Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Press conference upcoming. May move markets.
After the FOMC announcement equities did a U-turn. Dow fell about 200-300 points over a few minutes to about flat at present. Had been strong earlier in day. Gold ticked up $5, but is still off $15 for t…
Truth in posting: Utah State fell apart in the second half last night and I lost my bet. The Oregon team were 5 point underdogs when the contest began and lacking 2 regular players. Still, they made a “romp” of it in the second half. Not even close…
On another front. I listened a bit to Biden today. Total U.S. aide to Ukraine is being upped to $1 Billion. In addition we are sending armed drones, which strikes me as perilously close to sending manned planes. These drones have incredible attack …
“But Russia has been acting like a post communist country in recent decades.”
Yes. It goes to the question “What’s in a name?” These terms tend to get tossed around by people like Putin to inspire the masses and make opaque the real issues. I’m n…
@Bobpa, do you remember the kiddie-ride at the amusement park where a little kid would sit in a little car and go around in a circle? Kids would turn that little steering wheel frantically pretending they were controlling the direction of that littl…
Bloomberg is reporting China’s Dragon popped 24% last night. I’d already decided to initiate an additional purchase of DODEX today as part of a scheduled rebalance. Since my portfolio’s been driven so out of whack by the erratic first quarter mark…
Putin as a 21st century fascist? That description may help to explain him and this war.
Isn’t Russia a Communist country?
“From each according to his means … And to each according to his needs.”
Or has Karl Marx been disavowed?
Russian Yachts
Yes, “The Old Man and the Sea” is delightful. Beautifully concise. Set in & near Cuba.
“Hemingway became a fixture of Havana, and stayed in the country longer than many Americans chose to after relations between Cuba and the United States bega…
Agree it’s a “hot-button” issue. Critics will milk it for all its worth. Such is today’s world of politics and eyeball obsessed media.
My Hybrid Accord holds about 12.5 gallons. Goes over 500 miles on that. Very little “pain at the pump.” I never…
@Old_Joe - What an incredible photo! (top). Makes me thirsty for something “on the rocks.” :)
Being of USCG vintage you’ve probably been exposed to ice breaking. While we don’t see ice like that in the Great Lakes, it’s always fascinating to watc…
Not a Michigan fan. Like to wager on non-home teams. Couple $$ on Utah State over Oregon tonight. Prefer the NBA for caliber of play. Last night’s Milwaukee Bucks over Utah was an excellent well fought game. The Bucks won - but the lead sea-sawed a…
Overnight the 10 year touched 2.14% . Stunned me a bit seeing it on the Bloomberg screen.
High by recent standards.
+1 @Charles Thanks for reposting that photo. The 3 riders: “Stocks”, “Bonds” and “Commodities”.
A PBS interview last evening with a refugee mother and daughter worried about their pets back home drove me to post the story. The war in the story was the Spanish Civil War, fought a few years before WW II and with the involvement of some big gl…
@Junkster said, “don’t want my bearish bias to influence me …”
I resemble that remark. :)
I don’t think I can time the markets. (Perhaps others can.) I almost always regret it. Raising my “alternative” sleeve from 30% to 40% is probably the best…
Thanks @Sven. All is well other than being perpetually mired in 15-30 degree temperatures with treacherous ice & snow still covering the landscape of northern Michigan. I’m of the view we who post regularly are an inquisitive and independent …
Thanks @Sven
Forsyth’s more concerned with trying to draw wry and interesting parallels between today and 1974 than in building a substantive case. He notes early on that just as President Gerald Ford was becoming concerned enough to hold a high l…
…
Barron’s ran the numbers for the items the government CPI omits:
“Excluding food and energy from the CPI seems like exactly the wrong thing to do right now. This week, this column is doing the opposite, stripping out everything but necessary it…
I just enjoy Forsyth. Didn’t mean to cite him as a predictive model. I suspect he is of a bearish inclination (as am I) and his articles often reference bearish views of various market observers.
If folks don’t want Forsyth’s columns referenced any …
Appears, @hank, that Starlink might be available in SE MI in 2023, or so they say.
@BenWP - Wow.I’d assumed they covered the entire U.S. by now. It was such a high priority with me I signed up / applied for the beta version in early 2020 and was f…
“We live on Cape Cod where unless you can run your internet off your phone ( hard to do with movies etc) yo have one choice Comcast.”
I’ve had Starlink for about 18 months and it’s terrific internet at $99 monthly plus a one-time $500 for the equip…
Hard to get fricken up to date news. The cable and network news shows are mostly portraying this as a soap opera with lots on one-on-one “human interest” stories and interviews from Ukraine of dubious value and ignoring any strategic information …
If Russian missiles are coming in your direction and only 11 miles from your border would you take any actions? I’m thinking maybe planes were scrambled by Poland and/or NATO, missiles tanked-off or armed? targets acquired? other measures taken?
…
Nasty day Friday. One pundit (supposed market authority) I follow recently acknowledged owning a “speculative” position in Overstock (OSTK). So, I started tracking it. Down over 10% Friday alone. And DKNG, which I once messed around with, was off 8…
I don't think so.
It may be just a warning for the new arms supply caravans moving openly through the Western Ukraine border and/or gifted old MIG planes flying through the Western Ukraine borders.
Until the last few days, the Western Ukraine had …
Those of you with good memory, could please share how (Fed, fiscal, turn in business cycle, or simple exhaustion) we snapped out of the 2015/2016 correction / bear market?
Hmmm … Not to make too fine a point of it, but the S&P lost less than 1…
"Russia may decide it makes sense to tempt a NATO country into participating in the war" For what possible reason at this point?
I read the quoted post a bit too quickly. Not in full agreement with it. I agree with @Old_Joe to the extent their mo…
Russia may decide it makes sense to tempt a NATO country into participating in the war by targeting arms shipments headed to Ukraine while they are still in route through NATO countries that border Ukraine.
Russia warns U.S. over arms shipments to …
OJ - You’re one sharp dude. You say you never attended college which is hard to believe. Yet you can run circles around many I know who attended, graduated and hold degrees.
Re - “people (like me, for instance)“
Bull**** !
Well now … Here’s a cover that also expresses a somewhat contentious point of view on one of the most pressing issues of the day.
I also think there’s still hope for the struggling “Off Topic” section when Barron’s latches on to one of the topics b…
“President Joe Biden reiterated that America will not send troops to fight in Ukraine, saying that doing so would mean a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia and thus “World War III”. “
Makes you wonder why we spend billions on weapons too …
And PLEASE- despite what @hank suggested, let's not all start putting everything in CAPS to see who can shout the loudest around here. He, of all people, should know better- maybe he was only kidding, I hope.
BUT HE SAID HE WANTED THE POST TO BE NOT…
Hi Derf, I’m a long time reader. Two-part answer. Need to separate the opinion section from the news reporting.
The WSJ‘s editorial board is notoriously conservative - to the point I hardly ever read their editorials. That said, they appear to s…
Thanks @Mark. I reversed the 2 parts. Hopefully cures the problem. While I admire Cobert’s talents, they’re often sorely abused on the show - resulting in a lot of garbage. This interview is a welcome exception.
Commodities will work until they don’t. Like equities, they are prone to boom and bust cycles. No way to predict how long this bull cycle will run. I looked at the James Stack charts / suggested allocations this morning to make sure I wasn’t wildly…
+1 @Catch22
Well … Amway sells a lot of cleaning & disinfecting products …
Yes - A pious lot over along that southwestern coast. A good friend at work would kiddingly refer to religion as a “crutch” - necessary for some people to cope with a…
Pretty funny that Amway and Herbalife are still there, given their pyramid-scheme-like structures. Also, there is of course the Betsy DeVos connection to Amway. I can imagine what the Amway salesmanship in a country like Russia might be like.
Thank…
@Derf. Brilliant idea. But if you really want more attention, TYPE YOUR TITLE IN ALL CAPS. That will get you some serious eyeballs! (old editors’ trick) :)
I cut the cord with DirecTV back before AT&T sold the looser they owned. I’d say what…
Recently trimmed my fixed income sleeve to 25% from 30%. Added to alternatives. All my bond funds stink this year. DODIX down over 4.5% YTD. PRIHX off a bit less than 4%.
