Dear rss free blog,
Pres.
Obama delivered a smashing speech in accepting the Nobel Prize. Here
is an extract:
As
a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I face the
world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the
American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A
non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies.
Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their
arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to
cynicism – it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man
and the limits of reason.
I raise this point because in many
countries there is a deep ambivalence about military action today, no
matter the cause. At times, this is joined by a reflexive suspicion
of America, the world’s sole military superpower.
Yet the
world must remember that it was not simply international institutions
– not just treaties and declarations – that brought stability to
a post-World War II world. Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain
fact is this: the United States of America has helped underwrite
global security for more than six decades with the blood of our
citizens and the strength of our arms.
As
a New Yorker, I don’t think my country has a choice about fighting in
Afghanistan. We were attacked and perfectly innocent people killed on
Sept. 11, 2001. Under the rules of law (est. in the 17th
century, as Pres. Obama noted), the USA can and should retaliate. The
rules of law legitmate (but don’t always achieve) a calibrated
response respecting the rights of non-combattants.
I
sent my yesterday newsletter to some journalists and happily received
three replies from people who want to cover Russia for
Global-Investing.com from a fellow global journalist, the first
respondent, whom I immediately hired; a Russian-speaking lady
reporter; and an overqualified US-Russian couple whom a relative
recommended. It is nice to know that people who know Russia well are
still interested in earning dollars.
So
we have Russian coverage again despite my rows with the former fellow
over his idolization of Premier Putin. The way the ex wrote about the
country sounded the Stalinism of my childhood and turned my stomach:
the shut-in of gas to and via Ukraine; the arrest of Khodorkovsky for
what amounts to lèse majesté political opposition; the ban against
Hermitage Fund manager Bill Browder entering Russia; and worst
the arrest of Browder’s lawyer for what amounts to providing legal
representation to a client, and the lawyer’s death in jail from an
untreated medical problem at age 35.
For
the record, Browder was a red diaper baby. His grandfather Earl was
the unrepentant Stalinist who headed the CPUSA. Russian life under
Putin as under the Soviets is still nasty, brutish, and short
although the old NKVD Lubiyanka Prison is now a children’s toy store.
Is
it the herald angels or a head fake? The dollar resumed its slide
yesterday and materials and gold shares (the obverse of the coin)
resumed their rise. But what does this portend for 2010 in currency
and commodity markets?
My
guess is that until interest rates rise, likely to take a while, the
dollar will fall further. IF the Chinese can force the world to let
them peg their yuan to the greenback forever is uncertain as is the
issue of whether this really benefits China itself. Beijing has
imposed a “flip tax” on short term real estate holdings (under 5
yrs) to try to pop an obvious bubble. In Q3 Chinese home-buyers got
$1.3 trillion in bank loans and mortgages.
After
much struggle and strife, I managed to get 70% of my replicable,
trackable, and tradeable Covestor global yield portfolio up and
running (drumrolls, applause, cheers.) So readers who want to quickly
create a liquid and relatively low risk way to generate yields with
small sums of money can sign up at Covestor to copy it.
My
profile page is at: http://cv.im/models/profile/vivian-lewis/
From
there you can open up an account. To go directly to the Covestor
on-line client take-on (to sign up and start easily), go to
https://cv.im/open-account/start/
The
minimum account size is $5000 although you probably should start with
$10,000 to avoid paying excess commissions.
I am buying several closed-end funds which invest principally outside the US and are trading at significant discounts to Net Asset Value. As I keep saying, you get $1 of investment when you put up 90 cents or so.
There is no money left on the sidewalk to pick up when you buy exchange-traded funds. That is why I like closed-end funds for yields.
Whenever I hear theories about rational market pricing I recall those discounts.
Here
is my note to reader CJ who had questions.
Your
questions are nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, they are crucial. do
not apologize.
1)
yes, you will only make a profit if the closed-end fund price rises.
however, your dividend will be higher even if the price remains the
same because you are getting a return on more money than you put up.
but if both the net asset value and the price go up in tandem (i.e.
if the discount persists) you will make a profit on your shares.
That
is less important when you are buying closed end funds for yields.
As
for the supposed salemanship, closed-end funds tend not to be sold
hard because it is not in anyone’s interest to. The managers don’t
care because their pay remains fixed; the brokers don’t care because
the cost of studying closed end funds is mhigher than the commission
for trading them; and even the investors in the funds often pay no
attention to the market price.
The
only time they are “sold” is at the ipo when the brokers
get a fee for placing the shares, which is why you shouldn’t buy
then; your ipo price is 100% but the broker gets 7% so you have paid
$1 for 93 cents of investment, exactly the reverse of what happens in
the aftermarket.
2)
Yields are conservatively calculated in newspapers and on screening
systems. That means it is last year’s payout that they show. Usually
there is not going to be that much again. In the case of Formula
Systems you cited, the issue is that it is a company controlled
by a few Israeli guys and they hit the jackpot last year. No way to
know when it will happen again. you buy that one for the long haul. I
gave up myself and sold the stock.
3)
The covestor site I think will take $5000. This is a portfolio with a
purpose, to get a yield of over 5% safely with a diversified group of
global holdings selected by me. I think it can replace a money market
fund because this stuff is pretty liquid and when I have figured out
how to hold 10 positions in the account (I got to 7 yesterday with
hard slog) your exit or entry cost would be $10.
That
is why you should not aim for the very minimal amount of $5000
because (for example) if you held for a year you would get $25 in
yield but you would lose $20 with in and out commissions.
If
you held $10,000 you would get $50 in yield and would still lose only
$20 in commission.
If
you held $15,000 you would get $75 in yield and lose only $20 in
commission.
If
you held $20,000 you would get $100 in yield and lose only $20 in
commission. You can see how it works. It gets better the more you
invest. As well as the longer you hold. But you should really check
with the site managers because I am not running the operation beyond
picking the stocks.
More
for paid subscribers about the rest of the portfolio follows.
