First Blog

A big term these days is “Uncertainty.” This means people are not sure of what’s happening. Another big word is “Manipulation.” This means some quantity is altered on command. Adding one and one, we have “Manipulated Uncertainty.” And this means some agency is manipulating the uncertainty.   It applies to trade, to stock prices, to war, to politics, to materialism, and even to climate. Massive gains are available, as are massive losses. Causes: Too much money, too much polarization, too much hate, too much emotion, too much greed, too much profit, too much power, and too darn easy. Think it new?  Nope. Ancient.

I know I’m there with my kin in the “stockyard of investors,” waiting for relief, hoping for green pastures, but fearing I’m meant for the block. I moo a lot, but uneasiness is all around me.  Up a little, down a little more. Will I be totally corrected? Not just 10% but 20% or more. Signed, Small Time Investor

Left and Right are Unified.  How's that?     You may think the Left represents Trump resistance while the Right represents a reversal of Obama policy.  But in the current tax bill, both sides, particularly those at the top, are true amigos .  You see, there is no mention whatever of the capital gains tax rate.  This is where the billionaires really clean up.  Roughly speaking, if you pay taxes of  $6 on earnings of $20, you will pay only $3 is that money arrived as capital gains.  This is how the billionaires make their big money. They might have no income – just capital gains. The billionaires of both extremes are funding their oppositional campaigns using money generated this way. Moreover, the government is indirectly funding all through tax relief the purely oppositional programs of both sides of the ideological debate.  The Kochs, Soros, Buffet, Stires, and hundreds more are included. Thank you, Uncle Sam. In the meantime, it really does help to have a tax-exempt foun

Former FBI Director James Comey recently referred to the investigation of Hillary Clinton as a “matter.”  Now  suppose, some future Attorney General or FBI director drops an investigation of somebody.  Shall we call this an “anti-matter.”  Responses might be called “matter --- anti-matter” reactions. Would nuclear physicists be totally offended?  Would Sci-Fi fans be confused?  What would Mr. Spock do? Naturally, congressional leaders and news organizations would need a fresh page of talking points. So lost they would be. ---------------- Have you noticed how many of the big name stocks, such as Boeing, Amazon, Apple, and Google plus many more are selling at really high prices per share.  .  Can you afford to buy a 100 shares, the normal minimum, of any stock selling at $1000/share?  This implies these companies are simply uninterested in the small investor.  This implies only institutional and rich investors are sought.  This means they are courting only a very select