The Freeport Navigator

So many things in life depend on the context. Is it wrong to lie? Is it wrong to punch someone? Is it wrong to end someone’s life? How about advocating genocide?

The housing market has had a tough year, not because prices have collapsed but because they’ve move steadily higher, despite high interest rates. Now, mortgage rates seem to be cooling, but don’t be fooled. The housing market is in dire straits.

Like a meeting of New York’s Five Families (à la The Godfather), the ESG mob is holding COP28. Despite all the pearl-clutching going on, they’re not going to stop the inevitable force that is the world’s need for fossil fuel-based energy. Let’s talk about why…

Funds registered as having outright ESG objectives hold more tech assets than any other sector, and mega-cap tech names like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia tend to dominate their holdings. These same tech names have been some of the biggest winners in artificial intelligence (AI). This was not genius by ESG investors… or proof that it somehow “works.” It was a case of being in the right place at the right time… and it seems that rather than be happy with their good fortune, they’re actively looking to strangle the goose that laid the golden egg.

The current national debt is just over $33 trillion. Of that, $6.8 trillion is “intragovernmental” debt. Why does the government owe itself money? Because it’s been borrowing hand over fist from the Social Security trust fund. But here’s a dirty little secret about that…

There’s a lot of noise about how “great” Black Friday numbers were this year. But dig just a little below the surface and what you find is disturbing. But, knowledge is power that you can use to not only survive, but thrive.

The world has lost a great man and one of the best investors of all times. So today, in honor of his memory, let’s look back at his life in awe and learn some valuable lessons while we’re at it.

U.S. 10-year Treasury notes have underperformed gold for the last 33 years. And in America’s publicly traded businesses, an investor might have fared even worse. So what now?

Investor demand for government bonds hasn’t been strong enough to soak up an onslaught of new supply. Yields spiked at the auction earlier this month, meaning the government had to offer a higher rate to get investors to nibble. Something’s not right here. So how can investors protect themselves?

Turns out, pandering to internet “activists” (can we call a troll a troll?) doesn’t translate into growing revenues and happy investors. Worse, it is greatly diminishing the quality of the entertainment being produced, as evidenced by, earlier this month, The Marvels’ spectacular flop. So today we’ll consider the price businesses pay to appease the trolls. And we’ll explore the alternatives that we can invest in.