That time goes quick. I played my 135th consecutive game of tennis this morning.<\/p>\n
Yesterday the New York Times ran a piece:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/biden-presidency.jpg\")
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The article quoted a July 20 BofA Global Research study. The article included these paragraphs:<\/p>\n
+\u00a0\u201cBiden\u2019s more aggressive stance on Covid-19 is likely to improve medium-to longer-term U.S. growth prospects potentially at the expense of shorter term prospects, if restrictive policies are pursued,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 And the\u00a0trade conflicts<\/a>, tariffs, restrictions on immigration and diminution of global institutions of the Trump era would be supplanted by a more internationalist approach \u2014 and one likely to yield substantial benefits, the report projected. In short, the authors said, a Democratic sweep of the presidency and both houses of Congress would be \u201cgrowth positive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 + This isn\u2019t the first time the stock market has shuddered at the thought of a Democratic presidency; in fact, I\u2019ve written\u00a0this kind of story<\/a>\u00a0before, about Wall Street\u2019s\u00a0misguided<\/a>\u00a0apprehensions\u00a0about the impact<\/a>\u00a0of the Obama presidency.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 But the historical record shows that since 1900 the stock market has fared far better under Democratic presidents, with a 6.7 percent annualized return for the Dow Jones industrial average compared with just 3.5 percent under Republicans. (The results are similar when measured from Election Day to Election Day.) Data provided by Bespoke Investment Group shows that these are the best annualized returns under individual presidents:<\/p>\n 25.5 percent under Calvin Coolidge, a Republican, in the 1920s.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n 15.9 percent under Bill Clinton, a Democrat.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n 12.1 percent under Barack Obama, a Democrat.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cWall Street generally considers Republicans to be better for market returns but historically, that\u2019s not true,\u201d said Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke. \u201cDemocratic presidents have generally had better returns versus Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 The market under Mr. Trump has been fine \u2014 despite a calamitous drop in late February and early March \u2014 with a 9.2 percent annualized return through Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 But despite all the hoopla about Mr. Trump\u2019s undoubtedly pro-business policies, the stock market performance under Mr. Trump doesn\u2019t match up well against Mr. Clinton or Mr. Obama. It is entirely possible that the same would be true if Mr. Biden became president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Read the entire article\u00a0here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Be thankful<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Imagine you were born in 1900.<\/p>\n + When you’re 14, World War I begins and ends when you’re 18 with 22 million dead.<\/p>\n + Soon the Spanish Flu appears, killing 50 million people. And you’re alive, 20 years old.<\/p>\n + When you’re 29 you survive the global economic crisis with the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange, causing inflation, unemployment and famine.<\/p>\n + When you’re 33 years the Nazis come to power.<\/p>\n + When you’re 39, World War II begins and ends when you’re 45 years old with a 60 million dead. In the Holocaust 6 million Jews die.<\/p>\n + At 52, the Korean War begins. At 64, the Vietnam War begins and ends when you’re 75.<\/p>\n A child born in 1985 thinks his grandparents have no idea how difficult life is.<\/p>\n Today we have all the comforts in a new world, amid a new pandemic. But we complain because we need to wear masks. We complain because we must stay confined to our homes where we have food, electricity, water, gig Wi-Fi, Netflix, and Newton’s blog! None of that existed back in the day. But humanity survived those circumstances and never lost its joy of living.<\/p>\n The family is healthy, happy and learning (the kids, mostly on Zoom). I’m thankful for what we all have.<\/p>\n Ransomware is back again<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Open a bad email attachment. Bingo all the files on your computer are locked. You can’t get your precious data back unless you pay them — in untraceable bitcoin.<\/p>\n If you pay, the honest crooks may send you a key to get your files back. May or may not. There are keys:<\/p>\n + Don’t open attachments from anybody without checking first with the sender. That includes Word Docx and PDFs.<\/p>\n + Keep backups of all your files. There are many ways — from flash drives to the cloud.<\/p>\n + Have a complete clone laptop all loaded up and ready to take over the moment ransomware strikes. Not that pricey. Maybe $1,500 at the most.<\/p>\n \u00a0+ Load your day-to-day laptop with anti-ransomware software. PCMag recommends Zone Alarm by Check Point. Click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The good old days. They’ll be back.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This is Michael and me on a Backroads biking trip in Slovenia.<\/p>\n I was thinner then, and a bit taller.<\/p>\n Oh, the places to visit again<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This is Venice from the air.<\/p>\n Here are the two charts that freaked me out on the weekend.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n They were on the front page of the New York Times:<\/p>\n From top down, the countries are<\/p>\n Sweden The second chart compared the U.S. with Italy and Spain, neither country known for their great government:<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/michael-and-harry-in-Slovenia..jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Venice-from-the-air-750x465.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Daily-cases-large-high-income-countries-750x484.jpg\")
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\nSpain
\nBelgium
\nCanada
\nU.K.
\nFrance
\nNetherlands
\nJapan
\nItaly
\nSouth Korea<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/us-versus-spain-and-italy-750x469.jpg\")
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