2021 in Review: Anyone object to another year of 20%+ returns?
After >15% returns in the stock market in 2019 and 2020, the pundits were on the defensive going into 2021. The year began badly - Jan 6th Capitol riots and impeachment of the President on Jan 13. February witnessed Bezos, the mastermind behind Amazon stepping...
Inflation soars; The Fed is going to move fast; What should investors do?
The biggest economic release for financial markets has traditionally been Jobs day, but in recent months, CPI (Consumer Price Index) day has taken the spotlight. Headline inflation on Friday was growth of 6.8% Y/Y in November, which was the highest level since the...
Anyone want Fed Chair Jay Powell’s job for a day?
This week, on Thursday, employment numbers came in lower than expected for November, but on Friday, the unemployment rate dropped and the labor participation rate rose. These mixed messages further muddled markets - stocks closed out the week with a decline - the...
Here we go again!!
Just as the European Union was confronting the ugly reality of Covid-19 infections forcing countries to go into lockdowns and the US still dealing with the Delta variant threatening to take the steam out of the economy going into the holiday season, South Africa...
What Would Milton Friedman Do?
The three most influential economic minds of all time are, and few would dispute - Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, and Milton Friedman. In these times of rising inflation, the world needs a little bit more of Friedman. The Nobel Prize winner, best known for the...
Failing companies spin off to create several more failing companies
The most high profile rewiring is General Electric, in decline since 2008, which announced that it is spinning off its businesses into three separate companies - Aviation, Energy and Healthcare. Toshiba, another company that has been struggling for a decade, announced...
Sins of deceit – India sticks it to China as Covid deaths cross 5 million
China recorded 600 cases in the last 15 days as the delta variant has forced the country to impose strict lockdowns. The United States surpassed the sobering milestone of 750,000 COVID-19 deaths despite the widespread availability of vaccines. Worldwide, the pandemic...
Tesla enters the dumping ground – Rental car market
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, took another step in defying conventional wisdom by agreeing to provide Hertz with 100,000 Teslas to be delivered by next year. The news was extremely well received by Wall Street and took Tesla’s market cap past $1 trillion and in the process...
Market is looking for direction – Stay invested or say goodbye
With Q3 earnings season kicking into gear, the three major U.S. stock averages stayed near record highs in the past week. But inflation may be damping investor sentiment. Fund managers turned bearish on growth prospects for the first time since the depths of the...