By Dan Steinhart, Casey Research US corporations are sitting on more cash than at any point since World War 2. That's without including banks. I'm only talking about non-financial corporations – the ones that sell goods and services and make the economy go. Those businesses hold $1.4 trillion. In absolute terms, that's the most ever. In relative terms, it's the most since World War II. As investors, we can infer quite a bit from corporations' inability (or unwillingness) to deploy their cash. For one, it indicates that business have assumed a very defensive stance. Cash, of course, is a buffer against uncertainty - the uncertainty that business slows for any reason. … [Read more...]
Sheltering Cash From Inflation
When Inflation heats up it can ravage your cash holdings and so of course that is why a portion of your portfolio needs to be in inflation hedges. But a side effect of inflationary forces is the added volatility it adds to markets. Navigating this added volatility involves having flexibility in your portfolio and flexibility comes from cash or cash equivalents. Unfortunately, cash equivalents are big losers during periods of high inflation. So what do you do? Fortunately, there is a solution that will provide liquidity and prevent the major part of the purchasing power erosion due to inflation. Plus provide good returns in the mean time. In today's report the author of "Keep What You … [Read more...]
What is the Ultimate Status Symbol in a Deflationary Depression?
Deflationary Depression: Ultimate Status Symbol The Biggest House? No. The Most Expensive Car? Try Again. By Robert Jay Ostentatious display defined the "Gilded Age" in the latter part of the 19th century. Most of the upper class in that period believed that if you had a big bank account, you should make sure everyone knew it. A century later -- during the bull market of the 1980s-1990s -- "McMansions" with BMWs in the garage became more common. Pulling out the plastic and enjoying instant gratification became pervasive. In most decades of the past century, families had to save for big ticket items, perhaps even save all year to ensure holiday presents under the tree. To take … [Read more...]
