This year felt like a decade. We are twenty days from the start of a new year, and it can't get here fast enough. I'm expecting next year to be much better because it can't get much worse – right? It's been a wild ride for investors this year, but if you stayed the course, you probably made money...
During the pandemic, I spent considerable time reading books. I enjoyed the list below and learned much from the authors; though not ranked in any particular order, they could be.
Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression – Christopher Knowlton
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A few individual stocks are soaring this year, like Zoom, Peleton, DraftKings, Pinterest, and Bill.com – each one up more than 225%, with Zoom leading the way, rising almost 500%, far outpacing the Dow's gain of 7.75%. It seems logical to sell boring index funds to buy high flyers; after all, who...
It's the season of Wall Street predictions, so I'm throwing my hat into the ring to offer 21 projections (guesses) for 2021. If I predict all 21 correctly, I'm sure to garner immense fame and fortune. I may even be herald as the next great futurist with book deals, movie offers, and television...
The Miser is a classic Aesop Fable. It's a story about a man who buries his gold under a rock. He visits his gold stash so often that a thief follows him and steals it. The miser is distraught when he realizes it's gone, though he had no plans to use the gold to buy things. A lot of us are probably...
A young ruler owned several racehorses. His stable was full of powerful thoroughbreds, but one yearling stood out from the others - a beautiful chestnut with a wide blaze. It had an easy gait and ran like the wind while galloping. The young ruler was mesmerized.
One day, while watching his young...
A young ruler had a magnificent painting hanging in the main hall above his fireplace. Guests and visitors were attracted to its beauty and assortment of colors. It was the focal point of his mansion; he admired it greatly.
While viewing his artwork, the young ruler asked his curator what he...
The Hare and the Tortoise is a classic Aesop fable. A story we know well. The hare mockingly asking the tortoise, "Do you ever get anywhere?" Of course, we know how the story ends. The tortoise "kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping."...
Should you buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies? Maybe. Bitcoin has performed well this year, up 107%. Though it has done well, it still hasn't eclipsed its all-time high set in 2017. If you want to buy Bitcoin, I would consider it an alternative investment, not as a substitute for cash or a money...
I like math. It's pure and definite; the answers are indisputable. In junior high and high school, I had spirited conversations with my English teachers because our interpretation of events differed considerably. It was my opinion against theirs, and they frequently won because they were grading my...
Election day has come and gone, and pollsters once again missed their mark. In 2016, they forecasted a Clinton landslide, and she lost. This year, Biden was projected to win by double digits, and a blue-wave would overtake the House and Senate. The election is not officially over, but it won't be a...
My last flight before COVID shut us down was an uneventful one from Denver to Austin. The flight lasted just under two hours, arriving as scheduled. My pilot brought me home safely. She probably examined a thousand items before we left Denver, like checking the aircraft, reviewing her flight plan...