The Meridian Tumblr

US Stocks Are Outperforming Everything – By A Wide Margin

US Stocks Are Outperforming Everything – By A Wide Margin

You like your privacy, don’t you?  But do you own a cell phone?  A recent article in Science News magazine suggests that there are so many sensory features built into today’s smartphones that we’re all in danger of prying eyes, ears and other senses watching our every move. (more…)

A Healthy Year Ahead?

  According to professional forecasters around the world, the global economic landscape is healthy going into 2018—so much so that only three countries and one territory are expected to experience a downturn in their gross domestic product over the coming 12 months.  The map and chart show which countries are growing fastest (light, dark and darker blue), and which are lagging the rest of the…

You hear a lot about the so-called “trickle-down effect” that lower corporate taxes will trigger, and also a lot about the decline in wealth of the middle class of American workers over the years.  A recent Harvard Business School report suggests that there HAS been an erosion in the income of American workers, but it also casts some doubt on the trickle-down theory.  Citing data from the U.S.…

It looks like the U.S. stock market will finally get something that happens, on average, about once a year: a 10+% percent drop—the definition of a market correction.  The last time this happened was a whopper—the Great Recession drop that caused U.S. stocks to drop more than 50%–so most people today probably think corrections are catastrophic.  They aren’t.  More typically, they last anywhere…

Suppose somebody came up to you and shouted: “I have terrible news about the economy.  I think you should sell your stocks!” Alarmed, you say: “Oh, my God.  Tell me more!” And this mysterious stranger shouts: “Run for the hills!  The American economy just added 200,000 more jobs—more than expectations—and the U.S. jobless rate now stands at 4.1%, the lowest since 2000!” You blink your eyes.  So?…

On Tuesday morning, Wall Street traders woke up to something they haven’t experienced much of lately: actual market volatility.  One trader posted an image of his Bloomberg terminal at the market opening (re-posted here), which showed an immediate scary-looking plunge in U.S. equities as the opening bell rung.  By the end of the day, American stocks were down more than one percent, the worst…

In health circles, there’s an old saying: for maximum health, eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.”  A new study confirms at least the first part of the formula. (more…)

The financial experts know a lot more about the markets and how the markets will perform in the future than the ordinary rest of us.  Right? As it turns out, the predictions made by financial experts are no better than those made by gypsies looking into crystal balls, soothsayers gazing at the entrails of a sacrificed animal or wizards with tall caps who gaze into space.  In fact, the financial…

  While the U.S. stock market tests new highs, and valuations keep rising farther above long-term averages, you may not have noticed something very odd about our current bull market.  The last six and a half years have set a record for lowest market volatility, and the past 299 trading days, starting in November of 2016, has set an even bigger non-volatility record.  The markets have been eerily…

You’ve probably read a dozen articles that tell you how to tell a good financial planner from a salesperson or product-pusher, but the truth is, the salespeople and product pushers are so good at looking like the real thing that most articles fail to unmask the pretenders.  Not so a recent article by Liz Weston, columnist for NerdWallet, a very helpful financial website frequented most often by…

You might wonder why there wasn’t more media coverage of one of the most interesting bets ever made in the investment world.  We’re not talking about betting on a company; this bet was made between Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffet and a hedge fund called Protégé Partners, on whether a basket of hedge funds managed by algorithms and super investors would beat a simple S&P 500 index fund…

You’ve probably read some alarming statistics about the world becoming overpopulated, unable to feed itself, and meanwhile using up all the fresh water and energy that is available.  If you found these reports disturbing, and believe that humans are multiplying like jackrabbits, then here’s some good news: it appears that the human birthrate is actually trending downward on a global scale. …

  It’s not always easy to grasp the value of diversification—why, in other words, it’s better to own many stocks inside a mutual fund than one or two stocks on their own.  But recent research conducted by Arizona State U. finance professor Hendrik Bessembinder offers some insight. (more…)

We all know that inflation gradually erodes the value of our dollars, and you’re probably aware that this is one of the main reasons for investing in the stock market.  If you hide your money safely under your mattress, it becomes incrementally less valuable each year depending on the inflation rate.  To keep pace, you have to find ways to make it grow at least as fast as the value of a dollar is…

Save and invest.  Save and invest.  Isn’t that all you hear when it comes to planning your financial life? An online article by an individual who refers to himself as “the Financial Samurai” makes a more balanced case regarding how you deploy your money.  Yes, you should be capable of deferring gratification and have a healthy savings rate during your accumulation years.  But there are a few…