Another month, another blistering inflation report; the consumer price index rose at a 7% annual rate in December. Of course, as our regular readers have heard us say often, the methodology used to calculate that rate has changed often over the decades — invariably in a way that understates the Read more
Looming higher rates — and now, the looming run-off of the Fed balance sheet — have finally begun to penetrate market consciousness, with the result that the sell-off which had been happening “under the hood” spread more widely and visibly to the major indices. As usual, the median stock has Read more
Current events in Europe show that even if it’s inexorable, the decarbonization of the global economy is unlikely to be smooth. The latest drama swirls around natural gas and the new German government elected in November, which includes more powerful representation from the Green Party than ever before. The Greens Read more
While bitcoin launched crypto as an asset class, its primary function is simply that of a digital currency. Currently it seems to be displacing gold in the minds of a generation of investors newly concerned about irresponsible monetary policy and fiat debasement — though of course it is for the Read more
Current events in Kazakhstan underscore the significance of uranium, as nuclear energy enjoys a renaissance. Of course, although Kazakhstan accounts for roughly 40% of world uranium production, it is unlikely that unrest there will be an enduring problem for uranium supplies, although it may be unfortunate for ordinary Kazakhs. The Read more
With all the ups and downs that have accompanied the pandemic — stay-at-home stocks duking it out with reopening stocks in rounds that have tracked the virus anxiety cycles — mega-cap technology stocks have continued to outperform the broad market. This is a trend visible since early 2020 (top graph), Read more
Two days before year-end, the S&P 500 is once again near all-time highs. In hindsight (as far as the US stock market is concerned), 2021 was a year where it would have been a good idea to: tune out all of the political haranguing and off-the-charts debt spending, ignore the Read more
Inflation remains in the front of everyone’s minds — the Fed, investors, business owners, and consumers. It’s interesting to note that inflation was much less in everyone’s mind during the long period of unusually low inflation that followed the Great Financial Crisis. This psychological fact explains a key difficulty faced Read more
With all the reflection and analysis we’ve been offering about inflation over the past year, we should emphasize again that we do not believe the U.S. is headed for hyperinflation or any imminent financial catastrophe. While we think the very long-term trends of spending, unfunded liabilities, and corporate and government Read more
The post-pandemic bull market is now getting choppy as it encounters a number of real-world headwinds — the reduction of monetary stimulus, growing conflicts over further fiscal stimulus, slowing liquidity growth, official acknowledgment of persistent inflation, and the growing concern of market participants that a Fed “policy mistake” is unfolding. Read more
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