Category Archives: Uncategorized

Keystone Kops Cuff the Middle Class; Will GOP Bail It Out?

Among Barack Obama’s many failures none is more stunning than his purported effort to reduce income inequality, which he calls “the defining issue of our time.” While the nefarious 1% prospers (and pays 35% of U.S. income taxes), the bottom … Continue reading

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The Big Money Loves Tech & Healthcare, Not Industrials and Consumer

I like to check out the biggest holdings of the major mutual funds, for two reasons.   It shows which names are already loved by the Street and at risk of becoming less loved, and vice versa. Second, the guys and … Continue reading

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Cotton, Capitalism and Poverty Reduction

“Dyed in Blood: A Harvard historian shows how every stage of the industrialization of cotton rested on violence.” So reads the headline in last Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, regarding Sven Beckert’s volume, Empire of Cotton. The book is … Continue reading

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Stocks Are Expensive, Offer Mediocre Risk / Reward

Using $124 S&P 500 EPS for 2015, the forward PE of the market is 16.8x, which seems reasonable compared to the 17.1x average PE since 1989. Unfortunately this comparison is misleading for two reasons:  The average since 1989 is inflated … Continue reading

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Enviro-colonialism in New York

Liberals have unlimited capacity to compartmentalize issues and ignore their obvious interconnections. It would not be surprising to see The New York Times decry wage stagnation on Monday and income inequality on Tuesday; bemoan the low incomes of African Americans … Continue reading

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Emerging Market Masochism

I had lunch in midtown with my friend Fred, a veteran Street salesman, who handed me a glossy brochure from an emerging market fund manager who had visited his office. The pitch was (Surprise!) emerging markets have underperformed, investors are … Continue reading

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Deflation Fears will Weigh on Stocks for the Next Few Weeks, Creating Opportunities

Why are stocks selling off when economists tell us declining oil prices are wonderful? Answer: full valuations, investor complacency, financial blow-ups from plunging oil prices, and fears of global deflation. Investor Complacency A couple of years ago you could still … Continue reading

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From the Greatest Generation to the Weakest (and Dumbest)

If Diane Feinstein and John McCain had been governing the U.S. during World War II, today we would be speaking German and worshipping the divine Shinto Emperor. Instead Americans look back with heartfelt gratitude at “the Greatest Generation” of men … Continue reading

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Dems Suffer from ODS (Obamacare Denial Syndrome)

William Galston of the Brookings Institution thinks of himself as a moderate, level-headed Democrat well-versed in the subtle intricacies of public policy. Writing in The Wall Street Journal he admonished, “Democrats, It’s Time to Move On” (past the intra-party wrangling … Continue reading

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Regulation Matters: Germany’s Green Energy Nightmare

Wall Street lavishly over-analyzes fiscal and especially monetary policy, while largely ignoring the economic impact of regulatory policy, despite its great importance for investors. Actually three disparate groups are guilty of this oversight: The media tends to focus on Washington … Continue reading

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