Stock Investing Guide

The Heritage Foundation’s Salim Furth writes:

If interest rates are responsive to news, most macroeconomic models agree that government “stimulus” spending crowds out private investment. In usual times, with responsive interest rates, New Keynesian models[4] typically have a strong role for monetary (Fed) policy but little or no role for fiscal policy (stimulus spending or tax rebates). In Neoclassical[5] as well as New Keynesian models, government stimulus spending diminishes private activity—especially investment—as private borrowers are crowded out of the market by government borrowing. In contrast, New Keynesian models suggest that when the interest rates relevant for investing are constrained by the zero lower bound, the crowding-out mechanism stops functioning and fiscal policy can be expansionary.

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Posted by Ebony Verbrugghen | Tags: Heritage, Heritage Edition

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Most people agree that a Costco membership is worth the $55 a year. That amount can be saved in one trip with some of the non-grocery items sold at Costco. I’ve found products like KitchenAid mixers and Ralph Lauren dress shirts, both at half the price found in other stores.

The savings that come with a Costco membership can be helpful, as long as you stick to your list, and you shop carefully. Costco is great for larger families, since you can often find items to buy in bulk. Even a small family can benefit from a Costco membership, since it’s possible to preserve some of the items bought.

While I knew that a regular membership was worth it, I wasn’t sure of was whether the Costco Executive membership would be worth the extra $55 a year.

Does the Executive membership really offer so much more than the regular membership with its access to discounts on every day products?

With the cash back, you will need to plan your spending if you want to make up the cost of your membership. To get a $55

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Posted by Ebony Verbrugghen | Tags: Worth

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It’s becoming clear to me that what we’ve been thinking of as a stage in the recovery actually is the recovery. Job growth at a 1.5 percent annual rate is well below our hopes from previous cycles but its getting hard to imagine faster growth unless the government starts spending more money (ha-ha) or consumers like their finances enough to start clamoring for new homes.

In November, jobs increased by 1.4 percent from last year and unemployment eased to 7.7 percent, basically no change from what we’ve seen the last six months. Jobs were up 1.4 percent in manufacturing, 1.5 percent in retail trade, 3 percent in business services, 2.2 percent in health care, and 2.7 percent at restaurants. Jobs in government and construction were flat.

Retail sales in October slowed slightly from the level of previous months, not what you like to see right before the Holidays. Sales

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Posted by Ebony Verbrugghen

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A leading indicator for China’s economic performance recorded no change in March after a notable growth in the previous month, suggesting that the economic momentum is waning with the government tightening its grip on the real estate sector.

The leading economic indicator remained unchanged at 258.3 in March, following a 1.2 percent increase in February and a 1.7 percent rise in January.

The LEI signals that “what little steam the economy was enjoying is already dissipating,” said Andrew Polk, resident economist at the Conference Board China Center in Beijing.

“Falling real estate activity, a result of the government tightening the noose on purchases, was the main culprit,” Polk added.

In addition to the existing property market controls, some local governments in China have introduced or are planning to implement fresh property curbs this month by increasing the down payments for second home buyers and imposing tax on capital gains from property.

The Conference Board’s coincident economic index, which measures current economic activity, declined 0.2 percent in March to 236.1.

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Posted by Ebony Verbrugghen | Tags: Economic, Economic Recovery

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I just finished reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. It’s a fantastic book that I recommend to anyone. And I really do mean anyone. You can be a Fortune 500 CEO or a young 20-something living in your parents’ basement and still get tremendous value out of this book.

Don’t worry. I’m not writing a book review this week. We’re not here for book reviews. The reason I’m jazzed about this book is because an “ah-ha” moment went off after I had a great chat with a real estate developer I respect and admire (paired with finishing this book).

Our chat focused on this developer’s businessmainly how he dealt with uncertainty and grew his company over the years. One thing that struck me was how quickly he analyzes deals and decides if they are worth his time or not. Time (or the lack of) is a HUGE problem in our industry because we’re constantly faced with mountains of data, no data at all, new deals, old deals, and many other opportunities fighting for our attention.

There’s a common understanding on BiggerPockets that one must look at and scrutinize close to 100 potential deals before finding one that works. Given the sheer magnitu

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Posted by Ebony Verbrugghen

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