For those of you that have been reading this newsletter, you’ll know that we have been writing about why most bonds have made so little sense to invest in over the last few years, given the historically low yields and risks from higher rates and inflation, which has now come to fruition.  The average bond...Read More

2022 is shaping up to be quite the crazy year.  While this horrible war in Ukraine dominates media headlines, I can’t help but feeling like inflation might be the dominant theme of the next decade.  Using “government” numbers, inflation is running at about 7.9%.  Shelter is the single biggest component of CPI at 33% of...Read More

Today the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 bps.  With inflation so high, it almost certainly would have been 50 bps if not for the concerns over the economy related to the impact of the Russian/Ukraine war, which is exasperating things materially.  There has been some very positive dialogue from both Ukraine and Russia...Read More

Yesterday’s CPI report showed prices up 7.9% YoY, which was the highest reading since 1982.  Even more concerning, this was before the impacts of the Russian/Ukraine war is reflected in the data.  Market volatility is exceptionally high and pessimism is quite pervasive.  There are legitimate fears that inflation in excess of wage growth could cause...Read More

Today we got the latest update on the Consumer Pricing Index (CPI) and it was a doozy, showing annual inflation of 7.5%.  As you can see on the image above, the Real Fed Funds Rate (Fed Funds Rate Minus CPI) is now a negative 7.4%, which is the lowest since 1974.  This means that money...Read More

  Interest rates are without a doubt one of the most important drivers of investment returns, if not the most significant.  Warren Buffett has mentioned in the past that there is almost a reverse gravitational impact of interest rates, in that lower rates tend to raise equity valuations.  Conversely, higher interest rates tend to pressure...Read More

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  What a crazy year it has been.  Surely, these next few months will be historic as the vaccine rollout and distribution takes center stage.  It would seem that these combined with better treatments such as the Regeneron and Eli Lilly AB programs, should be able...Read More

As we retire or get closer to retirement, the need to generate investment income takes on a much greater importance.  Historically, it was much easier, as one could divert a larger portion of their stock portfolio into bonds, while capturing yields that might vary from 5-10%.  Those yields, combined with the nearly 40-year bull market...Read More

Many investors, especially retirees, understandably are focused on generating income from their investments.  Historically, bonds have been one of the best ways to achieve that, with less volatility than equities.  While history can be a fantastic guide to what can potentially happen in the future, looking at recent data on fixed income returns could not...Read More

Fears of the Coronavirus have caused bonds to rally, resulting in lower interest rates once again.  The Tech Bubble has continued to grow, while value stocks have been left in the dust the last few months.  While this can be frustrating over the short-term, over the long-term, it creates compelling opportunities to create substantial wealth....Read More