Week 1 (June 3 – 7): Tariffs on Mexico that would go in effect on June 12 will be bad for Mexico, US companies staying competitive by operating in Mexico and the stock market, dovish Fed or not. Estimates of the cost of tariffs on consumers is now twice as much as the benefit from… Continue reading June 2019 Stock and Fund Picks
May Stock and Fund Picks
Week 1 – 2 (May 1 – 10): Trump trade woe’s continue. When companies buy high bang-per-buck (Productivity divided by cost) resources in foreign countries like Mexico, such as with our automobile industry, it maximizes output per cost or, equivalently, minimizes cost per unit of output. In other words, our automobile industry becomes more competitive… Continue reading May Stock and Fund Picks
April Stock and Fund Picks
Week 1 April is starting off well. Still have doubts about Trump’s trade policies, especially towards Mexico. The China problem centers around forced technology transfer, or simply technology theft by a communist government. We should never have let any of that happen. But Mexico is simply a producer with higher bang- per- buck labor resources. … Continue reading April Stock and Fund Picks
March Stock and Fund Picks
Weeks 1 – 2: Looks like things have decided to cool off and things are relatively stable. Trump and the Chinese can still cause a major disruption so be prepared. Since you can’t know when things might change and it is political rather than fundamental it is probably best to plan on holding through any… Continue reading March Stock and Fund Picks
February Stock Picks
Week 1 – 2 (Feb. 1 – 15): More trade uncertainty for March 1st and looming government shutdown #2 are on the horizon. Have been all month so haven’t wanted to commit to anything in the stock market. The Chinese will be watching the compromise bill to avert the shutdown so as to guess how… Continue reading February Stock Picks
January 2019 Stock and Fund Picks
Week 1 (Jan 1 – 8): It is hard to read the market. The Fed still wants to pair down its balance sheet by letting its bonds expire or to sell them. By not buying or selling US treasury’s it will still cause interest rates to rise. Trump still doesn’t understand the more efficient allocation… Continue reading January 2019 Stock and Fund Picks
December Stock and Fund Picks
Week 1 (Dec. 1 – 9): The market is trying to price in the Trump trade protectionism policies. It has been doing that since January of this year. The only other politician advocating trade protectionism is Bernie Sanders. This tells you that such a negative supply-side policy is going to be no good. Let’s hope… Continue reading December Stock and Fund Picks
November Stock and Fund Picks
Week 1 (Nov. 1 – 9): The October sell-off has created opportunities for stock pickers. On the other hand, Friday’s hot inflation read means the market is now sure of a Dec. Fed rate hike. As Warren Buffet warns, “Interest rates are like gravity to stocks.” A more mechanical rationale for this phenomenon is that… Continue reading November Stock and Fund Picks
October Stock and Fund Picks
Week 1 (October 1 – 5): Fed interest rate hikes are the new source of market volatility. Cramer says that he doesn’t like this market. Given his experience, that’s a big red flag. Cramer also suggests that the sell-off has begun. Another red flag. Generally, stocks do well during rising rates until, of course,… Continue reading October Stock and Fund Picks
September Market Beating Stock Picks
Week 1 (Sept. 4 – 7): Trade is still a negative while just about everything else (eg., domestic economy and GDP growth, relatively low real interest rates, and company earnings) are positives. On a different issue, I don’t get why the NFL allows anyone to take a knee during the national anthem. There are a… Continue reading September Market Beating Stock Picks