The Retired Investor: Betting on Elections Comes of AgeBy Bill Schmick,
03:57PM / Thursday, October 31, 2024 | |
Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. The odds favor Trump right now, but anything can happen in the topsy-turvey world of online betting. That's right, presidents have now entered the list of what Americans can bet on alongside sports games, horse races, and blackjack.
Last month, a federal District Court judge ruled that betting on election outcomes was neither unlawful nor considered gaming. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission had fought against this outcome claiming that this kind of betting could undermine confidence in elections and adversely affect election integrity. The ruling made election markets legal for the first time in 100 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Election Unknowns Keep Markets on EdgeBy Bill Schmick,
03:18PM / Friday, October 25, 2024 | |
Markets vacillate between betting on a GOP sweep and a Democrat victory with little justification for either outcome. Don't get caught up in the frenzy.
The betting markets have Trump winning but they have been wrong in the past and it is easy to tip the odds one way or the other with a couple of big bets. The polls are no help either because the results are all within a margin of error that makes them useless.
Only 36 percent of the S&P 500 have reported third-quarter earnings. So far, 79 percent of companies have beat earnings by a median of 6 percent. Sales results have also been strong with 58 percent beating estimates. The corporate results have 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Natural Diamonds Take Back Seat to Lab-Grown StonesBy Bill Schmick,
04:31PM / Thursday, October 24, 2024 | |
There was a day when a man's love for his bride was measured by the clarity and size of a diamond ring. That notion is as outdated as believing that "artificial" or lab-grown diamonds are second-class stones.
Chances are that if you purchased a diamond this year, it may have been manufactured in a laboratory. Lab-grown diamonds account for roughly 46 percent of the U.S. diamond jewelry market. What is interesting is that while the quantity of diamonds sold is almost neck and neck with the natural market, as a percentage of revenue, lab-growns only account for 23 percent of sales.
There are two trends at work here. Natural diamonds are getting 0 Comments
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@theMarket: As Election Approaches, Markets' Volatility Should IncreaseBy Bill Schmick,
03:01PM / Friday, October 18, 2024 | |
Investors are increasingly preoccupied with the general elections, which are less than three weeks away. That focus should increase as we go down to the wire, and as it does, so will volatility.
It is getting harder to ignore the election contest. The media, both mainstream and social, spews out a continuous stream of political news. I finally shut down my X account this week because of it. Although difficult, my attention remains focused on the market and not the election.
This week, third-quarter earnings have kicked off, and results have been strong thus far. Of the 58 companies reporting thus far, 76 percent have beat estimates. Banks have 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Politics and Crypto, the New BedfellowsBy Bill Schmick,
04:27PM / Thursday, October 17, 2024 | |
There was a time when the upstart scruffy purveyors of cryptocurrencies were a mere stepchild of the financial community. Those days are gone as the crypto industry becomes a growing force in influencing election outcomes nationally.
In 2024, the crypto industry has accounted for about half of all corporate contributions to political action committees, according to consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen. The donations are being funneled into congressional candidates of both parties and the candidate for president who is deemed to be friendly to the cryptocurrency space.
That is a big leap from the historical practice of industries that side with one 0 Comments
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