There is little chance that stocks will rise this year.
They will be volatile, giving and wrenching hope day by day, moment by moment.
How much pain do you want to bear?
+ More pain, more stocks.
+ Less pain, fewer stocks, more treasuries.
+ No pain. Don’t look. Friends ignore their stocks, comfortable (comatose?) they have enough cash to survive for a couple of years.
+ No pain. Prayer. Several friends are in ETFs, like VTI and VGT. They hope they will do less worse.
Inflation is only ebbing, not sliding, not at goal, not even close. It’s high, propelled by strong jobs.
The Fed will raise rates throughout 2023. It will not reduce them at the end of the year. Meantime, stories in the press will depress. We aren’t going back to the office. So office buildings are cratering. See Wall Street Journal. Click here.
So is lots of real estate. Tripling and quadrupling of mortgage rates have changed thinking. “Changed” is too weak. It’s a revolution in thinking.
Meantime, the Fed is finding it really hard to slice inflation definitely down to their preferred 2%.
I have some stocks, some shorts, some ETFs and oodles of treasuries. The end result is OK. But the day to day gyrations in stocks are not pleasant. My brain won’t let my eyes stop looking.
In favor of King size Beds
There is no reason to buy or sleep in a queen bed.
You will always be happier, sleep better, read better and surf the Internet better in a king size bed.
You will not disturb your significant other in a king bed.
That wonderful person will love you forever if you buy them a king bed.
You will not make your father happy if you stock your mother-in-law apartment (the one he visits) with queen bed — just to save a few shekels. (Hint: Ask him to pay for the King Bed.)
Don’t even think about disagreeing with me.
My take on Putin
Putin lives in a different world. His is a totally different reality. He sees us as arch enemies, as impediments to him recreating glorious The Soviet Empire. Everything is subservient to that aim — his people, our people, our cities, his towns, his villages.
I’ve read extensively about him. My conclusions:
+ Putin will not leave Ukraine. He will raise conscripts endlessly, throwing them as cannon fodder into Ukraine. He cares not for life.
+ If he gets part of Ukraine, he will continue to go after countries, including Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Poland, the Baltic countries.
+ He is tzar for life. His people can’t get rid of him — like they did with the other tzar in 1917.
+ He cannot be stopped. He has killed or imprisoned all his opponents. He has scared everyone in Russia into keeping their mouths firmly shut. Or leave. 500,000 already have.
+ One way is for us to invoke the Defense Production Act, produce bombs, missiles, tanks, and arm Ukraine to the teeth and kick Russia definitely out of Ukraine. Warn him the red line really exists. That will work for a few years, while he regroups.
+ If he stays alive and in the safety of Mother Russia — The Kremlin, his bunkers, his many remote homes and palaces, he will make mischief for another 25 years. He’s 70 now.
The only way to stop him is to kill him. Everyone is afraid of this course. So, hire the Israelis.
Meantime, someone ought to read the riot act to the North Koreans and the Iranians for arming Putin with drones and missiles.
Here’s a way to deal with Donald
It’s an article by Patti Davis, daughter of Ronald Reagan.
She writes:
When I was about 8 or 9, I was bullied ruthlessly in school by a boy in my class. I faked being sick so I wouldn’t have to go to school, but my parents figured out that something was going on and my father came in to talk to me. I confessed to him that I was scared of my tormentor, and what followed was a lesson in the beauty of ignoring another person. He explained that bullies crave attention and that if they are ignored, they sort of deflate. He then showed me how frustrating it is to feel like you’re invisible, by ignoring me when I tried to speak to him. It worked. I returned to school, I ignored the bully and he gave up his attacks on me.
Good advice. For the entire piece, click here.
Today’s best advice
I’ll be back with more enlightenment tomorrow. I have more ideas on AI. I bet you can’t wait. — Harry Newton
