God tips so why not you?
I have just returned from a holiday in America and am now a little closer to understanding capitalism, USA style.
The TV seems to have as many evangelists as A list “celebs”; but both have one thing in common. With an unnerving but blatantly honest “in your face” approach, they make it clear that what counts […]
National debt is something to be proud of…
Another one for the reading list: Growth and Welfare in America’s Past by Douglass C. North. It’s an economic history book written in 1966, but carried within it is a message that can inspire a winnable bet in today’s stock market, according to Ken Fisher. That message is mercantilism, encouraging exports and restricting imports, is […]
From Wall Street to The Great Wall
One for the reading list: Publisher Wiley has sent me From Wall Street to the Great Wall for review. It’s mercifully short for a book of this kind, and it promises ‘Hands on strategies for safely investing in China now through ETFs mutual funds, options and more.‘ I’ll read it; bearing in mind booming economies […]
Nobel prize winners optimistic about global economy
Edmund Phelps and Joseph Stiglitz, both Nobel prize winning economists, debated the global outlook for inflation and growth with the BBC’s Evan Davis [audio] at Davos. Both men were optimistic, reserving their caution for the US economy. Phelps said: “I think we can safely forget about inflation, that is in the control of the central […]
Enron innocent?
There’s a tumultuous row about Enron on Malcolm Gladwell’s blog. Mr Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point, is one of my favourite writers. I don’t know about his grasp of accounting. In an article he wrote for the New Yorker earlier this month, he argued that Enron disclosed the Special Purpose Entities in which […]
Oil update
Energy Secretary Samuel S Bodman announced President Bush’s intention to double the Strategic Petroleum Reserve yesterday. The oil price spiked the day after this blog predicted that was the only direction it could go*. The SPR is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil buried in salt caverns along the Gulf coast. *[Lest hubris […]
Ken Fisher Q&A
Ken Fisher answers readers’ questions on FT.com. Particularly enjoyed his words of caution for newbie investors: “There is an age old saying that the market is a place where a person with experience gets money and a person with money gets experience.” But the market is undervalued, he says, so it’s not a bad time […]
The only way is up, for oil!
There is a reason for the exclamation mark in today’s headline. It’s a subtle indication that I haven’t a clue whether the assertion I made in it - that oil prices are going up - is true. However, many do have a view, and the view of my arbitrary selection of experts is almost unanimous. […]
Good Hair Day
I bought my wife a pair of hair straighteners for Christmas and inadvertently stumbled upon the latest marketing sensation. Typically, Rachael doesn’t let on to what she’d really have liked until Christmas Day, or at least until the shops run out of stock. Instead, she prefers to dash my hopes with a wan smile when […]
Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management
Another for the reading list. One of Ken Fisher’s favourite investment textbooks, by one of his favourite academics: Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, by Frank K. Reilly.
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