Younger people are more alienated from political systems and other people than ever before, and this dire situation is changing how businesses and society operate. However, there is another problem: Gen Z often lacks the basic knowledge that older people have about solving problems, cooperating, and socializing. Think about some men who complain that they cannot find a date, the so-called “incels.”   What about the Gen Z’s who think that Judge Judy is a member of the Supreme Court?  Then, college students need help mailing a letter via the U.S. Postal Service.  Or, i ..read more

The version of the Bible sold by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has deleted the section of the Bible that cites adultery as being a significant sin, according to Bible scholars. The omission is a significant revision to the King James version of the Bible that the Trump campaign is selling to the public.  The Trump Bible contains all the other sections of the King James version, plus copies of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Miranda Rights that arresting officers read to a detained person. However, the Trump version deleted the passage on adultery (Mathe ..read more

Trump’s legacy is that he is teaching his millions of followers to ignore laws, disrespect Court authority, local and federal laws, cheat on taxes, and tolerate adultery as acceptable behaviors in the Trump MAGA new America. At first, she looked like any other older woman leaving the beach in Palm Beach County, Florida, except for her “Make America Great Again” sequined hat and worn beach bag.  I was sitting on a bench next to where she locked her bicycle.  We looked at each other, and despite the hat, I said it was an excellent day for the beach.  She nodded.  I asked ho ..read more

Bear markets are an inherent part of market cycles, just as expansions and contractions are a normal part of business cycles. While investors should be concerned about bear markets, especially their duration, there is also an established link between market and business cycles. Understanding both will help investors better understand the cause and duration of bear markets.  Under these circumstances, dollar-cost averaging (DCA) can provide a disciplined investing strategy to re-invest during volatile markets. Making Sense of Business Cycles Economists recognize that the economic cycle und ..read more

ETFs, also known as Exchange Traded Funds, are the past century’s most popular and investor-friendly investment inventions. ETFs are now a $7 trillion market and offer various exposures to all market sectors, equity and bond styles, indexes, and specific categories of investments, such as ESG funds. ETFs allow you to trade the market in a single purchase, have continuous pricing, buy on margin, sell short (on a downtick), and access the market via all types of orders. This video explains how ETFs work and why they belong in your 401(k) or retirement portfolio.  The growth of the ETF mark ..read more

Hedge funds are more popular today than ever before, but they are not well understood by most investors. They are primarily an institutional product, but they are also used by high-net-worth individuals. For average investors, some of these strategies can be replicated using leveraged ETFs. This video explains those strategies, how hedge funds work, their risks, and their use in a diversified portfolio. One category of hedge funds, managed futures, has one of the oldest track records in the hedge fund industry.  Managed futures are actively managed positions in commodities and financial f ..read more

  In an increasingly complicated and volatile investment environment, individual investors have a greater need than ever to protect their hard-earned money against both market declines and investment industry sales practices, which can be both opaque and misleading. While market declines are an expected risk, investors’ advice from financial advisors and planners about which mutual funds to purchase may be tainted by a little-known practice called “revenue sharing.” Revenue sharing comprises the cash payments made by mutual fund companies to selling agents, who promote their proprietary m ..read more

  If you are one of the 116 million individual investors in the U.S. who own a mutual fund, you might want to re-evaluate your buy-and-hold strategy. The reason is that it may have a significant downside. This downside is called “overlap” or “drift,” and it works against you when your fund gets too big and unsuccessful.  While that may not sound like bad news, it can be expensive and risky as your fund drifts away from its stated investment objectives and overlaps with other funds or ETF holdings. So how can you prevent this problem?  Drift happens when mutual funds deviate fro ..read more

  Can people become rational investors? Or is there something we do that prevents us from consistently making sophisticated financial decisions? Human motives and fears are now recognized as inherent in investor behavior. How people invest, what stocks or funds they select, and their attraction to risky investments are among the factors examined to determine the path investors take between objectively evaluating financial advice and succumbing to psychological traps that cause economic losses. Today, the area of study known as behavioral finance has identified some critical tendencies tha ..read more

Private Equity Definitions Angel investors–Wealthy individuals with operating experience typically invest $50,000 to $1 million in exchange for equity in an entrepreneurial enterprise. Angels are generally passive investors but may sit on the board and offer their experience and advice during the company’s initial growth stages.  Arbitrage – A strategy that exploits mispricings between identical or similar financial instruments on different markets or other market forms.  Buyout -An equity investment that often garners majority control in a company.  When significant debt financ ..read more