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Normally, equity valuations reflect the present value of future cash flows that are primarily a function of current cash flows, growth expectations, and then the discount rate. Most fundamentalists will look at the cash flow generation in both the short and long-term. With equity valuations at their record highs, investors, in theory, are showing confidence […]

Market Talk – July 9, 2019 ASIA: The U.S. approved a 2.2 bn USD sale of arms to Taiwan, despite China forewarning them not to do so. China is now demanding that the U.S. cancels the deal, calling the U.S. actions a “crude interference” and further stating that it is harming its sovereignty. Elsewhere, U.S. […]

QUESTION: You said the “crash is in the debt markets”. Can you please explain how that will evolve? Liz M. ANSWER: Once upon a time before 1971, there used to be a difference between debt and cash. Government bonds were not acceptable for collateral. You could not borrow against them. You had to liquidate them. […]

Civil unrest is continuing to rise in Hong Kong after crowds of mask and helmet wearing demonstrators fled the area to escape hundreds of riot police firing tear gas. The entire issue has arisen from Lam’s government pushing legislation that would allow extraditions to China, a move that alarmed locals and multinational companies. The clashes […]

The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut the official cash rate for the second month in a row to 1%. As we head into the turning point of the Economic Confidence Model come January 2020, the unemployment rate increased to 5.2% in April. GDP growth remains very low at 0.4%, wage growth is sluggish, inflation […]

QUESTION: Martin: You have occasionally made short-quick comments that have made me loose sleep ! One of your past comments quipped that we equity/bond investors should entertain the idea of having the actual certificates to our stock/bond investments (which are typically digital entries held at brokerage houses) mailed directly to us instead of having them […]

QUESTION: Hi, Enjoy your blog. Can you explain the cause of homelessness in the US and what should be the cure? Thank you Brian ANSWER: Many of the homeless are not exactly social. Every time I drove into Philadelphia, I always saw the same man on the street with a sign saying he was homeless. […]

  The idea of some Universal Basic Income has been around for a long time. Here is Milton Friedman on his proposal of a Negative Income Tax. There will always be welfare for there are people who cannot work for some disability and others who prefer not to work and game the system. Even programs […]

ASIA / AUSTRALIA: The US has added five more Chinese companies to a US blacklist that restricts US companies from dealing with the companies on the list. Of those included on the list is a Chinese government-owned supercomputing company, with military applications and dealing with national security. The companies “pose a significant risk of being […]