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Fictional or reality?
Reality. Although not 'bonds' those bundled products were "dogshit wrapped inside catshit"[2] and given a triple-A rating because $$$$$$$. Or as Anthony Bourdain (RIP) said in the film about bundled products back then, "it'…
Keep in mind another rule that only S&P applies - US financials cannot have better credit rating than the US government. So, when US was downgraded to AA+ in 2011, top US financials were also downgraded to AA+ regardless of their own financial s…
Ever since the GFC I've found the ratings 'agencies' rather farcical. IMO they're really only useful as a high-level 'sanity check' OPINION on something but their 'ratings' are sliced so narrowly it's pretty hard to fail them.
To wit: Imagine if …
Jason Zweig believes alternative assets do not belong in 401(k)s.
"Whether we’re talking about a smaller firm like Redwood or the giants of alternative investing,
the same rule applies: Assets that don’t trade every day aren’t low risk just becaus…
"Is it normal for the POTUS to instruct a retail company (Walmart) to eat tariffs that he was responsible for?"
You know, I have/had the same question. I also wondered how many previous presidents had a throng of CEO's following them half way aroun…
Is it normal for the POTUS to instruct a retail company (Walmart) to eat tariffs that he was responsible for?
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/17/trump-tells-walmart-to-eat-the-tariffs.html
Normal for a mob boss, yeah.
Is it me or did his tweet earli…
Wonder what the tariff was on that jet that was gifted (grifted) from Qatar.
Business licenses for his next major hotel project in the country, probably. Or maybe friendly bankers who don't mind dealing with an un-lendable crook?
"So like Pete I’ve sworn off." I hear that's not going so well.
LOL. Why do you think we keep losing F/A-18s off of aircraft carriers? They keep letting him drive.
What! You were looking for some lettuce on your Nothing Burger?
Yes, because "bacon is too expensive" and it's hard to find organic free-range covfefe to layer on top of my NothingBerder....
FWIW, I have owned TIAA Real Estate Account VA (QREARX) for quite a while and it's private real estate. But its liquidity model is quite different than that for nontraded Blackstone BReit or Starwood SReit.
QREARX is, imo, fine. Folks can go see th…
Agree this seems like a more competent approach/team. However, in my view, this only gives breathingroom --- it still just punts things 90 days down the road .... we could be right back where we started from in August or at anytime that Emperor Hi…
.....And I see that predictably, Mr. Market is gleefully overreacting to a 3-month reduction in tariffs between US and China. So much winning. For a day? Two? the volatility is killing me.
This idiot is waging his trade 'war' in 90-day increments. …
So, the question is, should the gates be removed or just lowered for retail investors?
I have no problem with lowering/removing the gates to retail investors* but DO have a concern with PE infecting pension/retirement accounts in ways that might no…
Regarding ICI's stated desire to expand access to private markets,
why do I get the feeling that retail customers would be left holding the bag?
Because they will. (Again)
TCAL is very attractive -- was going to start a position last week tbh but end-of-semester crazy got in the way and I never got around to it.
I'm also wondering if that might be a good thing to rotate from PRWCX into at some point....
'Concepts of a plan' I think is the more accurate description.
In other words, a nothingburger. But he'll bleat that more nothingburgers are coming "in a few weeks" just like his infrastructure and health care plans during his first term.
Donnie is panicking over his trade war based on his ALL-CAPS plea to China this morning. Better yet, another post suggests he's going to try and pin any trade policy failure or tariff drama on the Treasury Secretary -- because he can't accept resp…
... which means FOTUS will be up late into the evening wailing on his liddle social media site about how Powell sucks, needs to cut rates NOW!, and deserves to be replaced immediately, right?
Called it. So predictable and pathetic. Or as he might s…
I'll run Linux before I run Windows again.
Apple products are expensive but generally okay if not frustrating for power users like me. However I don't trust their cloud architecture farther than I could throw it and it'll take a lot to convince …
... which means FOTUS will be up late into the evening wailing on his liddle social media site about how Powell sucks, needs to cut rates NOW!, and deserves to be replaced immediately, right?
@WABC. Agree ! Every weekend we cruised past multiple CONTAINER SHIPS aboard our SAILBOAT. Not the same.
Relatedly, don't anyone dare call a Navy submarine a 'ship' or they might just find themselves fired out of a torpedo tube. Submarines are…
CNN reporting the west coast ports already showing signficant declines in shipping cargo traffic...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/ar-AA1EgCdN
Good idea.
I should probably stock up on TP & paper towels at Costco.
Have plenty of Kleenex already.
Better safe than sorry!
I loaded up on single-malts in late March before 'liberation day' happened :)
"A portfolio constructed for long-term resilience will be well served by a high-quality government-bond allocation,
in particular one with US Treasuries and agency mortgages.
The 2022 experience—as well as 2025 thus far—also illustrates the virtue o…
Sellers are getting uo to 50% haircuts in exiting private-credits, LinkedIn.
I'm sure folks will plow into these things b/c it makes them feel like a 'sophisticated' investor....
... and why companies are trying to push this stuff into user-select…
End of an era, for sure. There won't be another Warren anytime soon.
He got a standing ovation after the announcement, to which, in his typical folksy way, he told the crowd "That can be interpreted one of two ways..." lol
I still use their products (b/c I avoid Windows like the plague) but I am nowhere the Apple fan I was 5, 10, 15, or 30 years ago, that's for sure. Their QA has slipped noticeably in recent years and they're engaging in dirty tricks to keep their wa…
Relatedly --
Peter Navarro is delusional .... on CNBC: says this morning's horrible economic numbers are actually good news because if you remove the effect of tariffs "you have 3 percent growth. So we really like where we're at now."
That's the s…
As expected, the flailing Toddler in Tweet is still blaming bad economic data happening during his regime on Biden...
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/trump-gdp-tariffs-biden-overhang.html
BBG, reporting on the Toddler's 100-days-rally tonight: “You’re not supposed to criticize the Fed,” Trump said. “You’re supposed to let him do his own thing — but I know much more than he does about interest rates.”
Yeah, I'm sure YOU know more a…
Nibbling on what?
“Stuff I post about in the B/S/W thread!”
+1 / However - @masterd joined only a week ago. We’ll cut him some slack. :)
Fair enough. I'm mainly stalking utes, energy support, and modern infrastructure.
I think insider trading is/will be rampant with this regime. After all, last week word came out that Tariff Toddler was telling Wall Street CEOs his tariff plans before they became public.
Then, I read this weekend that one of his big benefactor…
I've been opportunistically nibbling, but buying in smaller chunks than I normally would, even to start a position. Which is frustrating at times when it goes up right away, but also helpful when it drops right away. :)
Nibbling on what?
Stuff I …
I've been opportunistically nibbling, but buying in smaller chunks than I normally would, even to start a position. Which is frustrating at times when it goes up right away, but also helpful when it drops right away. :)
