892 articles · page 28 of 45
Americans have a special envy for the rich and famous. Blame it on a combination of the can-do- anything spirit, the quest for Hollywood-type fame, and the belief that wealth is the elixir for all human problems. Whatever the reasons, some Americans have elevated the wealthy, deserving, undeserving and even criminal, to be the pinnacles of…
Taking advantage of a stranger is bad enough, but what happens when a large financial firm knowingly takes advantage of its employees? And to make matters worse, what happens when the employees are disadvantaged by their employers in their 401(k) plans? You would think this is a rare event, but unfortunately, it happens more often…
So this is how the world’s largest global banks, in this case Barclays Plc, based in London, play the regulatory and corporate accountability game: The bank admits it deceived investors and swindled them out of $31 billion in mortgage backed securities that helped propel the 2008 housing market-led recession. In a suit to…
With over $19 trillion under management and the largest political lobby in Washington, you would think the investment industry, comprised of global banks, investment firms, U.S. registered investment companies and the insurance industry, would have a vested interest in seeing that more Americans enjoy a financially comfortable retirement. But if you believe…
The news today that Larry Kudlow, a CNBC TV market commentator and ex-Bear Stearns economist, maybe the next White House’s National Economic Council, (succeeding Gary Cohen who resigned) is another bad omen for individual citizens and investors. Kudlow is an unabashed and unquestioning advocate who pushes the neoliberal mantra that free markets, trickle-down…
Prompted by a slight uptick in wage growth last month and the resulting volatility it caused in the equity markets, the continuing tug-of-war between containing inflation and wage growth Fed and political policies is getting more attention, but little action. The good news is that there are more articles on this topic that…
While the dangers of a market meltdown and continued market volatility can make many institutional investors nervous, there is now a solution that uses a fixed income overlay strategy to convert equity declines and volatility into a defensive strategy using a fixed income overlay strategy. The fixed income overlay strategy is offered by…
It’s no secret to more astute investors and political progressives that the decades-long battle to eliminate pensions and replace them with 401(k) is all about who takes the most amount of financial risk and has the most power to influence decisions made by investment firms and corporations. When a state or county converts…
Artificial Intelligence, quant investing, and big data all contribute to generating above-index returns, but it looks like good, old-fashioned witchcraft also plays a role in some investing circles. Even more surprising, this “cosmology of investing” has things to teach Western investing professionals. The 2008 stock market crash was a global event, and its impact…
America’s right-wing hate machine moved into high gear at the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday when a series of speakers, fueled by NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, dropped their list of the most vilified groups, people, and movements in the U.S., who all stand in the way of allowing them to achieve their pure society. Among…
In his remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, National Rifle Association (NRA) chief executive Wayne LaPierre railed against any imaginary effort to roll back the Second Amendment and gun control ownership as the “new socialist wave in America.” He then warned that if Democrats gained more elected seats in Congress, “our American freedoms…
A recent survey conducted by the US Census Bureau found that the number of people without private or government health or life insurance decreased in number every year in the last four years. Economic trends, demographic make-up, and health care policies influence the rate of health insurance coverage in the United States. Due…
Military generals working in the Trump White House are making a killing, at least in terms of their pension benefits and salaries. Trump thinks generals and other senior military officers are great at organizing chaotic situations or instilling discipline into errant civilians and others with minimal work experience. Yet, while there is a disconnect between…
The stock market’s recent spike in extreme volatility produced good explanations about its fundamental and technical causes. Still, it failed to address the permanent, fundamental conflict that underlies the volatility: the possible shift in political-economic power between and the deep-rooted conflict between business and labor, Wall Street and Main Street.
Of all the commentaries about the fast-breaking allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace, few people have discussed how this will affect future workplace behavior. If the outcry continues to be intense, the future workplace for men and women working together will be very different. So, as many companies start their annual holiday…
If only Congress had this much guts. https://www.facebook.com/alucidnation/videos/1676821885921428/…
Since 2011, this website has emphasized the importance of finding investment managers who don’t have conflicts of interest, charge excessive fees, and don’t have a considerable overhead in terms of having national mutual fund wholesaler fund sales forces and excessive executive compensation. This old sales investment management structure was designed for the benefit of…
In the millions of hours of TV commentaries and thousands of words addressing all aspects of the upcoming Republican tax bill, few have discussed the costs of fraud, what it costs American taxpayers, and how it depletes the federal budget. Indeed, there are Republicans who want “to starve the beast” and cut off almost…
In Carolina’s Campaign during the Civil War in February 1865, Confederate commander Wade Hampton started executing captured Union soldiers from General William Tecumseh Sherman’s cavalry. A clear violation of the rules of war, General Sherman sent a note to Hampton under a truce flag demanding that he stop the executions. A defiant Hampton said…
October 19, 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the worst single day stock market decline in history, an unprecedented event saw the S&P 500 stock index fall by 23% and sent a shock wave which roiled international financial markets for two years. Yet despite the severity, traders and researchers have never agreed on a…
