March 21: Not exactly surprising that the Fed’s dot plots indicate 3 rate cuts this year. The now dovish sounding Fed has no choice but to cut rates. It claims it also wants to slow its balance sheet run off which is a more complicated process than what it might seem. Nevertheless, slowing its balance… Continue reading March 2024 Stock and Fund Picks
Category: Political Economy
February 2024 Stock and Fund Picks
February 5: The Fed is between a rock and a hard place. It’s main monetary aggregate M2 has come down from its peak from about a year ago only 2.3%. This is very little and has come about from just letting bonds expire and role off the Feds balance sheet, and then letting the Treasury… Continue reading February 2024 Stock and Fund Picks
November Stock and Fund Picks
November 7. 2023: The Fed may have paused its direct attack on the economy. The supply-side problems caused by the pandemic have cured themselves and only the money supply needed to be reduced. Selling off the Feds balance sheet would have done that and probably not have effected the economy as negatively. Moreover, long-term rates… Continue reading November Stock and Fund Picks
September Stock and Fund Picks
Sept. 29, 2023: Let’s say I am the Fed and I want to protect the markets, consumers, and citizens from reality. So, I hide a T-Rex debt monster behind a curtain called the Fed’s balance sheet. I monetize or “feed” the T-Rex over-time by buying up newly issued IRS debt, and thereby increasing my balance… Continue reading September Stock and Fund Picks
August Stock and Fund Picks
August 14: In business cycle parlance, we are coming down from a peak towards a recessionary trough and appear to be nearly there. This trough is not likely to be an actual recession though as the economy is generally still too strong for that. Thus, a “soft landing” has become a common expectation. The more… Continue reading August Stock and Fund Picks
November 2022 Stock and Fund Picks
State of the Economy: Best not to overpredict. Unexpected events can never be predicted and they are what cause markets to move the most in the short-run. We know that leading economic indicators are in recession territory but other factors such as labor market growth and earnings are merely slowing. Contradictory data tells us nothing… Continue reading November 2022 Stock and Fund Picks
April Stock and Fund Picks
April 14: Let’s hope inflation is nearing its zenith and will return to earth in the near future. The “Poo-tin” appears to be attempting a regroup and retry with a smaller objective in mind. Let’s hope that fails too. British intelligence seems to imply only a 50-50 chance against the more motivated but outnumbered Ukrainians.… Continue reading April Stock and Fund Picks
March Stock and Fund Picks
Week 2: I hope everybody bought as much as they could of the three CEFs I recently recommended: AIO, BMEZ, and BSTZ. If you didn’t you can still buy them after their ex-dividend dates (the date after which you do not get the next monthly dividend) because they tend to have lower prices at that… Continue reading March Stock and Fund Picks
October Stock and Fund Picks
Before I list my picks and review the state of the economy, I’d like to add a comment on trade protectionism and the negotiation strategy of the Trump administration with China. The problem is that China is an unfair trader and its communist government’s strategy is to steal as much technology as is possible. Something… Continue reading October Stock and Fund Picks
Some Thoughts on Modern Day Democracy
I’ll start with the premise that most people, including those with resources in the markets, do not want or need overregulation. Social progressivity is therefore are desirable agenda. So too is classical liberalism in which there are free markets and limited government. With regard to economics, the limited government only addresses resource misallocation caused by… Continue reading Some Thoughts on Modern Day Democracy