U.S. News: 3 Stocks to Play to Shortage of Phosphorus

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It could be time to feed your portfolio with some plant food stocks, but only if you are prepared to take a very long-term view. 

The world's grasslands, which is where much meat and milk production ultimately starts out, are being depleted of a vital mineral. Phosphorus is the chemical that farmers apply through fertilizer to replenish grassland after grazing. 

A new study that in the Nature Communications journal warns that an acceleration in grassland degradation will require farmers to apply four times as much phosphorus – both from livestock manure and commercial products – to their pastures by 2050 to "achieve an anticipated 80 percent increase in grass production" and keep the soil fertile. Read more here.

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OZY: Simonomics on the Brexit -- What's At Stake?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you travel to Britain now, you can almost hear the sounds of the Clash singing, “Should I stay or should I go? / If I stay there will be trouble / And if I go it will be double.” That tune springs to mind as the people of my homeland, Britain, prepare for the Brexit referendum, in which they will decide on June 23 whether Britain exits the European Union. And there’s a lot riding on the vote.
Britain’s politicians, who at times can make Donald Trump sound measured, are venting their frustrations with the EU. The beef is basically what can London do, or not do, while still remaining inside the EU. There’s a long history of, shall we kindly say, this sort of tension. This time, a lot of it involves questions of migration and who can claim pricey British social benefits.

So Prime Minister David Cameron has renegotiated the membership deal, at least enough in his view to recommend that British people vote to stay in the EU. That’s where this referendum is quite different from an election, because in the run-up to the big talks between Europe’s leaders there was every incentive to look like the country would bail. Now that the deal is done, the discussion about leaving the EU has taken on a life of its own, with a high-profile member of the ruling Conservative Party recommending people to vote to exit. Read more here.

TheStreet: 7 Must-Read Books if You Want to Get Rich, in Dollars and Sense

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It's often said that very successful people don't waste time watching TV. Instead, they read voraciously.

Which begs the question, 'What should you read?' Will sappy romances and airport thrillers do the trick? Self-help guides, maybe? It depends, ultimately, on how you define success. 

If you want to learn something about money, investing, and accumulating wealth, then the trick is to find some books on the topic that won't bore you silly. Here are some new ones as well as a few that have stood the test of time.

Let's start with something hot off the press: The Devil's Financial Dictionary by Jason Zweig, a veteran financial journalist and former colleague of mine at the Dow Jones division of Newscorp.

Read more here.

U.S. News: How To Invest In India

By SIMON CONSTABLE

In a world where major economies are either slowing (China) or growing at sluggish rates (the European Union), there is one country that stands out: India. 

In fact, India has the potential to be huge, but there is opportunity there only for investors with a strong stomach. Read more here.

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TheStreet: How Digital Style Helps Insurers Profile You -- And Save You Money

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Would you strap on an Apple Watch or Fitbit device to get a better deal on your health insurance?

You may have the opportunity soon, as the once-stodgy insurance business explores ways to take advantage of vast quantities of consumer health data and the proliferation of wearable devices. Many insurers are conducting pilot tests that involve asking people to wear personal devices that collect health information, says Shane Cassidy, senior vice president for North American insurance with consulting firm CapGemini Financial Services in Chicago. Read more here.

Forbes: How To Live Like Charles Bukowski

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Abel Debritto is back with another edited compilation of writing by Charles Bukowski, this time he deals with the heart. The book, On Love, was published by Ecco in early February.

As with all things Bukowski, it is about much more than the title. It’s about life, failure, success, and regrets. One thing I like about him is that he pursued his own goals rather than the goals others might have set for him. That’s something we should all learn. Read more here.

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Barron's: The Great Orange Juice Squeeze

By SIMON CONSTABLE

This might be hard to swallow, but a case CAN be made that orange-juice futures will soon go the way of the dodo. The market certainly isn’t quite as sweet as it once was.

“OJ is a market that has been racing to the bottom of a futures-market extinction event,” says Shawn Hackett, CEO and president of Hackett Financial Advisors and author of the Hackett Money Flow Report.

At least part of the problem is that orange juice isn’t the staple it once was. Slipping consumption is having a knock-on effect in the futures market, which could eventually mean orange juice no longer will attract enough interest from speculative traders to be viable. Read more here.

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Forbes: Worst Boss -- Part 11

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Part 11 of a continuing series, which outlines how you too can be an appalling manager. Read part 10 here.

For this part the focus shall be on quitting. There are great ways to quit, but as a terrible boss you should pick only awful ways. Here are some examples, with commentary.

U.S. News: How to Spot the Bear Market and Beat It

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If stocks are in a bear market, the last thing investors need is to hear about it after the fact. It's as unhelpful as being told, "You should have been here yesterday." 

The pullback in the Standard & Poor's 500 index hasn't yet reached the classic definition of a bear market, which is a decline of 20 percent or more. But by that measure, the drop is nearly here. 

Are we headed for a bear market, and what should investors do? The answers are tricky.

Read more here.

TheStreet: Recession? We're Not There Yet, So Don't Hit the Panic Button

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The doomsayers may have jumped the gun a bit: Some pundits and analysts say a recession is just around the corner. 

The evidence isn't there, however. Not just yet, anyway. Yes, eventually we will have a recession in the United States. The world of commerce has always had business cycles -- expansions followed by contractions. This time is no different.

But is one imminent now? Not at all, according to some key measures. Read more here.

Forbes: Ten Things To Learn From Hunter S. Thompson

By SIMON CONSTABLE

I’ve long been a fan of Hunter S. Thompson, author of such classics as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Hell’s Angels.” So when I saw a book by his son, Juan F. Thompson, published in January I itched to get a copy.

The book, Stories I Tell Myself by Juan F. Thompson: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson, is a fine read. In some ways, it’s a love letter to his departed father. Perhaps more important, is that for us as outsiders it paints a three-dimensional portrait of a literary giant. People are complicated; Thompson Sr. more than most. 

Read more here.

Forbes: Worst Boss Possible -- Part 10

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Part ten of a continuing series, which outlines how you too can be an appalling manager. Read part nine here.

Apparently, there are more than a few awful bosses out there. Jobs site Monster.com just released a survey showing that almost one third of respondents said their boss was quote “horrible.”  The survey was conducted from December 7 through December 21 and asked the question, “On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your boss?” The results they sent to me were as follows.

WSJ: Are Too Many Choices Costing 401(k) Holders?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

In investing, choice usually is a good thing. But new research suggests that having too many choices in a 401(k) retirement plan could be costly for participants.

Researchers studied a 401(k)-type plan that reduced the number of mutual funds it offered by close to half. They found that investors who were forced to shift their money out of the funds being eliminated from the plan tended to move into funds with lower fees—even though the funds available after the plan was streamlined had almost exactly the same range of fees as the menu of funds before the choices were reduced.

Read more here.

WSJ: What Is Capital Flight?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Investors might hear the term “capital flight” a lot more this year. It’s important to anyone who has invested in emerging markets, especially China.

So what is it? Capital flight is the term for unusually large amounts of money leaving a country to be invested elsewhere. It often happens when investors en masse lose faith in a country’s economic prospects.

Read more here.

U.S. News: A Shoebox of Penny Stocks and Other Investing Horror Stories

By SIMON CONSTABLE

So very often the mantra of personal finance is simple: Make small changes now, and decades from now you'll make some huge gains. 

It might not be as thrilling as riding the Coney Island Cyclone, but it seems to work. Slow and steady wins the day, at least financially. 

But what about when all that prudent advice goes out the window? What happens when the counsel of trained financial whiz-kids and seasoned sages is ignored? The following real-world examples from financial advisers across the U.S. should give you an idea. And here's a hint – it's not pretty. Read more here.

TheStreet: How Obamacare is Cutting Your Salary -- And Your Vacation Budget

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Economic reality is catching up with the  Affordable Care Act, aka  Obamacare, according to two recent reports. 

The problem is that while acts of Congress can be repealed, the basic laws of economics cannot. In this case, the law in question is one that most students are taught on the first day of economics class: There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays. 

Obamacare is proving no different. First, people with employer-based health insurance are paying in the form of lower salaries because of the extension of coverage to dependent children through age 25. 

Read more here.

Forbes: Why We Need To Stop Managing People Like Widgets -- Book

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When I first came to the United States, what was notable to me was the amazing conformity exhibited by employees. This manifested in terms of the way many spoke, what clothes they wore, and what hobbies they had (sometimes none.) In the land where individuality supposedly ruled, it was often absent on the surface in a lot of my colleagues. At least that’s how it seemed at the time.

What I now realize is that it was the managers that wanted conformity (and the employees complied in a  shallow way). For managers that meant it was easier to manage people. If two people were viewed as basically the same then they could be moved into each other’s roles. In some sense, the managers were treating people in the way that Henry Ford treated car parts — they needed to be interchangeable. The problem is that people aren’t made in moulds.

That reality is the focus of a recently published book, The End of Average: How We Succeed In A World That Values Sameness by Todd Rose.

Read more here.

WSJ: What Is Rolling Down the Yield Curve?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Sometimes you’ll hear investors talk about rolling down the yield curve. 

The term refers to a strategy of selling bonds before they mature in an effort to profit from rising prices. In bond markets, prices rise when yields fall, which is what tends to happen as bonds approach maturity.

The concept, while confusing, is important to understand, especially for those bond investors worried about rising interest rates. Read more here.