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November 2019 Update – Getting Harder and Harder to Get Excited About Cash
The Federal Reserve lowered the Fed Funds target to 1.50% to 1.75% on October 31, marking its third rate cut this year and causing many of the most recognized online banks to lower their savings’ offers below 2%. The paradox is... Read →
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The Federal Reserve Lowers The Fed Funds Rate to A 1.50% to 1.75% Target
The Federal Reserve moved to lower the Fed Funds target rate today by 25 basis points to a range of 1.50% to 1.75%. This move marks the third rate cut this year. The Federal Reserve has now "reversed" three of its four hikes... Read →
The Democrats Should Suspend All of Their Debates
Here are some things that could be interesting in a normal environment: Hearing Joe Biden defend himself and his son Hunter from allegations of misconduct. Seeing Elizabeth Warren’s latest handout proposals to generate... Read →
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Dark Days for U.S.’s International Standing; Consequences Coming
These are dark days for our country, if not yet for financial markets. While we have survived and even prospered with President Trump for three years, he is now highly unsteady. Putin recognizes this. So too does Erdogan. Their... Read →
October 2019 Update - Hard to Get Excited About CDs and Even Harder to Get Excited About Savings
This time last year, everyone was getting very excited about savings rates moving well above 2%, about 1-year CDs at 2.85% and above, and 5-year CDs at 3.50%. Those with cash were finally finding risk-free opportunities for their savings... Read →
The Federal Reserve Lowers The Fed Funds Rate by 25 bps to a 1.75% to 2.00% Target
The Federal Reserve acted today to lower the target Fed Funds rate by a quarter point. This follows the July 31 quarter point reduction of the rate. The Fed Funds rate had stood at a post-crisis high of 2.25% to 2.50% earlier this year,... Read →
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Hot Money - A Defense
A well-known online bank recently dropped its savings rate by 15 basis points, and that action prompted me to close my account there and move the entire balance into a one-year CD at another bank. When the bank’s manager called to... Read →
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Trump Is Preparing to Fire Jay Powell and Replace Him with Jim Cramer
Trump tweeted at 8:22 AM this morning: "I agree with @jimcramer, the Fed should lower rates. They were WAY too early to raise, and Way too late to cut - and big dose quantitative tightening didn’t exactly help either. Where... Read →
Steer Far Away from Long Bonds and Preferred Stock Right Now (and from Anyone Pushing These Securities)
A good friend of mine in money management who I ordinarily think very highly of told me this weekend that he likes the 15-year US Treasury bond. I’ve also seen this same endorsement of the longer term US Treasuries from money... Read →
September 2019 Savings and CD Update – Where to Find Safety
It is the end of the summer and Labor Day is upon us. It is a nice time of the year. Unfortunately, conservative savers this year are faced with a dilemma of declining savings rates ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting in September where... Read →
Be Careful Not to Rush Too Heavily Into Long-Term CDs Here
Interest rates have collapsed over the last several weeks and that may be good news for those interested in remortgaging or buying a new property. It is also good news for anyone considering taking out a new home equity loan or line of... Read →
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Jeffrey Epstein Did Not Die By Suicide; He was Murdered
In this day and age, it is hard to take everything that you see and hear at face value. That’s true of the news this morning that Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide. Epstein was being held in a Federal prison in New York where... Read →
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August 2019 Savings and CD Update – Drawing a Line in the Sand
It is August and that means that you should be at the beach. While you are there, we suggest you draw a line in the sand. Last week, the Federal Reserve moved to lower the Fed Funds rate to a range of 2.00% to 2.25%. In... Read →
The Hyatt Regency Tokyo Offers Outstanding Redemption Value at 12,000 Points per Night
I recently stayed for three nights at the Hyatt Regency in Tokyo. The hotel was clearly Hyatt’s flagship property in Japan when built in 1980. And, while it has seen finer days and the rooms have not been recently renovated, it is... Read →