Whenever I went anywhere in the car with my Dad, whether it was a routine errand or a fishing trip, there was always an extra companion in the front seat. The first thing my Dad did after pulling safely into the road was to turn on the radio and tune to Paul Harvey. I remember Mr. Harvey almost as a favorite relative because of the regularity of his captivating tales. If we reached our destination and Mr. Harvey hadn't finished, we sat in the parked car and waited for the famous Harvey tag line: 'And now you know the rest of the story.'
Mr. Harvey instilled in me a hunger to know the back story of people and events; to find out the details of the story which was held back, edited out. Mr. Harvey's voice whispers to me as a read a newspaper or online article, 'There's more to this than they're telling.'
Take this morning for instance. The news media continues to focus on the US primaries; which candidate won, which lost, and which may not have lost yet. Crowds gather to shout profanities or to cheer as though they're at the Roman Colosseum watching gladiators fight to the death. Brief mention is given to the rise of the stock market trades, but not the less than 1% those trades actually represent. Market improvements are subliminally tied to the political front runners as they're mentioned in almost the same breath by the newsreaders.
During my morning commute, I open the Wall Street Journal to the Money & Investing section. The main headline reads: '$101 Million Whodunit at the Fed.' Somehow thieves acquired all the right codes to transfer all those millions of dollars out of the Bangladesh account at the NY Fed into private accounts in four countries. It was revealed that Bangladesh keeps most of its wealth in cash at the Fed. Cash. Now what other news stories have there been in a past fortnight about cash? Oh, yes. News of discontinuing 100-dollar bills and negative interest rates so people won't park their cash in banks but will spend it instead, electronically. Electronic banking is the way of the future,. It's safer. Tell that to the Finance Minister of Bangladesh who lost his job over this. Only $68,000 of the stolen funds have been recovered, by the way. Officials at the Fed are still sorting out the who and how this robbery happened.
The next prominent headline on the page reads: 'Trading At Banks Turns 'Grim.'" As some in the media prefer to rouse cheers from the crowd about those less than 1% market rises, Justin Baer, reporting for the WSJ, plays the Paul Harvey role today. The first quarter is typically a busy and profitable season for bank traders. Not so for the first quarter of 2016.
Mr. Baer quotes an unnamed senior bank executive describing the situation as 'grim.' In 2015 the first quarter was a high water mark with revenues of $23.7 billion amounting to 32% of the annual trading revenue. This year Morgan Stanley laid off 25% of their traders and sales staff. Grim indeed.
Most people want to believe things are getting better for them financially. The market rose again by less than 1% don't forget. However, as our eyes move below the fold of the Money & Investing section, we read: 'Plan B for High Rent: Adult Dorms.' Venture capitalists like Maveron and even Fidelity Investments are developing residential properties modeled on college dormitories. Residents will pay rent on a single room spaces with common dining and recreational areas under the guise of helping young people make the transition to a big city for jobs and to make friends in a new place at a reduced rental rate and privacy; free from out of town relatives and friends expecting a place to stay on a visit. This more than any other evidence you can find screams the bets are against your financial situation improving very much any time soon. Otherwise, why would anyone spend $1.4 billion in New York alone on what comes down to a re-invented SRO?
If you haven't taken action yet to acquire your golden parachute, why are you waiting? None of the candidates have discussed your economy in any detail. For one reason, they know they can't save you. I don't believe in fear, but I solemnly believe in being prepared.
'And now you know [more of] the rest of the story.
Open the link and watch the videos to learn more and them get back to me with your decision to take action. I'm here to help.
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