Monday, December 7, 2015
Forbes: The Diabolical Tale Of Hitler's Art Thief
By SIMON CONSTABLE
There are times in history when business and government start working together in a diabolical way. Most recently we’ve seen the so-called Islamic State develop an industry of looting priceless artifacts from the middle east and selling them to willing collectors around the world. They are but the latest group to engage in such behavior.
Back in the 1930s and 1940s the Nazis teamed up with art experts to rob Europe’s Jews of enormous caches of priceless art, often via forced sales. Paintings were then shipped off to collectors in New York, for instance. Susan Ronald chronicles one man’s extraordinary career of thievery in her recent book, Hitler’s Art Thief: Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis, and the Looting of Europe’s Treasures.
Read more here.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
U.S. News: Why Defensive Stocks Aren't Safe Any More
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Nervous investors should think twice before diving into so-called defensive stocks, especially those securities with high dividends. You might end up putting more risk into your portfolio than you realize.
Stocks that have less volatility than the overall market and pay higher dividends than most other stocks are often seen as a way to reduce risk in a portfolio. Traditionally, these are found in the defensive sectors, including consumer staples, utilities and health care.
Read more here.
Cal State East Bay Alum Mag: How Technology is Transforming the Afterlife
By SIMON CONSTABLE
"I’m not sure my mother understands Twitter or why I tell her millions of people love her — but she says she’s ver[sic] touched,” Scott Simon tweeted to 1.3 million followers on his mother’s deathbed.
"I’m not sure my mother understands Twitter or why I tell her millions of people love her — but she says she’s ver[sic] touched,” Scott Simon tweeted to 1.3 million followers on his mother’s deathbed.
It was one of many such public announcements the NPR journalist and host of Weekend Edition Saturday made in the weeks leading up to his mother’s passing:
“Heart rate dropping. Heart dropping.” / “You wake up
and realize you weren’t dreaming. It happened. Cry like
you couldn’t last night.” / “Between last minute flights,
fees, lawyers, forms, cemeteries etc. how do families afford
deaths?”
Simon wasn’t the first to do so, but his broadcast of the before, during, and after-death experience inspired both intense public criticism and unfailing support. As one reviewer said, “He just needs an Internet hug.” Another was less sympathetic: “What’s with the tweet when he said he was holding his mother’s hand? I imagined him by his mother’s side doing just that … and typing in his tweet with the other hand. It’s his way of dealing, but in my experience, sometimes you’re more in the moment if you just put your mobile device away.”
Read more here.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Forbes: ObamaCare's Marie Antoinette Moment
By SIMON CONSTABLE
ObamaCare could be facing a Marie Antoinette moment. In case you didn’t know, she was the Queen of France who reputedly said of the starving peasants, “let them eat cake.” That was of course, just like telling someone who is hungry and broke, why don’t you just eat at the Harvard Club like the rest of us?
Marie Antoinette was later beheaded during the terror of the 1790s.
Her comment, which she may or may not have made, seems reminiscent of news earlier this month about the so-called Affordable Care Act. In November, one healthcare insurer warned that it may pull out of the ACA exchanges after 2016, citing low enrollment and poor economics.
There appears to be nothing stopping such a move, which may or may not be ok depending on how you look at the problem. Read more here.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Fortune: Here's What Happened to the Great Thanksgiving Pumpkin Shortage of 2015
By SIMON CONSTABLE
It was the pie crisis that wasn’t, at least not yet.
In early October, crop experts warned that a poor pumpkin harvest threatened to ruin Thanksgiving for lovers of one of the holiday’s most famous offerings. And those warnings turned into a national story. One news source screamed, “Pumpkins for Halloween, but shortage looms for Thanksgiving pies.”
Read more here.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
U.S. News: These Stocks Will Be Winners This Holiday Season
By SIMON CONSTABLE
The holiday season could be good for investors this year as consumers seem to have found their spending mojo. But it pays to understand where the dollars will likely flow so that investors can target stocks that should outperform analysts' expectations.
"The improving condition of the U.S. consumer implies a fairly brisk holiday shopping season ahead," says Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at professional services firm RSM.
Read more here.
OZY: Building Blocks for A Cheaper Housing Market
By SIMON CONSTABLE
In the mid-1970s, my grandfather retired after decades with the Admiralty, the U.K.’s equivalent of the U.S. Navy, and bought the first home he ever owned — paying 100 percent cash for it. Not bad for a man who spent most of his life getting by on a government salary. These days, the idea that an average working person in Britain or the U.S. could accomplish such a thing seems ludicrous, a truly impossible dream.
Read more here.
In the mid-1970s, my grandfather retired after decades with the Admiralty, the U.K.’s equivalent of the U.S. Navy, and bought the first home he ever owned — paying 100 percent cash for it. Not bad for a man who spent most of his life getting by on a government salary. These days, the idea that an average working person in Britain or the U.S. could accomplish such a thing seems ludicrous, a truly impossible dream.
Read more here.
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