Economy

Neither the White House nor the CBO have adequately considered the real impact of the very deficits they themselves are projecting. While they admit the deficits will be off the charts they fail to connect the dots from that admission to its obvious natural consequences — no fewer than FIVE ominous, vicious cycles.

Collectively, our net worth reached a new high in nominal, real, and per capita terms according to the Fed's Q3/16 estimate of the balance sheets of U.S. households released last Friday. While we are living in the weakest recovery ever, and things could and should be a lot better, it is still the case that today we are better off than ever before.

Inflation lurks in the shadows. It destroys value by gradually eroding real returns over time. It is financial death by a thousand cuts. Investors too often look at "the numbers" in their portfolio without asking what those numbers can actually buy over time. It's a classic mistake that John Maynard Keynes termed "money illusion."

There's a good chance U.S. growth will pick up from 2016 [because, as I see it,] two key shifts are helping to propel growth higher, albeit within the context of broad structural trends keeping growth rates lower than in prior economic cycles.

Another boom and another crash. The story of Bitcoin has been a roller coaster ride of rises and falls to say the least. People have watched in awe as Bitcoin has catapulted higher in recent weeks yet this was not meant to last. Once again, as it has so many times before, Bitcoin has suffered a serious setback, falling roughly 31% overnight!

Don’t be afraid of inflation. It is already here and there is nothing we can do about it. The effects will soon be obvious to all. Just make sure you are among those who are protected and prepared to profit.

Higher interest rates will lead to higher deficits and still higher borrowings. As such, we will have the perfect vicious circle that leads to the whole caboodle collapsing.

This article presents 9 proposals that I think might actually solve the deficit and debt problems of the U.S., jumpstart its economy, pay for healthcare and other costs, and do so with the least damage to the body politic and economy. I offer these proposals, though, knowing that there will probably not be one person who doesn’t find some of them extremely distasteful - and that includes me. The simple reality, however, is that this is where we find ourselves today: we are left with distasteful choices.

The waning days of the Obama administration have set us up perfectly for higher interest rates, a major recession and a giant stock market crash. It is time to batten down the hatches and to prepare for very rough seas ahead.

Today we analyze the global risks from an investing perspective and arrive at some interesting conclusions.