The word “post-truth” was recently named the word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries as its use skyrocketed 2,000% this year. At its core, post-truth is the act of influencing people by appealing to their emotions at the expense of facts and truth. In a post-truth world, the end always justifies the means.
While most of the time I feel like the media consistently blow things out of proportion, in this case I feel quite the opposite. A real and present danger is being swept under the rug due to a lack of politically agreeable solution. The danger I’m referring to is the looming crisis lying in wait within our state and local pensions.
Why do we all have such an innate desire to spend money? For many of us, it is as if money literally burns a hole in their pocket as it is spent faster than it can be accumulated. The desire to spend money and acquire things comes from an innate desire to boost our self-esteem.
Since the election, investors have been scrambling to understand what a Trump presidency might mean for future of financial markets. Global asset prices had all but priced in a Clinton victory, and the chaos that ensued in futures markets as Trump’s victory took shape throughout the evening reflected a sense of confusion over how to interpret the results.
I think we can all agree, that this Presidential election cycle has been extremely polarizing for our country. All of this polarization has led to the near extinction of a group of voters known as swing voters. Polarization rather than persuasion now paves the way to the White House.
Today we’re taking a slight departure from any semblance of serious financial commentary and discussing one of those topics that is sure to bear little to no fruit – if not end up being downright counterproductive.It’s time to talk politics! More specifically, let’s prognosticate what might happen in financial markets in response to a Trump vs Clinton victory.
Dennis Rodman was a game changing player on the basketball court even though he was sub-par (at best) when it came to scoring. One could argue that the Pistons went from being a good basketball team to a championship team with his addition. Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
When people ask me what I do sometimes I struggle with what terminology to use. Not because I don’t know what I do, but because all of the most accurate descriptors have been co-opted by an industry that I honestly don’t want to be associated with. As a result the term financial adviser has lost all significance in my opinion.
Last month Wells Fargo was hit with a $185 million fine by the CFBP for illegally opening upwards of 2 million fraudulent accounts for their customers over the past several years. Their response was to fire 5,300 low level employees and issue an apology, but where is the accountability for senior level management?
Bonds are an asset class that we have been giving a lot of thought to lately. Bonds are in bondage to the low rates created by loose monetary policy, and the question of what to do about it is one of the more frequent ones we field in client meetings.
This week’s Insight is an excerpt from a recent publication by 361 Capital regarding year-to-date performance, diversification and how portfolios are constructed. We especially like the analogy comparing portfolio construction to a chef preparing a meal, and we believe alternative investments are a key ingredient for helping our clients achieve their long-term objectives.
Last Friday we caught a glimpse of the extent to which financial markets are still addicted to monetary stimulus when stocks, bonds and commodities all tumbled in response to comments made by Fed officials. When everything is grinding upward, moving All Together Now is not a problem, but that sentiment changes quickly when asset classes begin to nosedive in tandem.
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