The dollar value of the euro has plummeted, as European leaders have once again failed to restore confidence. But soon the media and the markets will refocus on the dismal fiscal outlook in the U.S., where Congress and the administration face, yet again, the need to increase the debt limit. The stakes are higher this […]

Last month we presented an account we manage, the Reserve Life Income fund (RLI 1) of our parent organization, the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER). We described our management of that fund to illustrate several useful techniques that all investors can employ when managing their own accounts. This month we will again examine AIER’s

From 1980 to 2006, the U.S. financial services sector grew from 4.9% to 8.3% of GDP. A substantial share of that increase represented increases in asset-management fees. Excluding index funds (which make market returns available even to small investors at close to zero expense), fees have risen substantially as a percentage of assets managed. In

In early 2009 renowned bond investor and PIMCO chief investment officer Bill Gross and CEO Mohamed El-Erian proclaimed the emergence a new post-financial crisis era, coining the phrase “new normal”. They predicted a period that would be characterized by several years of economic stagnation and below average equity returns in the U.S. and in other

Imagine sitting in a bar in which you are introduced to someone said to have an uncanny ability to predict whether the Yankees will win or lose their next game. Further suppose that you know for a fact that for the previous six games he has walked into this bar the day before each game

In February 2010 the newly elected government of George Papandreou announced that Greece’s 2009 deficit was much larger than previously reported and revised it upward to an alarming 12.7 percent of GDP. This figure was more than double the previous government projection, and was later revised yet again, to 15.4 percent. This turned out to

Investors who follow our approach can look back on 2013 with satisfaction as global equity markets provided calendar-year returns well above historical norms. But rather than ponder market outcomes, we once again remind our readers that it is far more productive to focus on those factors that are within their control.• I will understand my

The recent budget deal that emerged from Congress includes provisions that will spell the end of two popular claiming strategies for Social Security. Once a worker reaches full retirement age, he or she can file for benefits but suspend actual payment of those benefits in order to earn credits that increase the eventual benefit by

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” — F.A. Hayek The Fed and Congress, when weighing U.S. monetary policy, would do well to consider the lessons provided by structured investment management, which avoids forecasting and the wisdom of experts in

The SEC has charged Goldman Sachs with fraud related to products that track the performance of mortgage-backed securities. Specifically, the SEC alleges that Goldman failed to inform customers that the product for which it was making a market had been created with the assistance of hedge fund Paulson & Co., and that Paulson was at