | 11%* | |
| Six Core Asset ETFs: | 10%* | |
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