Thanks To Equity Boom, Millionaires Now Control Half of the World’s Personal Wealth
"China trails only the U.S. in the number of millionaires and billionaires. Globally, the ranks of the ultra-rich are expected to reach 671,000 by 2022."
New world record as two bottles of Macallan whisky fetch US$2.11 million
"The vintage spirits, unseen in public since they last went under the hammer 30 years ago, were the highlights of a Bonhams auction held in Hong Kong for fine and rare wines and whiskies."
Inside the World’s Most Elite (and Secret) Traders’ Club
"In an industry where power and influence are measured in dollars and cents, this may be the most exclusive club in finance: The price of admission is at least $25 million."
Goldman Executive Assistant Indicted In $1.2 Million in Rare Wine Theft
"A former personal assistant to Goldman Sachs co-president David Solomon has been indicted in federal court for allegedly taking hundreds of bottles of wine worth an estimated $1.2 million from his boss' Manhattan cellar, and reselling them. One of his tasks was accepting wine deliveries at the finance executive's Manhattan apartment, and then transporting them to Solomon's East Hamptons house. According to the indictment, for a period of at least two years, De-Meyer sold hundreds of the bottles to an unnamed wine dealer based in North Carolina."
Timeline: How ‘Salvator Mundi’ Went From £45 to $450 Million in 59 Years
"Not so long ago, an eagle-eyed buyer purchased it at auction for a mere £45. How did we get from there to here? We’ve compiled a handy timeline of the painting’s history below. You really can’t make this stuff up."
‘Shadow Margin’ Borrowing With Stock Soars as Market Rises
"Wall Street brokerages have been selling billions of dollars in loans backed by stocks and bonds, a trend that yields lucrative fees for the firms but poses risks for borrowers."
J.P. Morgan makes it easier for rich to take out mortgages
"J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is loosening its underwriting criteria for big mortgages, as lenders ramp up competition to grab a bigger share of the high-end housing market. The nation’s largest bank plans to announce as soon as Tuesday that it is lowering the minimum credit score and down payment it requires for mortgages as big as $3 million. At the same time, some big banks are backing away from smaller loans where they see higher regulatory costs and litigation risks. By dollar volume, jumbo mortgages given out by lenders last year accounted for about 20% of all first-lien mortgages. That is up from 5.5% in 2009. The last time jumbo mortgages accounted for a larger share was in 2005." Continue reading →
Fed Money Pumping Brings Results: The Affluent Society Returns
"Once again, monetary inflation is being confused with high-end entrepreneurialism. Ludwig von Mises, the great Austrian economist, was not fooled about the wealth effect of modern finance and, indeed, with his colleague FA Hayek dealt a devastating blow to the ever-reoccurring idea that 'this time it's different.' It's not different. Never. It just depends on where you are in the business cycle. Like a bad penny, this dream often recurs when the Fed has dumped enough money into the economy. These funds slosh around in the recesses of commercial banks and financial firms and then gradually find their way into stock markets and thence into high-end real estate." Continue reading →
Bill Bonner: Why the Crowd Is About to Get Destroyed in US Stocks
"In the US, as in Japan, QE does not help stimulate a real recovery. But it does help simulate one. House prices are up (thanks, in part, to ultra-low mortgage rates). The middle class has more 'wealth' (albeit the paper kind) due to gains in their stock market portfolios. The rich are feeling fat and sassy, too. The Fed can continue modest tapering. But this is likely to produce a selloff in the stock market. Then the Fed will stop tapering. But it will be too late to reverse the damage to equities. They will go down for many years… bringing us even closer to the Japanese model. Our guess now is that this situation will persist for a few years." Continue reading →
Bill Bonner: Should You Turn Bullish in 2014?
"As far as we know, as long as the Fed keeps pumping, prices for stocks, Andy Warhol doodles and Manhattan apartments will keep going up. But that doesn’t mean any of them are good investments. Stocks, for example, are an option on a bigger Fed-induced bubble. But they’re not cheap. A simple look at the 12-month “as reported” P/E for the S&P 500 will tell you that. Could this continue? Yes, of course. Or, it could blow sky-high. Yes – 2013 was one for the history books; 2014 almost surely will be, too." Continue reading →