Random Thoughts

With the big news being government dysfunction – the partial shutdown in the US, the Brexit power play in the UK, Hong Kong’s volatility and Italy’s lagging growth, earnings reports provided a modest nudge to the markets which was welcomed generally by the Financials.  I’m more interested in the forthcoming multinational reports as a barometer of health.  Thus – as usual in earnings season – my mind tends to wander to obscure – some could posit meaningless – issues to occupy myself.  With a short market week and the only other to-do item is blog housekeeping – here’s my diversionary tactic.

Musing #1

I guess my patience is wearing thin with the glut of prescription medicine advertising on television.  This probably foreign to my foreign readers as only the US and New Zealand permit direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs.  If advertised, the US Food and Drug Administration requires a recital of the benefits and risks of the products.  The one that really mystifies me is: Don’t use {insert name of product} if you’re allergic to {insert name of product} as a side effect could be death.   Well how would you know before it’s too late?   TV Tropes has a witty piece on this subject.  Caution: don’t read if foul language is offensive.

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Musing #2

Always on the lookout for ideas or views from a non-home bias perspective brought to Wexboy’s year end summary to bear and promptly realized the enormity of  presidential actions on the world stage.  “Maybe it was inevitable, but Trump – as in his #TrumpBump (taxes) & #TrumpSlump (tariffs) – was obviously both the making & unmaking of the market last year.”  Perhaps a little harsh but a little funny as well.  In all seriousness the real message was twofold, 1) the relative over performance of the S&P versus the UK and Europe and 2) his Blockchain Index.  In reality, his Blockchain Index is more a Cryptocurrency centric Index, however his choice of KR1 within his portfolio was interesting as KR1 fancies themselves as a cross between incubator and a crypto mutual fund.  Conceptually interesting, perhaps those inclined to flip real estate are the potential audience?

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Musing #3

My Lending Club (P2P) experiment concluded in 2018.  All notes were fully paid and the Adjusted Net Annualized Return was 6.26%.  Two reasons behind my decision were the tax treatment of profits and the compression of the risk premium with rising interest rates.  Obviously my tendencies lean towards risk aversion.

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Musing #4

Finally, a long time mainstay has gone inactive.  Investment Hunting had been sporadic for awhile using guest hosts and concentrating on the rollout of his new endeavor, Blue Collar Cryptos which was announced June 20th.  With great fanfare – and an engaging (and educational) site the silence became even more deafening following their most recent post in September.  As six months of inactivity is the standard used for my Directory, it’s with a little sadness the delete key has been triggered.  Here’s hoping the recent SEC enforcement actions on crypto aren’t related to the vacuum he has left.

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There we are with a day off before the week really begins.  Onward to the next earnings round!