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We Produce Breadlines and Deficits

Prosperity Concierge — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:52:38 +0000

Statistics can paint a picture that reflects our current values and our future prosperity.

1. 15% of us are in a breadline.

Altogether, there are now almost 46 million people in the United States on food stamps, roughly 15 percent of the population. That’s an increase of 74 percent since 2007, just before the financial crisis and

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Spending and Investments Decline, Chance of Recession Rises

Prosperity Concierge — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:07:18 +0000

With spending and investment portfolios declining in the midst of a household debt contraction our chances of going into recession are rising.

Household spending fell in June for the third straight month; never in the past five decades has this happened outside of a slump.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plunged 16.8 percent in 11 days,

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Our Federal Debt and the Pursuit of Wealth and Happiness

Prosperity Concierge — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:41:48 +0000

The national discussion on how to get our debt problem under control and reduce our spending raises many various arguments. A recent example offered that our pluralistic society is causing the givers to resent giving to the takers. Now, Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, shares that only by allowing people to struggle to improve

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Dollar will Drop so Don’t Invest in Dollar Assets – Marc Faber

Prosperity Concierge — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:53:31 +0000

Marc Faber believes bonds are currently a bad investment.

“I disagree with the bond bulls that are basing their case on a deflationary environment. In such an outcome tax revenues would collapse and stocks would fall heavily.” Should stocks fall the Fed would initiate more quantitative easing.

Faber says people shouldn’t be buying bonds with yields trading

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A Liquidity Trap – Monetary Policy Unable to Stimulate the Economy

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:04:52 +0000

A financial crisis initiates a sudden flight to safety among bondholders – widening interest-rate spreads, diminishing the private sector’s desire to sell bonds to raise capital and encouraging individuals to save more and consume less as they, too, hunker down. Thus bond prices rise, and interest rates drop. As rates fall, firms see that they

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Buy an Annuity and Delay Social Security – GAO

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:43:08 +0000

Retirees may have to delay Social Security benefits and buy an annuity to have enough money for retirement, said a U.S. government study.

“The risk that retirees will outlive their assets is a growing challenge,” according to a study from the Government Accountability Office scheduled for release today. Increased life expectancies and health-care costs coupled with

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Attempt to Reduce Debt is Difficult and Impacts Global Economy

Prosperity Concierge — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:51:44 +0000

The attempt by households and governments to reduce debt is showing that it is difficult to do. Today, U.S. consumers have more mortgage and credit-card debt than they did five years ago, and the U.S. budget deficit is worsening.

The government and individuals alike are still heavily in debt. U.S. consumer debt has skyrocketed by 37%

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College Education – Finding Value in the High Cost and Student Debt in a Global Economy – Bill Gross

Prosperity Concierge — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:55:46 +0000

Bill Gross, PIMCO founder and co-chief investment officer, shares his insights on the value of a college education.

Bill Gross:

College was great as long as the jobs were there.

Now, however, a growing number of skeptics wonder whether it’s worth the time or the cost. Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook and head of Clarium

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At Some Point It Doesn’t Pay to Learn More About Investing: Andy Tobias

Prosperity Concierge — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:44:27 +0000

Andy Tobias, author of “The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need”, believes that after a certain point, it doesn’t help to know more about investing.

Andy Tobias:

If you’re using more complex strategies, that implies active trading. Transactions have costs. There are brokerage commissions. You have the spread. And then you have taxes if the trade’s not

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Our Economy: No-Growth and Immune to Stimulus

Prosperity Concierge — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:15:35 +0000

The U.S. government can choose one of two economic paths: Austerity or irrelevance. Our debt burden and money-happy efforts to avoid the difficult parts of an economic crisis have left an economy virtually immune to stimulus yet devoid of actual growth in jobs or GDP.

On the other hand, clamping down on stimulus in a world

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Debt a Threat to Global Economy – Roubini

Prosperity Concierge — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:37:58 +0000

New York University professor Nouriel Roubini said two days ago that in the U.S., a failure to address the budget deficit risks a bond market “revolt.” President Barack Obama’s administration has been negotiating with Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, over cutting the federal government’s long-term shortfall and raising the debt ceiling.

“We’re still running

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Asian Perspectives on U.S. Quantitative Easing

Prosperity Concierge — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:00:30 +0000

Even if Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke decides to not implement QE3 to provide more quantitative easing, it’s now clear that rates everywhere will stay unusually low for longer than many investors expected. And with the most developed economies barely growing, Asia will be getting an even bigger share of the loose cash careening around the

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Balance Sheets are the Focus in Age of Deleveraging

Prosperity Concierge — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:12:32 +0000

The focus of families, statehouses and the White House is “balance sheets”. Reducing liabilities is what everyone is doing.

Mohamed A. El-Erian of PIMCO tells us it is a global phenomenon:

Balance sheets, both across and within economies, are still out of equilibrium in what remains an excessively asset-based global economy. This raises the question

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Quantitative Easing – Interest, Inflation Rate Tradeoff

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:38:36 +0000

Quantitative easing in the form of QEII has very likely lowered long-term interest rates, at least somewhat, promoting some investment and economic growth. But absent further fiscal stimulus, it’s unlikely to be a cure-all for a slow growing economy with anemic demand. And it is possible, though unlikely, that the Fed could find itself in

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Corporate and Household Debt Declining – Now it’s Government’s Turn

Prosperity Concierge — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:43:07 +0000

Households continue to reduce debt.

The major force behind the slow recovery isn’t going away soon: America is turning away from debt and embracing thrift, and the epicenter of change is the household. History suggests that the transition toward a high-saving, less-debt balance sheet will be long and painful before vibrant growth resumes.

The Federal Reserve

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Debt and Property Ownership – Destruction of Information Caused Crisis

Prosperity Concierge — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:18:27 +0000

What if lack of debt and property ownership information caused the financial crisis? It isn’t enough to have property rights – you need information to accompany those rights. Economist Hernando de Soto believes that the financial crisis wasn’t just about finance—it was about a destruction of knowledge of property ownership. Hernando de Soto:

During the second

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Emerging Markets Continue to Grow – Mark Mobius

Prosperity Concierge — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:15:43 +0000

“Investors are diversifying out of U.S. Treasuries and going into global markets,” according to Templeton Asset Management’s Mark Mobius. “That’s been a big change, which has been beneficial for emerging markets generally.”

Global markets are gradually adjusting to the day when the dollar will not be the main currency, Mobius said.

”The global equities bull market will

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Emerging Markets Still a Compelling Investment

Prosperity Concierge — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:45:08 +0000

You may think emerging markets are no longer cheap. Even so, there are good reasons to consider emerging markets for a portion of your investments.

One reason to invest in emerging markets is to gain exposure to currencies that have a good chance of rising. It’s important to have emerging-market currency exposure, especially because the

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Expenses and Debt – Adjusting to the Great Debt Contraction

Prosperity Concierge — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:56:26 +0000

How to reduce expenses and debt – whether you are responsible for a country or you are the head of a household, you are looking for ways to cut back on spending and borrow less money. We’re all sharing a common experience affecting cash flow – The Great Debt Contraction.

So how do you look

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Follow the Money – Dump Treasury Bonds and Invest in Emerging Markets

Prosperity Concierge — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:01:59 +0000

Bill Gross runs Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), a company synonymous with bond investments, especially U.S. Treasuries.

Earlier this year PIMCO announced that their flagship fund, Total Return Fund, is no longer invested in U.S. Treasuries.

Bill Gross is worried that, unless entitlements are substantially reformed, the U.S. will likely default on its debt; not in conventional

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