For this week’s Outside the Box (subscribe here for free), we have a two-parter of short essays. They are unrelated but equally important. First, in “Time to Drain the Fed Swamp,” Brian Wesbury and colleagues at First Trust make the case that […]
Author: Mauldin Economics
The US Government’s Promised Entitlements Exceed The Budget 7x In Some States
The US government balance sheet features $80 trillion to $200 trillion in unfunded liabilities. This amount stems from future entitlement program burdens that are, in effect, government promises. [REITs] Also read: Q2/H1 Hedge Fund Letters – Conferences, Calls, And More […]
Harvey Might Mislead The Fed Into Another Policy Error
Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on South Texas and Louisiana. As a lifelong Texan, I have many friends in that region. They’ve lived through many storms and normally take what nature throws at them in stride. Not this time. I am […]
The US Debt Bubble Will Soon Warrant Serious Measures
There is big debate over the exact amount of global debt. Parts of it get hidden in many out-of-the-way pockets. But broadly speaking, global debt is about 325% of GDP, and likely over $225 trillion as I write. Also read: […]
ETFs Are A Convenient Yet Very Dangerous Tool For Investors
Here’s the least original statement of 2017: There are a lot of different ETFs. There are: Equity ETFs International ETFs Fixed income ETFs Currency ETFs Commodity ETFs Volatility ETFs There are more… plus leveraged and inverse versions of most of […]
September Will Be The Most Politically Unstable Month Of This Year
This month will be busy for us macro monitors. The FOMC meets September 19–20 and will likely hike rates another notch, launch its balance-sheet-reduction plan, or both. I will be very surprised if they don’t do either. Also read: Q2/H1 […]
Long Yen?
I am well-known for suggesting that Japan was a bug in search of a windshield and in predicting that the yen would go 200 to the dollar. About four years ago, when the yen was at 100, I even purchased […]
Pet Care Stocks Could Gain As More And More Americans Prefer Pets To Kids
Hurricane Harvey hit Texas hard. Much of Houston, our largest city, will be uninhabitable for months, even years. Watching the news coverage, I’ve noticed a common scene. Many flood victims bring dogs and cats with them on the Cajun Navy’s small boats. […]
Harvey’s Short-Term Impact May Be Higher Oil Prices
Harvey hit hard the heart of the US oil industry. So far, it has shut down 11.2 percent of US refining capacity (about one-third of all US refining capacity is in Texas’ Gulf Coast) and roughly 25 percent of US […]
Traders Shorting VIX Will Blow Themselves Up
The New York Times’ DealBook had a great piece of journalism a couple of days ago about short VIX carry monkeys. Well, that is what I call them. The article features a former Target logistics manager who has goosed his net worth up […]
3 Reasons To Consider P2P
Thanks to the Fed’s zero interest rate policy, the inflation-adjusted yields banks offer on FDIC-insured certificates of deposit and savings accounts have been close to negative for years. [REITs] Also read: Q2/H1 Hedge Fund Letters – Letters, Conferences, Calls, And […]