![\"TLTThisyear\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/TLTThisyear.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI’m as surprised as anyone by this huge move. But I’m not surprised by interest rates not <\/strong>moving up, as everyone and their uncle (except me) have predicted.<\/p>\n <\/strong>Personally I believe we’re years away from interest rates rising to any meaningful level. Which is the reason I own a swag of NLY, which I’ve recommended all this year.<\/p>\n I prefer NLY to TLT because NLY carries a nice dividend yield — even now, after the rise, still over 11%. TLT can prove very volatile. Here’s it over the past five years:<\/p>\n And now we get news this morning. From the Wall Street Journal this morning:<\/p>\n The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter of 2014, the latest stumble for a recovery that has struggled to find its footing since the recession ended almost five years ago.<\/p>\n Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, contracted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.0% in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday. It was the first time economic output contracted since the first quarter of 2011, when it declined at a 1.3% pace.<\/p>\n My friend says this latest bond rally is very hard to figure. This first quarter report was weak. We’ve known that for a while. (Remember the weather.) But since then economic statistics have been strong (excluding exports) — certainly housing. This bond rally has confused bond traders. And many of them are invested in equities, not bonds.<\/p>\n Why? Says my friend, “The Fed and the world’s bankers are forcing us into equities with their zero\u00a0 interest rates. Cash is not king. It’s drek. People are sitting on mountains of it. They are being forced into equities, which is why equities should continue to do well for the rest of this year.”<\/p>\n Says my most prescient friend, “Even if they started raising rates today, they wouldn’t get to 1% for at least a year. We are in The New Normal right now. Low interest rates. Shortage of investment opportunities. Get used to it.”<\/p>\n By the way, says my friend, “Have you been watching CNBC for the past six months? They kept telling their viewers that the bond cycle was over. They were wrong. Wrong. Wrong.”<\/p>\n The dumbest way not to invest:<\/strong><\/span> Use your own personal experience with the company. Peter Lynch said “like the product, like the company.” Yet all the companies I hate dealing with have done so well recently:<\/p>\n + To wit. Try getting a third cell phone from Verizon. Try understanding your bill. I spent 31 minutes on the phone with them yesterday and was quoted $40 a month, then $65 a month, then back to $40 and then, finally when the manager called two hours later, eventually $20 a month. An amazing mess. I had an old iPhone phone I wanted activated… Too complex.<\/p>\n + Intel. I’d like to buy a faster, newer laptop, but they don’t seem to have a faster, newer chip. Whatever happened to their innovation? They focusing on stupid new stuff they don’t understand.<\/p>\n + Microsoft. In ten years, they haven’t introduced a product that excites me. I’m still using Office 2003.<\/p>\n + Apple. I’d like to buy an iPhone 6. I’d like to upgrade my old software. But I dislike their new iPhone software upgrade. (Fortunately, I bought back a little when it dropped dramatically. And it seems to be edging up.)<\/p>\n \u00a0The Internet is where the big bucks are made.<\/strong> <\/span>The Queen of the Internet is Mary Meeker. Her presentations are treasured. I’d hoped to excerpt her latest one this morning, but ran out of time. I’ll pick the highlights tomorrow. Meantime, here’s her entire long presentation. It’s really good.<\/p>\n Download it. Click Internet_Trends_2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eric Snowden interview with Brian Williams.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n To watch the full interview on YouTube, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The French Open has started.<\/strong><\/span> It’s on The Tennis Channel. Roland Garros’ official site is here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n