December is often referred to as the season of giving: not only because families and friends gather during the holidays to give presents, but also because of the tremendous surge of philanthropic support that tends to occur during the final month of the year. According to one study, roughly 1/3 of all charitable giving takes place in December...
Last week, I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal by James Mackintosh entitled "Speak No Evil of the S&P 500’s Neverending Records." The subtitle reads: “Investors buying stocks no matter what shouldn’t fool themselves that the future will deliver the chunky returns of the past decade.” Before I present a few counterpoints, let me begin by acknowledging that he’s right: no one should expect the S&P 500 to average 12.8% (adjusted for inflation) per year over the next decade...
I was twelve years old when I first picked up a violin. No magical beams of light spilled forth from the case when I opened it. I heard no choir of angels as I raised the instrument to my chin, and if there were any angels hanging around when I started playing, they probably plugged their ears and hightailed it out of there...
The Biden administration recently released the terms of the American Families Plan, the latest in a trio of major legislative proposals that began with the American Rescue Plan and American Jobs Plan. Broadly, these plans involve a lot of government spending, so it’s not particularly surprising that they also include a series of tax hikes, mostly aimed at wealthy taxpayers...
In early 2020, I interviewed my friend and subject matter expert Daniel Mason about blockchain and its various applications. Since then, blockchain and cryptocurrencies have continued to grow in popularity and legitimacy, as evidenced by the successful IPO of Coinbase – a major cryptocurrency exchange platform – last week. In light of the continued growth and interest in this arena, I asked him if I could share his reflections here on my blog, and he was kind enough to oblige...
Whether consciously or subconsciously, methodically or haphazardly, we are all in a constant state of expectation-setting. We set expectations for ourselves, our spouses, our friends, and our co-workers. We set professional expectations, social expectations, financial expectations, fitness expectations. If you’re like me, you wake up and expect your morning to follow a certain routine, and then your workday, and then your evening. You expect your spouse to treat you with love (and often forbearance), your co-workers to be responsible and respectful, and your 4-year-old to listen to at least 25% of the things you ask him to do. You expect to work for a period of years, support your family, save, and eventually retire. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...
In case you missed the biggest market story of the new year, here’s the short version: a group of rogue retail investors got together on Reddit (a popular online forum) and decided to stick it to the man by aggressively purchasing shares of GameStop and other out-of-favor stock names. “The man,” in this case, was a combination of hedge funds and short sellers who had bet on these stocks declining in value by borrowing shares at the then-current price with the intent to purchase them at a lower price and make a profit when they covered their position. Thus, when the Reddit rocketeers started buying, the result was a “short squeeze,” which forced the short sellers to purchase shares at a higher price to cover their bets, which in turn drove the price even higher and resulted in A) devastating losses for the short sellers, and B) stratospheric gains for the buyers...
Remember January? Life was simpler then. America was a veritable oasis...a land flowing with toilet paper and hand sanitizer. In those days, you could recognize a person by their face –not just the top half, but their whole face. When you greeted someone, you didn’t have to perform split-second calculations to decide between an awkward wave or a fist or elbow bump, you could just reach out and shake their hand. Infrared thermometers were more of a luxury than a necessity; for most, a hand to the forehead was good enough for a temperature check. Back then, people disagreed about the same old things: politics, religion, money. Masks weren’t even part of the conversation...
For decades, the IPO (initial public offering) has stood as the gateway to the public markets for big private companies seeking access to more capital. This year, however, there have been some noteworthy exceptions – companies such as Palantir, Draft Kings, and Nikola – who have elected to bypass the traditional IPO route in favor of alternative methods such as direct listings and SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies). The surge in SPACs, otherwise known as “blank check companies,” has been especially significant, both in terms of money raised and buzz generated...
Among all the issues and uncertainties that are top-of-mind for high income earners and high-net-worth individuals these days (not to mention the accountants, attorneys, and advisors who serve them), a key concern is the possibility of higher taxes if Biden wins the presidential election and the Democrats reclaim a Senate majority...
