“There will be growth in the spring!” So advised Chauncey Gardiner, brilliantly played by Peter Sellers in the classic 1979 film satire Being There. In actuality, he was the dimwitted Chance the gardener, who through a series of misunderstandings was seen as a savant of sorts and whose advice on economic stimulus was sought by the president of the United States.
As the first green buds finally begin to appear on trees hereabouts, there are manifestly signs of growth. And after the application of trillions of dollars of fiscal and monetary Miracle-Gro, plus roughly one-third of the U.S. population having gotten at least one vaccination jab, it should be no surprise that things are blooming and, in many cases, booming.”
From: Up & Down Wall Street by Randall Forsyth - Barron’s April 12, 2021
Some quick & incomplete take-aways from Forsyth’s always engaging weekly column:
- The VIX (fear / volatility sentiment) has retreated to a relatively low 16.69 reading as of Friday.
- Investor sentiment (polling) is 60.8% Bullish / 16.7% Bearish (a contrarian indicator).
- A client of UBS reputedly placed a large options bet anticipating a significant increase in the VIX 3 months out.
- Extensive discussion of Federal debt / Fed Reserve policies / Potential Dollar reactions / Crypto & Gold
Comments
"Being There" is a classic film. "I like to watch".... can't give away the rest of the film.
Sounds like some here manage portfolios exceeding 1-2 M. And I’d hazard a guess the vast majority are well into 6 figures. When managing that amount of $$, one need glean only a relatively small amount of market insight from a $10-$15 monthly subscription (to Barron’s or other publication) to make a meaningful difference in portfolio value over a year’s time frame.
*Amazon’s Barron’s Kindle Edition = $12.50 monthly.
Yes - There’s an ipad app for Kindle subscriptions. I rely on it traveling so as not to have to carry two tablets. However, at home I prefer the Amazon Fire devices for print quality. Refurbished they run from $39-$79 depending on screen size. Amazon is normally pretty good at the quality of refurbs they sell.
@hank, do you mean that the image quality of Fire tablet is better than iPad? I like to keep everything on iPad just to keep life easier.
@Sven - It is certainly worth using the Kindle app on ipad. Layout & functions are nearly identical. (Can adjust font style, print size, margins, spacing, colors, etc.).
I use Ipads most of the time. Yes - for hours of continuous reading I find the Fire a bit easier on the eyes. Suspect there’s a very fine difference in print or screen quality. Boils down to individual preference. Amazon allows downloading content to more than 1 device anyway. If you’re already comfortable doing extended reading on ipad - go for it!
BTW - Agree it’s a lot simpler using 1 device for everything!
I thought the April 19 issue was particularly interesting. Do give the kindle subscription a test drive sometime. Amazon always gives you at least 2 weeks free, sometimes more, during which you can cancel.