Imagine 100 years from now that Amazon files for bankruptcy. Today, that future seems almost inconceivable given that the majority of Americans use Amazon to shop online. The company blazed the trail of online shopping, and today it is synonymous with U.S. retail. A long time ago, Americans felt the same about Sears. Founded in…
It used to be that most of us gauged stock market performance relative to an index of 500 stocks called the Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500). It may be that the S&P 500 is no longer a good reflection of financial reality. We noted last month that the performance of the S&P 500 is…
In the two days following Apple Inc.’s earnings announcement, shares of its stock increased 9%, making it the first company in history to be worth more than ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. Sometimes it seems that the average American bandies the words “billion” and “trillion” about just a little too casually, not truly understanding the magnitude of…
In our December Investment Commentary, Cryptocurrencies and Cheeseburgers, we noted that Bitcoin was a tad bit speculative—as a reliable currency or as an investment. Our sentiment hasn’t changed and its price activity this week (down 8%) prompted us to re-visit Bitcoin.
With the stock market grabbing all the exciting headlines, you could conclude that the bond market is simple and inconsequential. At first glance, bond investing seems easy: you buy a bond, receive periodic interest payments, and get your money back at maturity. Piece of cake, right? Not really. The bond market is far more complex…
