The average cost of an ad for this year’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and LA Rams1 is estimated to be more than $5 million. That’s an enormous cost for 30 seconds of ad space. It seems insane corporations would spend this kind of money but the data suggests these commercials are worth…
Selectively Cheap
There’s an old saying that goes something like this: if you want to know someone’s priorities in life just look at their checkbook online banking statement and calendar. How people spend their time and money tells you a lot about where their priorities lie. Unfortunately, budgeting is a four-letter word for most people, so very…
Animal Spirits Episode 66: Adverse Variance
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: What does all that cash moving to the sidelines tell us? How markets have changed since 1800. Valuations between U.S. and foreign stocks are wider than they’ve been in 40 years. Does the U.S. deserve a valuation premium? Why are there no star fund…
Planning For The Predictable & The Unpredictable
A reader asks: How do you plan for major expenses, and is there any rule of thumb we should use when saving for a home, and a wedding? Also is it okay to use our Roth IRA accounts to save for a home? The average wedding in the U.S. is estimated at more than $33,000 so unless…
Who Owns All the Stocks & Bonds?
Jesse Livermore once said, “Another lesson I learned early is that there is nothing new in Wall Street. There can’t be because speculation is as old as the hills. Whatever happens in the stock market today has happened before and will happen again.” In other words, humans are the one constant in the markets and…
Shifting Risks in the Bond Market
The Fed has raised interest rates nine times since December 2015. As much as some prognosticators would have you believe the Fed completely manipulates the interest rate markets, they really only have control over short-term rates. Long-term rates have a mind of their own and the bond market doesn’t always agree with the Fed on…
The Gordon Gekko of Fyre Festival
When Oliver Stone made the movie Wall Street in 1987 he was using the story to show how corrupt the banking system had become. The Gordon Gekko character, played brilliantly by Michael Douglas, was created as an over-the-top, egomaniacal, greed-filled villain to showcase what’s wrong with the financial world. Stone has since admitted in interviews…
Animal Spirits Episode 65: Stay the Course
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: Jack Bogle’s legacy. Some unknown stories from Bogle’s latest book about Vanguard’s humble beginnings. How Dan Egan budgets his spending each month. Why you should treat saving money like a regular bill payment. Are student loans holding back the housing market? What happens if…
The Long-Term in International Stocks
Last week I wrote about how diversification is (almost) undefeated by showing how your chances of seeing a positive return in both stocks and a simple 60/40 stock/bond portfolio have gone up historically as you extend your time horizon: Because this was a US-centric portfolio, the obvious follow-up question (which many of my astute readers asked)…
How to Be Memorable
My wife and I attended a wine tasting party a few weeks ago at a friend’s house (21-year-old me can’t believe 37-year-old me just typed that but here we are). Every couple brought the wine of their choice to the party and all of the bottles were then placed in an individual bag with a number…
