That Was The Week That Was-2nd Week November

   A cover is worth a thousand words….

R -Bonds Coming to an employer and employee who doesn’t have a retirement plan, can’t afford a retirement plan but the Government plans on Fixing All That. Not yet a reality but probably soon enough those individuals who earn minimum wage and who’s employer doesn’t have a retirement plan (fast food, hotel-motel workers, home health aides, dishwashers, retail and amusement park workers) will have a portion of their income sent to the government to be invested/saved into something called an R Bond (R for retirement). Employees would need to opt out in order to not be enrolled. The R bond would not pay very much interest but arguments for the proposal say at least it would provide some savings for those less advantaged. The Treasury Department has not provided details including if the plan would provide income at retirement or a lump sum. No word on maturities or where the R-bonds would be invested. Robert Powell, at MarketWatch.com, reported on R-bonds November 9th, writing that some 75 million workers would be affected.

The WSJ, 11/11/2013 Reported There are signs the U.S. economy is gathering steam and Mom & Pop investors are now climbing aboard to ride the DJIA to new highs. Still professionals view this as a warning sign as Main Street has a long history of arriving late to the market rallies. Daniel Rowe, CIO of Budros, Ruhlin & Rowe, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio said that one of the firm’s former stock-market bears, who pulled out of stocks in 2010, called the firm in mid-October to put money back into the stock market. Rowe said it was scary when your bears turn bullish after such a large run up. Not everyone is as bullish as our friends in Ohio. Fears of ObamaCare, The President, The Administration, The Tea-Party Far Right and Far Left Liberals and worries about job security are still prevalent here in Michigan. These are the folk that won’t put a dime into the market until it reaches the very tippy-top. 

Ben Casselman, writing for Dow Jones’ Politics and Policy, The Job Gap Widens in an Uneven Recovery. The young, the less educated and particularly the unemployed- are experiencing hardly any recovery at all. The jobs that are available are the low-paying and mostly part-time. Last month employers added over 200,000 workers but mostly in low paying restaurant and retail. Those further up the ladder in education and experience the recovery has been stronger. Still nothing from Washington on stimulating jobs…

Robert Doll, CFA, Nuveen Asset Management, in his Weekly Investment Commentary, 11-11-2013: We still believe the path of least resistence for  equities is upward although near term conditions appear overbought.

MARKETS FELL TUESDAY. It wasn’t all that bad!

Brent Arends in Brent Arends ROI, 11-12-13, wrote: To Beat The Stock Market Buy Quality. Here’s How to: Buy stocks with the following characteristics-

• High Profitability-returns on assets
• High Growth- over the previous 5 Years
• Safety- Measured by low volatility
• Low Leverage- stable earnings.

The neat thing about the above recipe is that any investor can do this with the information available online.

Starbucks Owes Kraft $2.8 billion for backing out of a deal with Kraft selling Starbucks coffee.

Russia and South Korea Team Up for a Joint Sovereign Investment Fund- $500 million. They’re neighbors and this is what neighbors do…  reported in 11/13/2013 Bloomberg.com

All Indices Up Wednesday… Thursday &…Friday

Cover WSJ November 14th. I’m fed up with this already.

Ed Yardeni, CIS, at Yardeni Research sent a letter to clients last Wednesday, ‘Ride the Bull Market four more years.’ The 10-Year Treasury in 2014 will range between 2.5%-3.5% mainly because inflation is dead, he also predicted. He went on to explain the explosive growth he had been expecting was being replaced with steady expansion, increasing payroll and capacity and it was being done ever so cautiously by business. He predicts it should be a broad based expansion with cyclicals, consumer discretionary, financials, industrials and information technology leading the way. 

One of the Smartest People in The Room Abby Joseph Cohen, senior investment strategist at Goldman Sachs: Price-earnings ratios are lower now than the last time stocks were near these levels. “Companies right now are increasingly enthusiastic about the dynamism in the economy,” said Ms. Cohen in Bloomberg.com Nov 14th. She also predicts a better market 2014. You can’t do much better than listen and follow the wisdom of Ms. Cohen.

Finally- According to Arthur Herman @ Fox News November 15th, ‘The Reason That The President Lies Repeatedly and Blatantly-even when he knows people will catch him at it is not a character flaw but goes back 2,400 years. Blame it on Plato who wrote in his ‘Republic’ to tell lies deceiving both its enemies and own citizens for the benefit of the city….for the benefit of the masses. The Philosopher King knows that they…citizens… are too ignorant to ever see the truth about their city’s problems and how to fix them.’

Questions call Paul @ 586 295 0430 or write him at pstanley@westminsterfinancial.com Share this blog with someone who cares about their money.

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