Investing

Money illusion is a longstanding concept in economics that has enormous significance for you if you’re a saver, investor or entrepreneur. Money illusion is a ruse performed by central banks that can distort the economy and destroy your wealth. Let me explain.

It was only a few decades ago that currencies around the world were back by gold which meant that whatever piece of money that people used in their day-to-day lives represented a real amount of gold held by that government. Today, the main influencing factors on exchange rates are as illustrated in the infographic below.

This infographic shows how many million barrels per day the TOP 10 oil and gas companies produce & how many years global oil reserves are expected to last.

Earnings may be a consideration when investing in the stock market, but whether you make money or not depends on the extent of monetary inflation. The rate of inflation has been twice that of the gains seen in the Dow Jones since 1920 but currently, while Wall Street may be seeing a “bull market”, the inflation adjusted returns investors receive from rising share prices aren’t compensating them for the decline in purchasing power the dollars their profits are denominated in. [Let me explain further.]

Is it time to sell all of your stocks because we’ve seen huge gains over the past five years? Not necessarily. It all depends on your time horizon and what kind of investor you are. Let me explain.

We are not as smart, or as unbiased, as we think. Outside influences can greatly - and adversely - affect our decision making. Here are two ways in which “doing less” can probably "make us more" in our investing lives.

Asset allocation is the most essential factor in building a high performing portfolio. Paying attention to the risk of each asset class allows you to create a portfolio that can beat the market in good times as well as bad.

Events and conditions do not make investors behave in any particular way that can be identified as shown in this analysis of the supposed relationship between interest rates and stock prices. So much for the popular claim that "Interest rates drive stock prices"!

The speculative fervor in China's equity markets is spreading. The Shanghai Composite has cleared the 5000 mark after hovering just above 2000 around six months ago. This rally has been nothing short of spectacular. HERE are some key trends that point to just how heated the market has become.

With the market richly priced, forward returns just don’t look good enough. Worth the risk? I think it’s better to have a game plan in place that enables you to capitalize on the next major market correction – which in my opinion could be in the -40% to -60% range.