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.
When did the WSJ become an unbiased source of information? They've been pro-conservative in their musings for as long as I can remember.
And as long as we're here when did NPR become biased? They'll slam anybody if they've got it coming.
And when …
I would be careful about trumpeting the May CPI report.
The impact of Trump's tariffs may not be reflected in CPI data for several months.
The following quote is from the WSJ article you linked above.
“'We’ve been assuming the bulk of increases fro…
A confident government doesn't require the spectacle of a military parade ...
Nor does a confident populace. Is our new motto, "Speak loud gibberish, and wave a big stick"?
Remember that Trump believes that exercise of First Amendment rights (protest) in D.C. must be met with force. Has he put all copies of the Constitution through a shredder, yet? And wiped them from public records?
@Crash- I interpreted that as sarcasm- an attempt to rebut the frequently offered concept that the two parties are indistinguishable. No, they definitely are not. One is almost completely evil, the other so enamored of left-wing perspectives that t…
Let us not forget that this is all because they want to deport a few dozen day laborers.
Totally worth it, right? Why not head up to deep red Northern California and raid the farms? No protestors there.
Similar to prostitution raids, wouldn't arr…
IMO, the ONLY way that China opens up the rare Earth spigot is if they get the chips they want and serious tariff elimination. Which takes us back to square one. The folks who claimed that China was our biggest military threat and needed to be cut o…
It took well over a year from the last CoVid stimulus (Jan 2021) for inflation to really rear up. And that was trillions of dollars of stimulus. So, I agree that tariff-induced inflation may take while to become a problem. Which is good, as it will …
Right, not giving them the excuse to justify escalation or latch onto a few bad actors to rationalize over-reach. Which is exactly where this is all heading.
In giving it more thought, I wonder if, at the current exponential rate of demand, getting to 10% recycling of rare Earth (in a decade) is a step backwards? Certainly restricting the best and brightest of foreign students entering our universities i…
The semiconductor, electronics, defense, wind turbines (magnets), cars (especially EVs), and others. Many of these industries overlap due to dual-uses based on the specific applications. This should be a great starting point to recycle what is alr…
Okay, so when you said "rebuilding the entire infrastructure" it was limited to rare Earth mining and production. IRT my post above, is there a reasonable expectation that recycling can have a significant, cost-effective impact on our rare Earth req…
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Having said that, US government need to face the question on rebuilding the entire infrastructure from sourcing (raw materials) to manufacturing (finished products) of strategically critical materials domestically. ...
Do you mean "infrastru…
History suggests that recycling efficiency is often over-stated. I support recycling, up to the point that it becomes inefficient. t this point, I assume most of my personal recycling is ending up in landfills. The energy & labor component to ce…
I held OTCFX at TRP for decades. Until I realized that the long term gains that I had accrued were in danger of washing out. I began selling several years ago and am now down to zero. I exited while my annualized gains were still ~17%. It was a good…
"Knowledge of DIY for whatever may prove to be a wonderful source of money (money not spent, eh?)"
For sure. Being able to DIY in my younger years has been a major factor in accumulating enough to be able to pay others now that I''m 85. I do have t…
"As far as party responsibility, it is more complicated than it seems, when taking into account control of Congress. I am will to call it a wash (at best) and be deeply suspicious of all involved. The myth of partisan superiority by anyone is now de…
Hey, I am trying to be generous here. LOL Not to start a food fight. Though I still maintain that things get a lot murkier once control of Congress comes into it. But yeah, the GOP is clearly prone to excessive deficit spending. And when you take in…
I have always thought that if the % return on debt, either by increasing GDP, national income, etc was greater than the interest rate, debt made some sense. We are only having this conversation because interest rates have increased, (and for some r…
Imagine if "'all of the above" begin selling as a reaction to heavy-handed trade efforts.
I'm sure that was carefully considered before beginning this endeavor. ~$20 trillion is held domestically. Leaving ~$12 trillion spread out elsewhere.
Frankly, these days I just don't see USTs to be the gold-standard security blanket in the world that they once were....and the # of decent analysis pieces discussing how 'investable' (or not) the US is these days (due to both debt and politics) is …
'Speculation has persisted that China did not, in fact, “ignore” the Trump tariffs but instead dumped substantial quantities of its US debt holdings. “China may be selling Treasuries in retaliation,” wrote Ataru Okumura, a senior interest-rate strat…
I agree that living comfortably below one's means is a decent strategy. I did that for decades. Driving nice well-maintained older vehicles and saving for education and retirement and unknowns. Now that it is no longer necessary, I am finding that i…
I agree that risk and debt are the two major stressors. I have no debt, and de-risked substantially at the end 0f 2024. Downsizing my home doesn't present much of a savings once I consider the costs involved in selling/buying/moving, mainly because …
@Sven- Are you also suggesting that we should "gut" (eliminate) environmental regulations? Somehow that doesn't sound like you.
Gut may be shorthand for simoleans, among other things, like political will.
There are projects at, or close, to comme…
@Old_Joe, i firmly believe that refining rare earth metals can be done in US on commercial scale without changing the existing environment regulations. There are established processes to treat waste created responsibly. Here is where government sub…
Apparently having a near monopoly on rare Earth minerals and cheap labor is a better negotiating position than tariffs, which China can apply too. Ready, fire, aim! Xi can say whatever to string things along, until our "deal makers" finally see the …
Where the line is drawn on "genuinely bad" is hard tp define. It is already pretty bad when the debt servicing is absorbing ~$1.2 trillion in interest annually.
F>>>>0 - if you believe the thread is heading into no-no land why do you even bother reading it? These days one could make nearly any topic political w/o much effort at all. Just like you do with some of your comments.
Yes, anyone can e…
At least the myth that one party is fiscally responsible can finally be set to rest. Yep, both parties have had a hand in it. We did have a balanced budget in Clinton's time. Then GW tossed it and went on to double the debt during his term. The wors…
No need to predict anything, the 2025 GDP numbers will tell the tale. Way too early to assess the impacts of the many substantial changes. The data will reveal all, everything from trade deficits to budget deficits.
There is a difference between ignoring what is happening economically and investing solely on political beliefs. For instance, tariffs were boldly promised and lots of money has been made betting that Trump would chicken out.
All information shoul…
As I said elsewhere, it's getting to the point where we're not going to be able to trust economic data released by the US government -- either due to the effects of 'DOGE' and the blind downsizing of government offices in recent months or it might g…
