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LewisBraham
Hi Hank,
Your satire came across very well. Don't worry about the user name.
Best,
Lewis
For anyone who watches South Park, it seems like a cartoon villain, a Cartman is trying to take over Russia— a foul mouthed idiot who lived in and operated a hot dog stand as his first business and is behind the Russian troll factories that helped…
I imagine there is a greater percentage of economists who’ve accurately predicted the future of the economy and the impact of policies than there are money managers who’ve beaten the market, though. There is flimflam in both economics and finance …
@Crash You write as though none of this ever happened and isn't part of the reason so many people south of the border now need to leave their homes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change_in_Latin_America
I would say there’s plenty of intrigue, drama, a potentially sensational coverup, etc. in the refugee trawler story as well to keep viewers/readers interested if the press wants to cover it more. The question remains why is the press devoting so mu…
Seems more about class in this case as a Pakistani billionaire is on the Titanic sub and 300 much poorer Pakistani refugees died in the migrant boat disaster and there is far less coverage. I think both stories are equally sensational in their detai…
Compare the amount of coverage of this to the Titanic sub news: https://cnn.com/2023/06/18/asia/pakistan-deaths-migrant-boat-disaster-greece-intl-hnk/index.html
Good article: https://nytimes.com/2023/06/15/magazine/doctors-moral-crises.html
An excerpt:
Because doctors are highly skilled professionals who are not so easy to replace, I assumed that they would not be as reluctant to discuss the distressing co…
I don’t think he’s going anywhere:
https://reuters.com/world/us/poll-trump-holds-double-digit-lead-after-federal-indictment-reutersipsos-2023-06-12/
Netanyahu is the likely model;
https://vox.com/platform/amp/2023/3/22/23648925/trump-indictment-arr…
There is ample precedent globally for indicted leaders to continue pursuing office in an attempt to exculpate themselves: https://cnn.com/2023/04/04/world/trump-indictment-world-leaders-intl/index.html
The need to pardon himself may make it more, not less likely, he'll stay in the race:
https://washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/09/trump-indictment-2024-election/
https://politico.com/news/2023/06/10/trump-vows-to-stay-in-the-race-even-if-convic…
If it can make people better investors, it can also make them better more engaged citizens. I’m not sure either proposition is true by the way. But accepting that the worst are full of passionate intensity and the best lack all conviction seems, wel…
Different viewpoints as I think saying "it is what it is" and ignoring the situation is tacit approval or, at least, denial of problems that need to be addressed. Nor do I think there is anything veiled about the threats at this point. Some of these…
The Examiner article mentions the suits, but also mentions the success rate for finding people permanent housing instead of them ending up back on the streets was much higher: In December 2022, the final month of the program, after getting to a bett…
@Old_Joe The homeless situation in SF is more complex and the hotel program was more successful than you're acknowledging: https://sfexaminer.com/news/politics/pandemic-shelters-may-set-path-for-sf-homeless-response/article_b956bd42-da44-11ed-b04b-7…
Banks have many reasons to worry. Rising interest rates have devalued other assets on their balance sheets, especially government bonds, leaving them vulnerable to bank runs. In recent months, Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic, and Signature all c…
Yogibearbull largely has the subadvisor model correct here. If Vanguard hires a single subadvisor for, say, 0.50%, and that subadvisor has its own branded funds that it charges 1% for, what is the motivation for investors to buy any of the subadviso…
@staycalm The problem with this analysis is the assumption that raising the debt ceiling or increasing the deficit to help the less fortunate is a primary cause of inflation. This as someone like @Davidrmoran and a number of economists he’s cited ha…
@dtconroe Since when is a two sentence post I made previously a "sermon?" Moreover, how arrogant and presumptuous do you have to be to believe you speak for the "bulk of people" and that your singular viewpoints are everyone else's? Americans' views…
With all due respect, feeding hungry people in the wealthiest nation on earth should not be a “fringe issue.” Other developed nations do not impose a work requirement to receive food assistance.
@MSF The nature of omnibus accounts at outside brokers provides limited information to fund managers, so they don't know generally who owns the funds individually, although I think there are circumstances when there is suspicious trading activity, l…
@msf In addition to the evidence you provide about Dem vs Rep budgeting, there have been a number of studies refuting the 1998 research @Baseball_Fan cites by Feldstein and Wrobel regarding progressive tax policies, income inequality and wealth migr…
James Carville: "I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or as a . 400 baseball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody."
The thing is the…
Let's all take a deep breath and urge our representatives to work on rational compromises, and let's please stop voting for political extremists on both sides of the aisle.
The classic false moral equivalency or “bad people on both sides” argumen…
The Bolsheviks in the White House Oh god! Biden managed to hide his Bolshevism apparently for decades as the senator from Delaware lobbying to pass legislation highly favorable to the credit card and banking industries.
@davidrmoran Interesting game, although I suspect it leaves much stuff out. I played it and was able to cut the deficit significantly, shaving $9 trillion off it, without cutting any programs like Medicare or Social Security, while reducing militar…
@Baseball_Fan Everytime the taxes for the "wealthy" have went up three things have happened. 1) Economy slows down 2) Both the wealthy and the poor are hurt with the poor being hurt more 3) tax receipts go down.
Show your data as I've seen the exact…
If you are the chief executive officer of an oil company, and you believe this, what should you do about it? What is the best way to create long-term value for your shareholders?
Therein lies the problem with this analysis. It assumes CEOs care ab…
@DavidrMoran Exactly, it sets a bad precedent to yield to terroristic demands:
Still, the most important reason to avoid entering into negotiations over the debt limit itself goes beyond politics. It is why, in 2011, Mr. Obama pledged never again af…
@Bobpa I would recommend you contact your broker if you have a decent sized account with them and try to negotiate a lower transaction fee with them for mutual funds. The truth is, most brokers will negotiate on such fees if you're a decent sized cl…
Purely from an investment perspective, I think if it's a short-term technical default it will be a buying opportunity for stocks and bonds as others have mentioned. If that short-term technical default gets drawn out in any way, that "buying opportu…
An excerpt:
On Tuesday March 7, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., chair of the Subcommitee on Economic Policy, held a hearing on the debt limit, in which experts assessed its economic and financial consequences. In prepared testimony at the hearing, …
Worth reading: https://nerdwallet.com/article/finance/debt-ceiling
I wonder if McCarthy recognizes how stupid this sounds or does he think that using the words “Communist” and “Chinese” will ensure support among the benighted uber-nationalist base:…
This is definitely worth reading on the gun subject:
https://politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413
It's gotten to the point where when someone asks me "Did you hear about the shooting?," I answer "Whi…
One can live off dollars, one can’t on percentages. Although I understand on an abstract level removed from your actual life, it’s “all about math,” in reality in one’s life, it is not at all. This is especially so if one worked for those dollars, s…
LCORX is a good fund with a difficult tactical allocation strategy to execute well. It used to be almost the only game in town with this more flexible asset allocation strategy, and has done well with it overall. Although different in their flexibil…
