I had an interesting exchange in the comments of this post with reader sh on the subject of portfolio protection. I won't relitigate the question here since you can go read our exchange, but sh got me thinking about public markets and what they are, and aren't, for. I take for granted that the price level of public market equities, that is to say without dividends … [Read more...] about You got your tax cut. Now what?
Archives for January 2018
Five questions about immigration
Immigration has emerged somewhat abruptly and I gather somewhat unexpectedly as a major political issue in 2018 due to the president's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offered work permits and reprieve from deportation to immigrants who entered the United States without authorization as children (this group of immigrants is sometimes … [Read more...] about Five questions about immigration
Thinking about portfolio protection
Downside risk protection is one of the more interesting things to think about in investing. After all, if you ask me, "should I own US stocks or international stocks?" my answer will be "yes." We can quibble or even fight about what proportion of your equities should be large cap, small cap, growth, value, etc., but those are all ultimately battles around the margin. The fact … [Read more...] about Thinking about portfolio protection
Why China doesn’t scare me
I've recently read and listened to a number of interviews and stories about Harvard scholar Graham Alison's recent book "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?" The book catalogues China's present and future rise as a great economic and military power, and describes 16 similar cases in history, with some resulting in war, and others peace. As the … [Read more...] about Why China doesn’t scare me
What did you “miss” in the bitcoin bubble?
I take almost no interest in bitcoin or any other cryptoasset as a store of value or investment (although there's no reason the technology couldn't be useful in other ways), but there's one specific mistake I often see people make that I want to offer a friendly correction to. Bitcoin are not discrete units When people talk about stocks they frequently say things like, "if … [Read more...] about What did you “miss” in the bitcoin bubble?