Guild’s Basic Needs Index
A New Cybersecurity Stance for the U.S.
After Iranians shot down a U.S. drone over the Gulf of Oman in June, President Trump publicly discussed his reticence to engage in a conventional retaliatory strike against Iran, citing his desire to avoid disproportionate human casualties. Less reported was the unconventional response that the U.S. allegedly made shortly thereafter,
Is Gold’s Rally More Than a Flash In the Pan?
Is Gold’s Rally More Than a Flash In the Pan? At the end of January, we wrote: “Gold has been a stellar performer in 2019, and our bullish attitude is undiminished. We are believers that (1) slow economic growth in much of the world, (2) some rising inflationary trends in
Market Summary
Market Summary The U.S. The U.S. stock markets advanced rapidly in June, finally rising to new all-time highs. With the S&P 500 at the top of its trend channel, and several technical signals suggesting that it is overbought, a near-term correction would be normal. In our more active strategies,
Trump’s Executive Drug Price Efforts May Face Legal Rebuff
Trump’s Executive Drug Price Efforts May Face Legal Rebuff Partisan gridlock has made legislative progress on many issues difficult to achieve — particularly healthcare. Senate Finance Committee chair Chuck Grassley has been in negotiations with his Democratic counterpart, Ron Wyden, since early this year to advance a bipartisan bill that
Chinese Banks: No Danger Now, But Watch Carefully
Chinese Banks: No Danger Now, But Watch Carefully On the fringes of the Chinese financial system, signs of stress continue to appear, so far restricted to some small banks and trust companies. The central government is continuing its efforts to unwind the excesses that built up after 2009, when it
The Longest Expansion
The Longest Expansion The economic expansion that began in 2009 has now crossed the threshold and become the longest period of economic growth in U.S. history: Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research Of course, this milestone has led to two responses: analysts and central bank economists reminding us that “expansions
Market Summary
Market Summary The U.S. The S&P 500’s June rally has extended into July. Although the U.S. market remains strong, it is also somewhat anxiously focused on the Federal Reserve and on trade developments. We believe that the fundamental supports of the rally are still firmly in place. The U.S.
Buybacks Will Continue To Support Stock Prices in 2019
Buybacks Will Continue To Support Stock Prices in 2019 We’ve often noted that one of the major facts of the post-2009 stock market rally has been the role played by companies buying back their own shares. By some analyses, company buybacks have been the largest net buyers of stocks over
The War for Ai Tech Talent
The War For AI Tech Talent — and How the U.S. Is Winning It In early July, as reported in the Financial Times, a group of British computing scientists decamped to Silicon Valley to form a new quantum computing startup, PsiQ. Quantum computing, as our regular readers will recall, is
Market Summary
The U.S. With a truce in the U.S.-China trade war, the U.S. stock market has risen to new all-time highs. We’re now on the cusp of earnings season, which will begin in about two weeks. U.S. and global data such as PMI reports have recently been signaling possible slowdowns in
Socially Responsible Investing
B Corporations Feeding Millennial Appetite For Social Responsibility There has never been a watertight separation between business activities and the ethical concerns of those who run businesses and those who invest in them. Over the past several decades, however, there has been a growing interest on the part of many
The Deep Roots Of The College Debt Crisis
America’s College Funding Debacle Has Deep Roots From tuition-free college to student loan forgiveness, the Democratic contenders to challenge President Trump are floating many proposals to address the troubled U.S. higher education system. Those troubles are legion — essentially, education costs that have been rising at several times the rate
Market Summary
Market Summary The U.S. The U.S. stock market is having a modest pullback after touching old highs. Given the global backdrop of central banks and indebted governments with no appetite for higher rates or stronger currencies, we believe that stocks will have a long-term upward bias, supported by low
Facebook’ Power Play
Facebook’s Power Play Last week, Facebook [NASDAQ: FB] finally announced its long-rumored digital currency initiative. Although bitcoin had been rallying since April, since the announcement it has risen almost 25%, as of this writing. Why the boost for bitcoin? Won’t FB’s currency — called “Libra” — be competition for bitcoin?
Europe caves on Russia — Again
Europe Caves on Russia… Again True to form, the Council of Europe has fallen into appeasement of the illiberal regime that lies on the European Union’s eastern flank. Russia had been suspended from the continent’s human rights watchdog council in 2014 as a result of its annexation of Crimea in
