Investment/Trends

The Case for Fed Tapering Sooner Rather Than Later

"The best way to (ahem) get the attention of the political class is to taper now, trigger a stock market decline and speak directly to the elected leadership's need to put the fiscal house in order. This is the only way the Fed can escape taking the bullet during the next financial crisis. 'We told you so' is much better than 'we did everything we could and it still fell apart.' Better to engineer a mini-crisis while you're still in control than let a crisis you can't control run away from you, and better to pass the ticking time-bomb to the elected leadership while you still can." Continue reading →

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This Could Shake Muni Bonds to the Core

"Detroit went bankrupt, but so what? Its own decades-long gross political mismanagement, corruption and incompetence pushed the city over the cliff into bankruptcy. Why should we care? The largest Chapter 9 filing in U.S. history will reverberate well beyond this once- bustling city and its creditors. What's most threatening to muni bond investors, and in fact all investors, is whether the city's general obligation bonds are secured or unsecured issues. General obligation bonds, backed by a city's ability to levy taxes to pay interest and principal, are thought to be the safest of all munis. Detroit is putting this to the test." Continue reading →

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Should insider trading be legal? Insiders say yes

"Perhaps the folks at hedge fund SAP Capital Advisors, who have recently pleaded guilty to insider-trading charges, should have run for Congress. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission served the firm with a criminal indictment and continues pressing civil charges against its founder Steven Cohen. The agency hasn’t done much about accounting fraud, or other shenanigans that lead to the 2008 financial crisis, but insider trading remains a priority. Over the past three years, the SEC boasts of filing 168 insider trading cases, more than any three-year period in the agency’s history." Continue reading →

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Motorola’s Moto X: First Impressions

"Ordering a phone to your own specs takes four days in most cases, but that time frame can shift by a day or two if, say, everyone wants an olive-green phone with orange accents. Making this type of customization a reality is a smartphone assembly plant in Fort Worth, the only one of its kind in the U.S. Motorola purchased the facility (it had once been a Nokia (NOK) plant) and employs around 2,000 people there to put together phones based on specs coming out of Motomaker, as well as standard-issue devices in black or white. Motorola says it doesn’t know how much of the production will be taken up by custom orders." Continue reading →

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The Best Way to Profit From Private-Equity Crowdfunding

"Instagram and Tumblr are just a couple of examples of young companies that were acquired for hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars, making their earliest investors fantastically rich. Now, thanks to a vocal group of citizens, ordinary citizens will be able to invest a small and affordable amount of money in a company they believe in and in exchange receive an ownership stake. This revolutionary change is called equity crowdfunding, and hundreds of websites called 'funding portals' — sites like CircleUp and RockThePost, to name two — are popping up to help match startup companies with potential investors like you." Continue reading →

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Private Investor and Trader Joe Lewis Not Backing Bitcoin Ventures, Contra WSJ

"Noted private investor and trader Joe Lewis is not backing any Bitcoin ventures, as previously reported today. 'I have no investments whatsoever in any Bitcoin ventures,' said Lewis. A story widely reported in several publications inaccurately stated that Lewis is supporting the virtual currency through Phoenix Fund, a fund with no affiliation to Lewis or Tavistock Group. 'Unfortunately, many immature investments and investors would like the association of private investors like Joe Lewis. They bring instant credibility,' said Douglas McMahon, senior managing director of Tavistock Group, a private investment organization founded by Lewis." Continue reading →

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Ranch House Near Reno is a Thriving Tax Haven, and It’s Not Alone

"Shielding assets from the tax man or from overly inquisitive regulators is a time-honored strategy for the wealthy. Some turn to secretive financial havens like Switzerland or the Cayman Islands. Or there’s always Fernley, Nevada. [There] you will find the unassuming home of businessman Robert Harris, 65, who describes himself as a former bartender with an eighth grade education. The house is also home to some 2,400 Nevada corporations, all registered to Harris’ address. For a little extra money, Harris offers what he calls 'Ultimate Asset Protection,' which includes a 'virtual office with phone message and fax forwarding.'" Continue reading →

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Which Cities will Survive/Thrive?

"I doubt that anyone in 1968 predicted Detroit would lose most of its industrial base and half its population over the next 40 years (1970 - 2010). Such a forecast was beyond even the most prescient futurist. Four decades is not that long a time period, and our inability to predict large-scale trends over that time frame reveals intrinsic limitations in forecasting. Nonetheless, the dramatic decline of Detroit and other industrial cities makes me wonder if there are dynamics that we can identify that could enable us to predict which cities will thrive and which will decay." Continue reading →

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