Blog Posts

The 401(k) vs. Roth IRA is a common comparison as it pertains to two of the most common tax-advantaged accounts available to US investors.  Like with many things with competing trade-offs, there’s no one right answer. The 401(k) and Roth IRA each have pros and cons. So it’s best to consider one’s individual circumstances and […]

Venture capital and angel investing largely involves investing in startups. While venture capital is a specific type of investing, it’s not exclusive to anyone. Investing in early-stage projects can offer alluring yields and can be part of anyone’s asset mix, even day traders. In the end, it’s a just-make-money game. While some people prefer stocks […]

If you’re considering whether trading is a good pursuit for yourself, good for others (e.g., hiring), or what makes a good trader more generally, we know that some personality types are more attracted to some professions over others. We also know that trader personality types and traits also follow a common thread. If you think […]

Portfolio strategy has taken a big change from normal. Cash and bonds provide extremely low yields and this is having major impacts on where traders and investors go from here and how they construct their portfolios.  The nominal yields on government debt of reserve currency countries is very low to negative. We also know that […]

Diversification through strategic, rather than tactical, asset allocation is the most important thing you can do to win in the markets over the long-run. It’s more important than focusing on what to invest in and more important than focusing on your targeted absolute level of returns. For individual investors who play the markets, most of […]

Reserve currencies are foreign currencies, precious metals, or other reserve assets that are held by countries’ governments, central banks, or central monetary authorities to hold as part of their foreign exchange reserves. Reserve currencies are used to save in, transact in, stabilize one’s own currency, or use for investments. They are often called safe-haven currencies. […]

Whether you trade stock indexes, pick individual stocks, trade ETFs, or have other equity exposures in your portfolio, you may consider ways to hedge equity risk to reduce potential losses. Stocks are a volatile asset class and common shareholders are the most junior stakeholders in a business. A stock conveys a share of ownership in a […]

Japanification, or Japanization, refers to the idea that other developed markets are at risk of following Japan in its low-growth and low-inflation pattern that has characterized the decades following the popping of the country’s 1989 bubble. Japanification is also often called secular stagnation. Japan has lots of debt, negative population growth, and sagging productivity growth rates. […]

Given how low cash and bond rates are (and because that’s, generally, how it always is), the nature of monetary and fiscal policy has big effects on currencies (FX) and commodities as well. In this article, we’ll discuss why currency (FX) and commodities trading are likely to see a rebirth in popularity. At the least, […]

After a recession, the central bank has big incentives to get the economy going again. Traders then largely shift to what are called reflation trades, which will benefit from this backdrop. Central banks start by lowering interest rates. This makes cash less attractive to own. This incentivizes the ownership of riskier assets and more spending […]