The Retired Investor: What Can Investors Expect From Coming Era of PopulismBy Bill Schmick,
04:25PM / Thursday, June 27, 2024 | |
We are in the second or third year of a new regime change, according to my calculations. If this one follows the patterns of past periods, some clues of what might occur in the years ahead are available (at least from an economic and financial point of view).
Historically, it seems that the most recent period of populism (1964-1982) can give us a better guess of how the stock market might perform. Although there have been many changes in the financial markets since then, many fundamental instruments and assets remain the same.
As for the federal government, it has enacted various laws to reign in speculation in the banking system and to protect the consumer 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Want equality? Start With Better JobsBy Bill Schmick,
05:08PM / Thursday, June 10, 2021 | |
Jobs. They are the primary focus of the Federal Reserve Bank, the Biden administration, the Republican opposition, and most U.S. corporations. Supposedly, with all this high-powered attention, we still can't find enough workers to fill all the positions available. Has anyone questioned why?
One important reason might be that 60 percent of jobs in the U.S. are considered "mediocre" or "of poor quality," according to a recent Gallup survey. If you combine those findings with the fact that many workers in the service economy are poorly compensated, the problem begins to come into clearer focus.
If you listen to the free market critics, 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: The Virus & the Stock MarketBy Bill Schmick,
11:19AM / Friday, June 12, 2020 | |
Once upon a time, the world suffered from a pandemic. The global stock markets collapsed. The world's labor force disappeared, and the economies in every corner of the world plunged. All seemed lost until one day, the virus mysteriously disappeared, and every one lived happily ever after. If you liked that fairy tale, I also have a bridge I can sell you.
Don't say we were not warned. Every epidemiologist that wasn't on the government's payroll has been sounding the alert to prepare for a second wave of the COVID-19 virus. So why didn't we listen? There are a number of reasons.
Number one, it is an election year. If the economy 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Jobs JubileeBy Bill Schmick,
06:17PM / Friday, June 05, 2020 | |
A funny thing happened before the market opened Friday morning. Jobless claims, which were supposed to come in at a loss of 8 million, actually did the reverse. Investors were stunned when the Department of Labor announced a gain of 2.5 million jobs. That was cause to celebrate.
Total nonfarm payrolls for the month of May revealed an overall unemployment rate of 13.3 percent, but that was a far cry from the 18.5 percent rate economists had expected. Indications from the most recent data argue that the re-opening of the economy is going far better than expected. That, combined with another $1 trillion in stimulus out of Congress that investors expect to be passed next 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Will Jobs Come Back Postpandemic?By Bill Schmick,
09:14PM / Thursday, June 04, 2020 | |
As this week's job report looms ever closer, investors have become inured over data showing job losses in the multimillions. The present thinking among economists, strategists and politicians is that all these jobs will come back. The question is when.
Readers need to realize that prior to the onset of the pandemic, the unemployment rate at 3.5 percent was a historically low level. The spread of COVID-19 forced the country's economy to shut down. The first Americans to lose their jobs were those low-paid workers in the service industries, those that could not work from home. Fortunately, the government's response was to provide fiscal stimulus (in the form of 0 Comments
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