When Donald Trump forced regime change on Venezuela by removing and arresting their president, Nicholas Maduro, and seizing control over their petroleum industry, he aimed to “run” the industry in order to straighten out all its problems. Sounds like a noble cause considering the condition the industry was in, but what’s the cost going to […]
WHAT TO DO ABOUT VENEZUELAN OIL Read More »
The Enron scandal in 2001 became the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. It featured a loophole in the accounting principles that allowed corporations to maintain entities off their consolidated books as long as the parent company owned less than 50% of the entity and the entity was adequately capitalized. A clever but crooked financial
This is the second part of a previous blog from a couple of years ago explaining the fundamentals of short selling. With this we are going deeper into tools available for technical analysis required for good short selling. How Does a Short Sale Work? A short sale of securities takes place when the investor sells
THE ART OF THE SHORT SALE PART II Read More »
During the time the U.S. grew economically after the Civil War ended, a class of ultra rich entrepreneurs rose to the top of many of America’s industries. Those that were the most successful had the backing of crafty financiers to provide large sums of capital when needed and to solve financial problems that blocked or
JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN—AMERICA’S GREATEST FINANCIER Read More »
When the China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, an up-and-coming economy soon became an economic powerhouse with dynamic 6-10% plus growth in GDP year after year. The Chinese stock markets became the market of choice for many foreign investors to take their money for great, and sometimes outsized, returns. For sundry reasons this
IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME TO INVEST IN CHINA: PART III Read More »
Life insurance companies do not always make a profit from the insurance underwriting portion of the business. Most of the profit comes from investing the policyholders’ premiums and realizing the financial returns. In a way this amounts to a double-edged sword of risk taking—first in the underwriting of insurance policies, and secondly in the management
HOW LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE IMPACTED BY PRIVATE-MARKET FIRMS Read More »
This is the third in a series of blogs regarding private foreign investment in Chinese companies. Efforts are underway in Beijing to stimulate the Chinese economy to return it to its former levels of growth. Ordinarily this would provide potentially outstanding opportunities for foreign investors, but there are a number of pitfalls remaining that should
IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME TO INVEST IN CHINA: PART III Read More »
Although the Federal Reserve has said that it will leave the door open for more interest rate hikes should rampant inflation revive, the interest rate tightening cycle is nearly complete. The rampant inflation factor in the economy has been checked for now, but how soon will interest rates be reduced? Too Low Too Long: Since
INTEREST RATES ARE LEVELING OFF, BUT WHEN WILL THEY DECREASE? Read More »
At no time during the American Revolution were the American Colonies able to match the British Royal Navy at sea. However, with only a modest navy the Continental Congress resorted to commissioning private citizens to arm vessels and attack British shipping for profit. The results put a positive tilt on the war in the American
HOW PRIVATEERING AIDED THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Read More »
Ten years ago, China embarked on a major effort to increase its economic power and influence across Asia, Africa, and into Europe. The name of this program came from Xi Jinping, China’s president, when he spoke of building an “economic belt” along the “silk road” that was the land route to China for many centuries
CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE TEN YEARS AFTER Read More »