Hahaha, thanks. Just realized I made a typo. The family in Home Alone are the McCallisters. But since the kid's real name is Maccaulay, it somehow stuck with me, and I went with McCauley's.
Happy Holidays and if you have a kid, make sure you leave him/her Home Alone for Christmas.
Happy Holidays to you and Uttam - and thanks for the great writings! (Love your big muffin 🧁!)
I remember reading the book Factfulness and there was a quiz about the trends of the world , and most of my friends and families were too pessimistic about the world around us.
No doubt the lower income got hit harder and things did get tough when inflation soared, but at the same time, the availability and access to technology have given us lots of options . A quick search on the internet can now give you ideas where to save money and where to take up side hustles; still lots of opportunities out there if we try!
Happy Holidays to you Marianne. It has been great to know you on Substack and through your posts.
Yes, muffins should be always big and full of good fillings, this one was a blueberry oatmeal.
As for the future, I am excited about all the exciting development in certain technologies and how it is speeding up mundane, repetitive tasks and enhancing our lives to better realize our potential and as an optimist I can hope and work towards a technology led equitable future.
+1 on Die Hard being the best Xmas movie! Regarding GenAI what we will see is more and more positions and jobs specialising on how to use AI. In the end, it will come down to learn how to use AI or be replaced by those who do. The future of marketplaces will evolve too: it seems as the more we go towards a decentralised version of the internet, the more marketplaces them too will become decentralised, and taking out the middle man.
So many Die Hard fans over here. As for AI, fully agree that people who can integrate AI into their work will have an edge over those who are not upskilling to the new tools and technologies.
In Hollywood a hairdresser can afford to live in a palatial-sized loft so long as she must put buckets and bowls around the place whenever it rains, the leaks mysteriously never happening over the bed or other soft furnishings or important paperwork scattered among the ashtrays and wine bottles. She can also to drive a car, albeit a beater, and go clubbing every weekend.
I long ago stopped asking "How could they afford that?!" when it comes to Hollywood. I think that last show with economically plausible housing was 'Rosanne'.
Your post reminds me of - inverse correlation between strength of the dollar (nominal broad index in FRED) and S&P index. as dollar gets stronger, international earnings amount to less when converted to dollars, and hence S&P tends downwards ... thank you so much for your content
Thank you Deepak, glad you enjoyed. Since I am not a trained economist, I am not fully confident of the inverse correlation. I believe it is more context dependent. If the US dollar continues to decline, that may initially may be a boost to the equity market, however, beyond a certain level, where it signals economic slowdown (locally, globally), I would think that the inverse correlation would flip.
We are still in the 12 days of Christmas and I do not wish to be a Grinch, we have all seen a lot of volatility and the market has reached new highs… This is what convinces me most we are in a “Big Bear”, to those who have profited take them now, this market is in for a huge correction… If you don't believe then mark this warning down. Remember sometimes bulls make money, sometimes the bears but pigs ALWAYS get slaughtered.
If you are close to retirement you need to have a plan… Placing money in a Roth Gold account is not timing but protecting your gains, Principal-protected money will be in excellent position. Then think of annuity protected account. But make the taxes your first priority.
Being a McCauley I love this post!
Hahaha, thanks. Just realized I made a typo. The family in Home Alone are the McCallisters. But since the kid's real name is Maccaulay, it somehow stuck with me, and I went with McCauley's.
Happy Holidays and if you have a kid, make sure you leave him/her Home Alone for Christmas.
Happy Holidays to you too Amrita. Best wishes for 2024 and keep up the great writing!
Thanks Liam!!
Happy Holidays to you and Uttam - and thanks for the great writings! (Love your big muffin 🧁!)
I remember reading the book Factfulness and there was a quiz about the trends of the world , and most of my friends and families were too pessimistic about the world around us.
No doubt the lower income got hit harder and things did get tough when inflation soared, but at the same time, the availability and access to technology have given us lots of options . A quick search on the internet can now give you ideas where to save money and where to take up side hustles; still lots of opportunities out there if we try!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too, Marianne!
And the same to you, too, Uttam!
Happy Holidays to you Marianne. It has been great to know you on Substack and through your posts.
Yes, muffins should be always big and full of good fillings, this one was a blueberry oatmeal.
As for the future, I am excited about all the exciting development in certain technologies and how it is speeding up mundane, repetitive tasks and enhancing our lives to better realize our potential and as an optimist I can hope and work towards a technology led equitable future.
"Die Hard" = Best Christmas movie. I'll defend that hill to my grave... 😂
Seriously though, great stuff as always, Amrita - thanks for all you do✌🏻
I am guilty that I have never watched Die Hard (I know, I know), I will make it a point to watch it over the next week.
Thanks for your continued support, so glad you enjoy the content.
She ain't gonna watch it. Stone needs to plead his defense - Die Hard is a Christmas movie👽
Once you watch it maybe there's a economics twist, analogous to the twist given to "Home Alone"
Okay, now I really need to watch it before New Years.
+1 on Die Hard being the best Xmas movie! Regarding GenAI what we will see is more and more positions and jobs specialising on how to use AI. In the end, it will come down to learn how to use AI or be replaced by those who do. The future of marketplaces will evolve too: it seems as the more we go towards a decentralised version of the internet, the more marketplaces them too will become decentralised, and taking out the middle man.
So many Die Hard fans over here. As for AI, fully agree that people who can integrate AI into their work will have an edge over those who are not upskilling to the new tools and technologies.
In Hollywood a hairdresser can afford to live in a palatial-sized loft so long as she must put buckets and bowls around the place whenever it rains, the leaks mysteriously never happening over the bed or other soft furnishings or important paperwork scattered among the ashtrays and wine bottles. She can also to drive a car, albeit a beater, and go clubbing every weekend.
I long ago stopped asking "How could they afford that?!" when it comes to Hollywood. I think that last show with economically plausible housing was 'Rosanne'.
Great post. Learnt a lot. The comparison graph of 'present situation' vs 'expectation' was pretty interesting.
Thanks Rob, glad you enjoyed the post and the chart!!
Your post reminds me of - inverse correlation between strength of the dollar (nominal broad index in FRED) and S&P index. as dollar gets stronger, international earnings amount to less when converted to dollars, and hence S&P tends downwards ... thank you so much for your content
Thank you Deepak, glad you enjoyed. Since I am not a trained economist, I am not fully confident of the inverse correlation. I believe it is more context dependent. If the US dollar continues to decline, that may initially may be a boost to the equity market, however, beyond a certain level, where it signals economic slowdown (locally, globally), I would think that the inverse correlation would flip.
Yep - exactly, this holds within certain bounds of reason and time
Pecan pie and deviled eggs 365 days a year! 😋
Thank you Amrita! Happy New Year! 🎈🎊🥳 Sending my love 🤗❤️
We are still in the 12 days of Christmas and I do not wish to be a Grinch, we have all seen a lot of volatility and the market has reached new highs… This is what convinces me most we are in a “Big Bear”, to those who have profited take them now, this market is in for a huge correction… If you don't believe then mark this warning down. Remember sometimes bulls make money, sometimes the bears but pigs ALWAYS get slaughtered.
If you are close to retirement you need to have a plan… Placing money in a Roth Gold account is not timing but protecting your gains, Principal-protected money will be in excellent position. Then think of annuity protected account. But make the taxes your first priority.
Thank you J.R. Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you.