Back in January, we published a post in which we noted that "financial advisors" and other intermediaries were "reeling" and that they (and their clients) were probably at a point at which "they know that something needs to change, but they have not been equipped to know exactly what."Now comes a story in today's Wall Street Journal confirming our...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Look for paradigm shifts, part 2
As companies report their results from the first quarter of 2009, investors are noticing a divergence between companies reporting surprises that strongly beat expectations, and companies whose results can be seen as confirmation of the economic recession.For example, today's Wall Street Journal calls attention to extraordinary earnings from Apple,...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
'Earth Day' investment lessons
Our most recent post contains a discussion of the dangers of zero-sum thinking and notes that many international organizations, such as the UN's Population Fund (UNFPA) are clearly coming from a zero-sum worldview when they support assertions such as: the "solution to climate change and food security must tackle population growth."Sadly, children...
Monday, April 20, 2009
The dark side of zero-sum thinking
Zero-sum thinking is often explained using the metaphor of a "fixed pie" view of the world: there is only so much wealth out there, and the more people there are competing for any given portion of it, the less there is for everyone else to squabble over.Those who have a fixed-pie or zero-sum view of the world naturally see others as potential competitors...
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Four-letter government words
Milt Friedman once declared, "Given our monstrous, overgrown government structure, any three letters chosen at random would probably designate an agency or part of a department that could be profitably abolished" (cited in this Wall Street Journal obituary written about him the day after his death on November 16, 2006).To the "three-letter" agencies...
Monday, April 13, 2009
Don't get off the train, revisited
Just over a month ago, we published a post entitled "Don't get off the train," on March 2, 2009.In it, we suggested that market moves are often like a "bullet train" and that jumping on when it decides to make a rapid move is very difficult."The train is currently backing up and moving forward, backing up and moving forward," we wrote then at the...
Thursday, April 09, 2009
The Investment Climate: April 2009
We recently published "The Investment Climate: April, 2009" in the commentary section of our website.In it, we summarize the current situation and provide some perspective on where we stand today.Subscribe (no cost) to receive new posts from the Taylor Frigon Advisor via email -- click her...
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Wise words from Reid Hoffman
Towards the end of 2008, we wrote: "We continually try to draw people's attention back to the fact that investing is about providing capital to businesses, whether you are investing in common stock or whether you are searching for yield through ownership of bonds, preferreds, or other income securities."In light of the tremendous importance of seeing...
Friday, April 03, 2009
Government interference, unintended consequences, and Wall Street bonuses
World leaders are now gnashing their teeth over bank bonuses, and discussing ways of getting involved in dictating compensation at banks and other firms.This story, which aired on NPR yesterday, seems to think that would be a good idea.Making a parallel with professional basketball and players whose compensation may be tied to their individual scoring...
