Good afternoon,
Consumer prices are up 6.2%, biggest jump in 30 years.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/consumer-price-index-october.html
Which, as you’ve read here for months, is an entirely predictable scenario when you shut down an economy. You can’t turn it back on like a light switch. There are literally millions of decisions and countless procedures involved in getting a product designed, manufactured, shipped, stored and sold in a timely and cost effective manner. We’re seeing it now with computer chip shortages and food shortages and cargo container shortages. A market economy functions best when you let it. Turning it off, for whatever reason, is a bad idea. So is over regulation, by the way. Like dropping a wrench into the engine as you’re cruising down the highway. Not surprising that would cause some problems. Also not surprising that your car can’t just start right up again and go. But that’s what we get when politicians get involved. Printing money and throwing it into the system will not solve inflation either. “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” – Groucho Marx.
As we close in on the end of 2021, can you believe it’s almost over? Now is about the time where we’ll start seeing economic predictions for next year, and/or capital market assumptions, and updates of performance and theories about the future and so forth. You can read this type of material if you’d like, but just keep in mind that most of it is arbitrary. If you do, also take a few minutes and look up some of last year’s predictions to see how accurate they were. Or were not. “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” – John Kenneth Galbraith.
Another friendly reminder as we close the year, don’t forget those RMDs and see if there are any year end maneuvers you can use to reduce any potential tax liability. Call me for specific suggestions.
I should have commented on this sooner, so Facebook is now Meta. As in Metaverse. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/28/facebook-changes-company-name-to-meta.html
Because that is the big change that Facebook users needed. Not the fact that they harvest our data, addict us to their platform and promote divisiveness, but rather the name needed an update.
Anyway, not sure what Meta is? Me neither, so here is your tutorial, https://www.wsj.com/story/what-is-the-metaverse-the-future-vision-for-the-internet-ca97bd98
Call me old fashioned but I think I prefer that real life verse established a long time ago, you know the one, the Universe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe
Just my opinion, but there’s a lot to discover in the real world. Especially for our precious youngsters. Virtual might be a nice distraction from time to time, but let’s keep it real.
Since I’ve included an official Lincoln webinar link in the last 2 episodes of the WMR, I’m going to include another one this week. The last two promoted long term care, this one promotes protected lifetime income. Once again, I include the official verbiage of the invite. Please view at your leisure and call me to discuss.
Hi WMR enthusiast,
I hope you and your loved ones are well. I thought of you after watching this video about the value of having a source of protected lifetime income in retirement. When you have a few minutes, please watch it here: https://marketingmedia.lfg.com/lfg/DOCS/lfd/emailMarketing/2018/Video/5786091505001.html
If you’re interested in learning more, let’s connect and talk about adding protection to your retirement portfolio. Please give me a call and we can find time to discuss this soon.
Thank you!
In this week’s crypto commentary, the headline is that the Staples Center in Los Angeles will be renamed the Crypto.com Center.
Which could mean that crypto is becoming the big deal it may become or could it be the next Pets.com? Member them?
As of this writing, we find the values of the various currencies about 15% lower than they were when last week’s WMR was published. That’s about right. Valuations swing around pretty wildly, get used to it. Another question tossed about as crypto gains steam, is that will governments of the world try to ban it. Or regulate it. China did, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2021/10/11/china-banned-crypto-can-the-sec-try-doing-the-same/?sh=6f6c068c455c and then the prices went up. But let’s not forget that China does not have personal property rights nor a functioning democracy so their system it rigged by definition. Bitcoin cannot be rigged hence China’s displeasure with it. Then we see that El Salvador allows, even encourages the use of bitcoin, https://www.reuters.com/technology/one-month-el-salvadors-bitcoin-use-grows-headaches-persist-2021-10-07/
Of course they do. Their economy is a disaster so anything they try is a step up. Even when their economy is good, it’s only about $26 billion. That’s 1/10 of the value of Elon Musk. So whatever El Salvador, or China, do with crypto currencies is irrelevant.
By their very nature, and original intention, crypto currencies are the definition of decentralized. That is democracy at its core. No one person, or entity, can stop it or regulate it. That said, the fluctuations alone make it difficult to use for commerce, which doesn’t mean that it can’t/won’t be used. As I’ve repeated more than once, crypto is a thing, defi is a thing, blockchain is a thing and none of them are going away. Just be careful if you plan to swim in those pools.
I finally cut the cord. The cable cord that is. I grew weary of paying my cable company what seemed like too much money for a TV service that I rarely used and a home telephone number that I never used. So I dialed it all back to just internet service, bought a couple of FireSticks from Amazon (full disclosure: I am an Amazon shareholder) and we’ll see how it goes. That said, I’m taking recommendations for streaming services, especially for live TV as I already have Netflix and Amazon Prime for movies and such. As I said, I don’t really watch much TV, so I don’t need many channels and I don’t want to pay a lot so any suggestions would be appreciated.
Speaking of Netflix, I did manage to watch the new Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot movie on Netflix, Red Notice. Here is the official trailer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj0wz7zu3Ms
It was ok. Not bad, not great, just ok if you need something mindless to watch for a couple of hours.
Finally this week, some of you have inquired for an update on my sister’s battle with ovarian cancer. Short answer, the fight is still on.
Here are her own words, included by her permission.
https://www.jackieacho.com/the-adventure-of-a-lifetime/
Speaking of cable, this week’s chuckle is Larry the Cable Guy. Look him up with the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and the “favorite jokes” segment. That’s Larry, Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy and Ron White telling their favorite jokes. Some colorful language so I won’t link to it, but mostly safe for work.
LF27 – “I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments.” – Friedrich August von Hayek.
Have a great week and stay healthy.
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Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP®
Private Wealth Advisor
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