Higher prices (inflation) are a natural consequence of our ever increasing monetary supply and the U.S. Department of Labor tracks those increases via a basket of common consumer goods which is known as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) but reveals a major discrepancy with The Economist's Big Mac index. Why is that?
Read More »Inflation Coming Like An On-Rushing Train – Here’s What Investors Should Do Now (+3K Views)
The green shoots of inflationary pressures are sprouting in our daily lives and, as such, NOW is the time investors should be actively seeking out sectors that can realize rising revenues and profits because of the wave of price increases in goods and services that will be passed on to businesses and consumers.
Read More »Deflation Probabilities 0% Over Next 5 Years – But Not So For Inflation (+2K Views)
According to the Atlanta Fed’s closely watched “Deflation Probabilities” indicator, overall prices in the U.S., as determined by the Consumer Price Index, now have exactly 0% chance of dropping over the next 5 years, down from a probability of 14.1% in May last year.
Read More »NAFTA (and other trade deals) Has NOT Gutted American Manufacturing — PERIOD! (+2K Views)
Would abrogating NAFTA, withdrawing from the WTO, and not ratifying the TPP be appropriate and sufficient policy responses to the shedding of manufacturing jobs? The clear and obvious answer is: NO. Here's why.
Read More »How Much Consumer Debt Is Too Much? (+2K Views)
How much consumer debt is too much? Today’s infographic uses extensive data from Equifax to try and answer this question.
Read More »No Fewer Than FIVE Ominous, Vicious Cycles Await Us (+2K Views)
Neither the White House nor the CBO have adequately considered the real impact of the very deficits they themselves are projecting. While they admit the deficits will be off the charts they fail to connect the dots from that admission to its obvious natural consequences — no fewer than FIVE ominous, vicious cycles.
Read More »Believe It Or Not: Collectively, We’re Better Off Today Than Ever Before (2K Views)
Collectively, our net worth reached a new high in nominal, real, and per capita terms according to the Fed's Q3/16 estimate of the balance sheets of U.S. households released last Friday. While we are living in the weakest recovery ever, and things could and should be a lot better, it is still the case that today we are better off than ever before.
Read More »How to Protect Your Portfolio From Inflation (+2K Views)
Inflation lurks in the shadows. It destroys value by gradually eroding real returns over time. It is financial death by a thousand cuts. Investors too often look at "the numbers" in their portfolio without asking what those numbers can actually buy over time. It's a classic mistake that John Maynard Keynes termed "money illusion."
Read More »Better U.S. Growth Prospects Ahead – Here’s Why
There's a good chance U.S. growth will pick up from 2016 [because, as I see it,] two key shifts are helping to propel growth higher, albeit within the context of broad structural trends keeping growth rates lower than in prior economic cycles.
Read More »Bitcoin: Another Boom, Another Crash – Falls 31% Overnight! (+2K Views)
Another boom and another crash. The story of Bitcoin has been a roller coaster ride of rises and falls to say the least. People have watched in awe as Bitcoin has catapulted higher in recent weeks yet this was not meant to last. Once again, as it has so many times before, Bitcoin has suffered a serious setback, falling roughly 31% overnight!
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