09/14/2021
Today

'Quantitative Easing' Isn't Stimulus, Never Has Been

Ken Fisher, RealClearMarkets

Upside down and backwards! Nearly 13 years since the Fed launched "quantitative easing" (aka "QE"), it is still misunderstood, both upside down and backwards. One major camp believes it is inflation rocket fuel. The other deems it essential for economic growth—how could the Fed even consider tapering its asset purchases amid Delta variant surges and slowing employment growth, they shriek! But both groups' fears hinge on a fatal fallacy: presuming QE is stimulus. It isn't, never has been and, in reality, is anti-stimulus. Don't fear tapering—welcome it.

Inflation Alarm Bells Continue to Ring Loudly

Chris Talgo, Washington Examiner

On Sept. 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Producer Price Indexes report for Aug. 2021. It showed "the largest advance since 12-month data were first calculated in November 2010."

Why Biden Should Re-Appoint Jerome Powell

Chris Dodd & Barney Frank, The Hill

"We believe the national interest will be best served by President Biden reappointing Jerome Powell to chair the Federal Reserve System."

'Amazon of Information': Why Ethereum Will Overtake Bitcoin

Rick Amato, RCM

Internet ecosystems are currently dominated by a small cluster of tech giants, household names such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon, that thrive on personal data. But this state of affairs, largely a result of the last seismic shift in internet architecture, is ripe for change. Blockchain technologies are driving that change. While the driving forces of Web 2.0 are data and how online behaviors could be leveraged to influence offline consumption, Web 3.0, the next seismic shift, represents a reset - a fundamental change to massive global systems and industries.

Investors May Not Have All Their Oars In Water

Joe Calhoun, Alhambra Investments

The wise man is one who knows what he does not know. Lao Tzu or Socrates or neither It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. Mark Twain or Josh Billings or Artemus Ward or none of the above Stocks are at all time highs, credit

The Economy-Vandalizing Illogic of Buy Local Signs

Rob Smith, RealClearMarkets

I remember it was a beautiful morning in Charleston, and I had walked over to the Farmer's Market at Marion Square. A nice, hippyish gal was selling her locally raised fruit and truck vegetables. She had one of those "Buy Local" signs. I was with an attractive blond. We were off to an early start that was sure to be a most pleasant day. That is, until I ruined the mood. I couldn't help myself! It was that sign, and the self-righteousness of her moral preening. Somehow, I was an evil capitalist if I didn't buy her locally grown green peppers over ones grown in California. So instead of paying...

Dems Hide Their Plans for Raising Taxes by $3 Trillion

Ira Stoll, The New York Sun

Explaining a newly leaked House Ways and Means Committee plan to raise taxes by $3,000,000,000,000, a Wall Street Journal news article reports, "Rep. Richard Neal (D., Mass.), the committee chairman, has said that detailing tax-increase plans too

Dem Tax Plan Leaves Fortunes Untouched

Jonathan Weisman & Jim Tankersley, NYT

The House Ways and Means Committee's proposal to pay for trillions in social spending leaves wealth gains and inheritances largely alone. It focuses instead on a more traditional target: income.

Defensive Moves to Consider Ahead of Hikes

Paul Katzeff, Investor's Business Daily

17 Defensive Steps For Protection Against Likely Federal Tax Increases

The Wealth-Enhancing Economics of Proximity to Power

Ben Schreckinger, NYP

In this exclusive excerpt, Ben Schreckinger reveals how Jim and Hunter opened doors and profited using Joe Biden's name and influence.

Some Reasons Why You Shouldn't Max Out Your 401(k)

Annie Logue, Motley Fool

If you have high-interest debt, plan to retire early or think you might need long-term health care, there are wiser moves than maxing out your 401(k).

Thoughts On Why Housing Boom May Endure

Steve Sjuggerud, Am. Consequences

For investors getting nightmare déjà vu, here's some assurance that today's booming housing market is not that of 2008.

Primary Ways Financial Planning Can Help

Rob Williams, Charles Schwab

Here are five ways having a financial plan can help you.

A Long Road Back to Normalcy

Brad McMillan, Commonwealth Financial Network

Despite a recent rally for the markets, Commonwealth CIO Brad McMillan says we may see volatility ahead.

Why Rents Are Rising Rapidly & What Comes Next

Bill McBride, Calculated Risk

What is happening? Why? And what will happen.

'Beige Book' Signals Meaningful Deceleration

Richard Moody, Regions Bank

COVID's Impact on Stock Market's Phases

Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab

Since COVID's wrath began, the stock market has gone through three major phases of leadership, with a fourth possibly underway driven in part by seasonals.

Debt Race 2020: Inflation the Likely Winner

Jerry Bowyer, Vident Financial

Despite predictions last year and earlier this year that inflation would be transitory, it has not transited away, but rather transitioned upwards.

U.S.-China Trade Growth Slows Further

Ironman, Political Calculations

The growth of trade between the U.S. and China flashed warning signs in July 2021.

Why Stocks Could Be In for a Back-to-School Reality Check

Julia Horowitz, CNN

After notching heady gains this year, US stocks could be in for a back-to-school reality check.

20 Years Later, We Remember the 9/11 Tragedy

Market Minder, Fisher Investments

On the 20-year anniversary of 9/11, we reflect on what America lost—and didn't lose.

What's Wrong With Bitcoin's Supply/Demand Mechanism?

William Luther, AIER

"Bitcoin's supply mechanism fails to provide a long-run nominal anchor or promote monetary stability. A better money would employ a supply mechanism that offsets changes in the demand to hold it." ~ William J. Luther

What to Factor In Pursuing Rental Mortgage

Casey Bond, U.S. News & World Report

Now could be a great time to become a landlord. Mortgage rates have been hovering near historic lows, and though recent economic uncertainty has a lot of potential homebuyers thinking twice about taking on a mortgage, rental income could be a great way to pad your finances against ongoing turbulence.

China's Tech Takedown Is Cautionary Tale For the U.S.

Asheesh Agarwal, The Hill

China punished Jack Ma's Ant Group and other tech companies that offered new products without the government's permission.

Designing Cities to End American Obsession w/Driving

Gabby Birenbaum, Vox

To fight climate change, cities need to be designed with much more walking, biking, and public transit use in mind.

Harvard Says It Will Not Invest in Fossil Fuels

Anemona Hartocollis, New York Times

The announcement is a major victory for the climate change movement, and marks a striking change in tone for the university.

Women Being More Educated Than Men Is Troubling Step

Kevin Williamson,NYP

A generation of white men who grew up hearing that the problem with American institutions is that there are too many white men in them apparently has been listening. College attendance by men…

How Counterfeit Capitalism Leads To Inflation, Shortages

Matt Stoller, BIG

From railroads to plastic bags to semiconductors to ice cream, Wall Street and monopolists are creating shortages and exploiting them.

How Hollywood Sold Out to China

Shirley Li, The Atlantic

A culture of acquiescing to Beijing's censors is now the norm, and there's little sign of it changing.

Economics Turned Upside Down In The US

Dani Rodrik, Project Syndicate

In one policy area after another – from trade to taxation to labor markets – the decades-old consensus in the United States has been replaced with something very different. But policymakers elsewhere would be wise to consider their own countries' circumstances carefully before following America's lead.

The U.S. Needs Only One 401(k) Plan

John Rekenthaler, Morningstar

The marketplace has delivered its verdict.

Fisher Investments on Election-Year Uncertainty: This, Too, Shall Pass

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Ken Fisher on Nixing the VIX

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Will Uncle Sam Force Big Tech to Break Up?

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Shattering the Debt Ceiling Myth

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Why Financial Manias Persist

Ben Carlson, A Wealth Of Common Sense

It's entirely possible the internet has created an environment in which mini-manias occur more regularly than they did in the past without creating a situation in which everyone collectively loses their minds. So we could have mini-bubbles that blow and pop without causing as much serious damage as when they were more widespread.

China's Ant Split Is More About Money Than Ma

Izabella Kaminska, FT Alphaville

What's really at stake are the sociopolitical implications of who controls the digital monetary system.

How Bad Is "Woke" Capitalism?

Michael Edesess, Advisor Perspectives

I just had the strangest experience I've ever had reading a book. Before I read it, I hated Woke, Inc. with a passion. Then I read it.

Operation Warp Speed: A Story Yet to be Told

Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution

Operation Warp Speed was by far the most successful government program against COVID. But as of yet there is very little discussion or history of the program.

Theranos Isn't Silicon Valley

Rebecca Heilweil, Vox

The trial of Elizabeth Holmes, former CEO of Theranos, isn't a reckoning for the tech industry.

Grass Is Good. Lawns Are Terrible.

Benji Jones, Vox

Grasslands are anything but wastelands.

Why The Pandemic Baby Boom Didn't Boom

Tanya Lewis, Scientific American

Birth rates in many high-income countries declined in the months following the first wave, possibly because of economic uncertainty
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