Authored by Bryce Coward via Knowledge Leaders Capital blog,
The Federal Reserve is likely to decide next week to begin letting assets roll of its balance sheet as bonds mature, instead of reinvesting the proceeds.
Since the late 1990s, Manhattan real estate has become one of the premier destinations for foreigners - particularly wealthy Russian and Chinese businessmen - looking to stash their money offshore, helping to transform once-derelict neighborhoods like Soho into trendy hubs for the global elite, while sending housing prices throughout the city rocketing higher, putting the American ideal of homeownership out of reach for millions of middle-class New Yorkers.
In the beginning, Hugh Hendry was the consummate contrarian bear, which helped him make a killing a decade ago when everyone else was blowing up.
A few days ago we highlighted the reckless efforts of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to force their city's pension managers to ignore their fiduciary duties and dump nearly $500 million worth of energy stocks. Of course, the pressure to sell had nothing to do with financial projections, trading multiples or discounted cash flow analyses but rather was a blatant and irresponsible attempt to push the board's political agenda irrespective of the ultimate financial consequences such actions might have to pensioners and tax payers (see: What Fiduciary Duty?
As we’ve noted time and time again, the number of Americans scraping by with almost no money in their savings account (if they even have a savings account) is staggeringly high - and growing.
As the Motley Fool pointed out in a recent post, the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the personal saving rate in June 2017 was a measly 3.8%, or $3.80 for every $100 they earn. With the median household income in the US at just north of $50,000, that would amount to about $4,000 a year.