OZY: How EL Nino Will Cause a Financial Storm

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Kid weather is back and acting up with a force unlike what many investors are seeing out of Puerto Rico, Greece or even China. The “little kid” or “Christ child” — aka El Niño — could cool economic growth and stoke inflation around the globe in the months to come.

Yes, El Niño comes around every three to five years and lasts only about a year as ocean temperatures off the equatorial west coast of South America rise. But temperature increases of 4 to 6 degrees above normal can, and do, whip up potentially dangerous weather patterns, such as droughts and killer floods, which then hit homes, businesses and industries. The latest El Niño is slated by some observers to rival the one in 1997–98 as the biggest ever — one that killed an estimated 2,100 globally with a force roughly equivalent to 1 million Hiroshima bombs. It left $33 billion in property damages in its wake. “This could be a big one,” warns a recent report from Brown Brothers Harriman, a financial firm.

Read more here.

Forbes: 'Money Is Like Sex,' And 24 Other Thought-Provoking Money Quotes

By SIMON CONSTABLE

On this scorching New York summer morning it’s worth remembering that not all words of money wisdom come from today’s  business heros, like Yahoo!’s Marissa Mayer, or Microsoft's Bill Gates or even Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. Some come from writers, comedians, or ancient philosophers. With that in mind, I have compiled a list of 25 thought provoking quotes on money that I found intriguing. For your convenience I included where I got the information (indirect sources in parentheses.) I hope you find these quotes as stimulating as I do. Enjoy: 

“Money is like sex. It seems much more important if you don’t have any.” – Charles Bukowski (The Hip Pocket Guide to Offbeat Wisdom.)

“It’s like muck, not good except to be spread.” — Francis Bacon (It’s Only Money by Peter Pugh)

Read more here. 

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

TheStreet: Higher Taxes Aren't Stubbing Out Teen Smoking Anymore

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Apparently it takes a lot to keep Altria's Marlboro Man down or even Reynolds American's  Joe Camel.

Higher taxes on cigarettes aren't helping stub out teen smoking like they once used to. Once again it's the so-called millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, who are bucking demographic trends and changing the way the world works.

Read more here.

Forbes: Top Signs Your Coworker Is An Empty Suit

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Is your coworker an empty suit? And how would you know if they were?

There is nothing wrong with dressing well for the office, but the problem comes when it’s all style and no substance. Expensive suits from Hugo Boss or Armani are no substitute for business acumen. Women and men are each just as guilty in this. Such people could be found in any company from the largest like Apple and Microsoft to small entrepreneurial offices. Nowhere is immune from this scourge, unless you work alone.

Here are some tell tale signs you are working with an empty suit.

Read more here.

TheStreet: U.S. Deals Reach $1.2 Trillion in 2015, and You Can Cash in on Them

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The business of companies gobbling each other up or merging is roaring.

It's not just good news for Wall Street's dealmakers at Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), it's good news for stock market investors as well. Even better news: There are reasons to think the mergers and acquisitions trend will continue.

Deal volume among U.S. companies totaled approximately $1.2 trillion dollars this year through early July, according to the latest figures from Dealogic, which tracks the data. That's up 36% from the first seven months of last year, even though July isn't yet half over.

Read more here.

The Street: Why JPMorgan Is The Best Place For Analyst Recommendations

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Who do you call when you need a stock recommendation? If you want to make money, then the best bet may be JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

Why? It has the research department with the highest number of star analysts, and stars' recommendations produce bigger stock gains than the rest of the herd. Not far behind in the count is Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC).

On average, stars from all firms produce monthly average excess returns (or alpha) of up to 1.58%, according to a recent study. In the simplest terms, alpha is the amount of value added by an analyst relative to a benchmark such as the S&P 500.

Read more here.

WSJ: What Are Risk-Adjusted Returns?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When you hear financial experts talk about risk-adjusted returns, what do they mean? It may sound complicated, but the concept is simple.

It means that when comparing investment returns like those from mutual funds, it can be misleading to just look at the headline figures. For instance, at first glance it might seem that a fund that gained 12% last year is better than one at 9%. In reality, it depends on how much risk was involved in generating those profits. The more risk, the less the returns are worth. Read more here.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash