AN INVESTING STRATEGY (work in progress ...)

14 October 2021Looking at the Cyclically Adjusted Price Earnings ratio (CAPE):Ie average on the FTSE 100 and 250Average over last 10 years. It is middle of the road territory on both:FTSE100 at 7,000 is CAPE in 14 to 20 rangeFTSE250 at 23,000 is CAPE in 19 to 28 rangeSo fair value on both - meaning you can expect the average return of 7%, divis reinvested. Now compare with the S&P500:It's up 1.71% today at 4,438.26.The CAPE...

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YAYOI KUSAMA at THE TATE MODERN

15 October 2021 Does this art tell us something about the artist? About ourselves? It was excellent but upon opening there was a strong mouldy stench of horse piss rhat sucked in the face and you'd think the wine was corked. But actually, it just needed to be aired for half an hour ("chambrayed" - how do you say that ?). I could have...

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THE FIGHTING TEMERAIRE

10 October 2021Three images ...

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BRACE FOR INTEREST RATE RISES

10 October 2021Petrol - isnt this where fears of inflation started? There's all you need to take your kids to school, we are told, it's in the country somewhere, just not in the right places. So it's only haulage.Later, we are told it is a multitude of small, short-term issues, of which panic-buying fuel is but the latest, and once we're through we'll be in global-Britain times enjoying our prosperity, power and independence to...

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PRODUCTIVITY IN THE UK ECONOMY

10 October 2021At last week’s Conservative conference, the Prime Minister championed a high-wage, low-immigration economy driven by high productivity, accusing firms of being drunk on cheap labour from abroad. But unless productivity is also there, it will simply lead to higher inflation and require a more stringent response from the BoE.For all the PM’s urging, growth in productivity, which allows the economy to get more bang for...

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"SPILLOVER" - EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AT WORK

8 October 2021The EU would be fine if it stuck to matters of ISO trade standards. The EEC was OK wasn't it?It has well overstepped the mark with its claim to sovereignty over nation states. If it could restrain itself to a trade body such as the IEEE that would be fine.Instead, this creeping federalism, where it bribes trade bodies into accepting its constitution by offering subsidies, offering control through the ECJ, and in return...

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PAULA REGO at THE TATE BRITAIN

7 October 2021 *Paula Rego at Tate Britain I have a ticket to see paintings by a Portuguese artist, Paula Rego, at Tate Britain on Friday. *About Rego is an artist who is fascinated with storytelling. She is especially interested in stories of women battling with their fears and desires. She explores adults’ cruelty and children’s wildness and in her paintings, her stories tell of dangerous adventures. She tries...

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PORTFOLIO STRATEGY IN THE NEW ECONOMY

6 October 2021"Weather the expected downturn and wait for stability to return."Question about strategy in these times of crises and change and in particular, how to deal with inflation.We may be entering a very different economic environment. Just had an email from a reader who is a Royal Bank of Scotland pensioner on a company pension. He was surprised to learn that their annual increase whilst tied to inflation is capped...

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BEST INDEX FUNDS FOR GLOBAL STOCKS: AN ETF STRATEGY

Best Index Funds for Global Stocks, Part IPart I - Strategy(Part II - SetupPart III -Operations)BackgroundStrategyTiltsModern Portfolio TheoryStrategic allocation rules“Core and satellite” portfolio designScreen for compliant ETFsSummaryBackgroundWithout enough knowledge or time to make a sound call, some investors nonetheless try to pin the tail of a stock they hope will outperform, on the donkey of all stocks in the market. The alternative...

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WORK FROM HOME or LIVING AT WORK

And parents were supposed to work from home and teach their kids. Work, with the kids under their feet all day. Teach, with neither the knowledge nor the pedagogy. A giant exercise in crowd management. Scare them into lockdown, then busy them to keep them from rioting. But it worked. Boris got his covid programs through. Just mental illness soared and other diseases flourished.Terrible times, empty memories. Time...

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BENEFITS OF COOPERATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR IRELAND

4 October 2101 Aligning tax regimes North and South on 12.5% is a very pragmatic solution  and would satisfy the US and in any case the South is likely to accept 15% if it remains in the EU.Pragmatic, except that it would further align the N S economies and distance NI from GB, further opening the road to a united Ireland. Could Westminster not grasp the nettle, see the writing on the wall, look over the horizon a little? I...

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