Astute Investor

There has been a considerable amount of talk lately about potential higher inflation coming, and the anticipation of that has been reflected in the bond market. In early 2020, before any of us had ever heard the word Covid or Pandemic, the yield on the U.S. 10 year Treasury bond was approximately 1.75 percent. As…

As I write this (February 5, 2021), much of the recent news has been about the big hedge funds suffering big losses due to the little guys’ collective buying power. You can say that it is a little bit of a David vs. Goliath story, and everybody is rooting for David. By the time this…

Finally! The elections are over. Whether you liked the outcome or not, most people are relieved it’s over. Hopefully, we can soon go back to focusing on other problems. The million-dollar question now (or should I say the trillion-dollar question) is what will be the impact on taxes? While much of that remains to be…

Now that we have been dealing with the COVID-19 global pandemic for almost a year, we’re starting to see a disturbing office space usage pattern. This could have profound implications on commercial real estate values in the future. I don’t claim to be any kind of real estate expert, but logic, supply, and demand calculations…

I try not to get too political in my commentaries and prefer to stick with economics, demographics, and the effects of all that on the markets. But this time I need to stray a little bit. For those whose political leanings are far to the left or right, I’m not trying to start a fight…

There has been a lot of talk lately about inflation coming back with a vengeance because of Congress’s stimulus spending and money printing by the Federal Reserve. Gold has been heating up again, and the “gold bugs” are just about salivating. You can tell something is going on because of the significant increase in gold…

He was dealt four great cards. The jackpot depended on the next card. But before it was dealt, a shot was fired out in Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon in 1876, and Wild Bill Hickok hit the floor, dead from a gunshot to the back of the head. His four cards – aces and eights –…

As some of you know, I have always been a student of demographic trends and the effect on birth rates and future consumer spending.  It was no accident that the baby boom generation drove consumer spending to unheard of heights as we all moved through various stages of life. While we’re all familiar with that story,…

As you might imagine, I do quite a lot of reading every day. I try to share it with my readers when I see an idea that catches my eye. I try to understand what’s really going on and how people feel about what is going on. It’s important to know the trends and narratives that are…

One of the questions I get asked the most is, “Why does the stock market go up when it appears the whole world is coming unglued?” That’s a good question and one not easily answered. As I have often said, the stock market is not the economy. But it is a reflection of what people…