Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said: The cold war between Russia and the West over Ukraine is worsening. Saudi Arabia will not build a nuclear weapon whatever happens with Iran’s nuclear program because it cannot – oil is 44 % and manufacturing less than 10% of GDP. Saudi Arabia could not
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: David Stockman writes: The ratio of finance to GDP has risen to 540% vs. the historic norm of 200%. Central bank driven bubble finance since the late 1980s has resulted in the GDP deflator-adjusted value of corporate equities and credit market debt outstanding rising 8 times, while real median household
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: David Stockman writes: The financial carrying capacity of the developed market economies has deteriorated since the 1980s; due to aging demographics, declining competitiveness v. emerging market economies, declining productivity growth, and the big increase in the leverage ratio against public and private incomes. The US’s ability to
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jordan Wathen at TMFValueMagnet writes: Eyquem found that from 1951 to 2013, the lowest PE decile of stocks compounded annual returns of 16.7% versus 9.3% for the highest decile. Never pile in or out of an investment for the simple fear of falling behind. No one gets fired
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Michael Lewis said: Charles Munger says high-frequency trading is the functional equivalent of letting a lot of rats into a granary. Electronic trading has rigged the market against ordinary investors, particularly in America, by allowing high-frequency traders to front run institutional investors and skim billions of dollars from the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria writes: New studies suggest that American innovation is in trouble and that the glittering examples of Facebook et al are deceptive. We are eating the seed corn and not laying the groundwork for the next great tech revolutions. Silicon Valley’s roots are deeply tied to government
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Sarah Ketterer at at Causeway Capital Mgmt said: Buying energy stocks very incrementally as oil prices eventually reach a floor and rise again but no idea when. Looks for companies with tremendous financial strength that can continue to pay dividends. Smart companies will use their balance sheet strength to buy
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Regular investors, especially those saving for retirement, have an advantage over the professionals because they can afford to be patient and buy extra when stocks drop – “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful” – Warren Buffett. David Santschi at TrimTabs Investment
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Michael McFaul at Stanford University sees long-term damage to Russia from Putin’s new direction. Anders Aslund at the Peterson Institute for Intl Economics sees a similar shortfall in Russia’s 2014 growth to 2013’s growth of 1.3%, and versus IMF’s 2013 forecast of 3.9%. Alexei Kudrin expects Russia to post zero
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Hedge fund stars and private equity CEOs get huge headlines, but few mutual fund managers of the sort that average Americans can invest with do. Neil Pardasani at Boston Consulting said advisers like to invest in fund brands that their clients know. Investors often stick with star
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