"If you don't hold it, you don't own it." -- applies to gold, silver, or physical assets
"Renting is throwing money away." - applies to housing, real estate
"A penny saved is a penny earned." - Ben Franklin
By the way, on that last famous quote by one of America's great Founding Fathers, Ben Franklin also said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest," which is a timeless thought.
There are more, as illustrated here, and here, the point being that while there may possibly not be any endless truths, there are some adages that pass the test of time with flying colors.
Why is this important? Could it possibly be because living today is measured in nanoseconds, the value of human life has been so greatly diminished, currency masquerades as money, or everything seems to be measured in terms of wealth? Probably all of those and more.
Young and old alike have lost respect for things that matter most. Good manners, pfft. Morals, see ya. Concepts like integrity, honesty, reliability, respect, and dignity seem to have vanished from our modern lexicon. Coolness is valued over intelligence. What we own, owns us. Our media has failed us. Government has betrayed us. Institutions of higher eduction have impoverished us.
As the world slides ever closer to totalitarian tyranny with every passing day, there are resistors and skeptics, those who seek to avoid the path of hate and derision, of a world ruled by the loudest voice, the most devious mind. Some people - and there are a lot of them - just want to be left alone. They don't want everything they do, or say, or touch, to be a political statement. They wish to live on equal terms with their neighbors, in peace, harmony, and shared values. Call them old-fashioned or stuck in the mud. They just happen to like things the way they used to be, and one can hardly blame them.
Whether those who resist will be dragged into the present or the uncertain future remains a speculation. What matters is how well one is able to navigate today, tomorrow and beyond in a world that seems to be spinning out of control, and to do that, one has to have priorities, assets that will retain value, and investments which will grow, provide income and stability.
In this series of articles over the coming days and weeks, Money Daily seeks to explore and examine the various asset classes, identify some new ones, and suggest which will work best in the so-called "New Normal." As a basic premise, the idea that owning stocks or bonds or real estate or any single asset class is thrown out the window. A mix of not just stocks, which Wall Street insists is the only game in town, but of a variety of asset classes is the key to survival and prosperity, as it has likely been for eons.
Let's start with a look at what are the major asset classes, just by enumerating them, bearing in mind that not all assets are financial assets, but all assets have value, and owning a rich mix of asset classes is key to wealth, happiness, and hopefully, prosperity. (Bear in mind that your financial advisor or "investment professional" isn't going to cover even half of this list, which is entirely the product of years of research, study, and investing by Money Daily publisher and editor, Rick Gagliano.)
In no particular order, asset classes are as follows:
This is by no means a complete list, though it is fairly exhaustive. There's more to the world of which we know and don't know to discover. The best assets may not even be on anyone's list as they've yet to be discovered. Keeping an open mind that's attuned to discovery and innovation is a paramount tenet of any investor's skill set.
Let us leave it right there for now. More details will follow in upcoming chapters.
Here's a couple more quotes for the day:
Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs. -- Zig Ziglar (If you don't know who Zig Ziglar was, you've missed out on much. Here's a taste...)
Never spend your money before you have it. -- Thomas Jefferson (It is not surprising that Jefferson was greatly opposed to the concept of a central bank.)
Tuesday's trading day might best be defined as cautiously speculative. Monday's selloff in stocks and precious metals was met with pre-market confidence in futures which carried over into the equity cash session. Stocks were up sharply at the open, stayed afloat, but lost ground early, especially after a group of "moderate" Republicans and Democrats released the contents of a fresh COVID stimulus bill that was poorly crafted, politically inspired, pandering to special interests and out of touch with economic realities.
The Dow, which had rallied more than 400 points in early trading, eventually gave back more than half of those gains by the closing bell. The promise of close to a trillion dollars ($908 billion), sponsored by Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mark Warner (D-VA), as well as Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) missed the mark badly in Wall Street terms.
The bulk of the money went to mostly non-Covid-related issues. $160 billion was earmarked for aid to state and local governments, $82 billion for education funding, $45 billion for transportation agencies (AMTRAK). A $300 weekly unemployment boost was included, but the bill left out another round of checks to Americans, an enormous failing.
Treasury yields exploded higher as money fled fixed income. Yields on the 10-year note and 30-year bond rose eight basis points, to 0.92% and 1.66%, respectively.
Gold and silver rallied sharply and held onto gains after weeks of relentless price-crushing attacks in futures markets. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gyrated wildly, but continued a sustained long-term rally.
Fake News Viewing note: Vaccine pusher, Bill Gates, is scheduled to appear on NBC's "Today" show, 7:00 am ET.
At the Close, Tuesday, December 1, 2020:
Dow: 29,823.92, +185.32 (+0.63%)
NASDAQ: 12,355.11, +156.41 (+1.28%)
S&P 500: 3,662.45, +40.82 (+1.13%)
NYSE: 14,146.64, +140.14 (+1.00%)
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