U.S. News: Why the Dollar Will Surge Again

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Get ready for another rally for the U.S. dollar. It's what economists call "policy divergence," and it means investors will pour their money into greenbacks. Here's how it will work and how investors could profit. 

The Federal Reserve, which is the central bank for the U.S., is expected to have policies that will increasingly diverge from those of the world's other major central banks, such as the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. 

In the simplest terms, the Fed will continue to increase the cost of borrowing money, while most of the rest of the world will either lower their short-term lending rates or leave them unchanged. Read more here.

Photo by Avinash Kumar on Unsplash

Forbes: How To Be The Worst Boss Possible Part 8

By SIMON CONSTABLE

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

A big part of being a good boss is having your employees view you in high regard.

Likewise, the trick if you want to be a bad boss is to abandon any effort in that direction. When you lose the respect of your team you will ultimately head down a road that will lead to you doing the sorts of things that will put you in the running for ”worse boss possible.”

However, that can be a rather long process.

For fast results, wear a wig. 

Read more here.

TheStreet: Why China's Yuan Can't Take Down the Almighty Dollar

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Warnings that the Chinese yuan will oust the greenback as the world's primary reserve currency are premature at best. Absurdly premature, in fact. 

And that's a good thing for Americans. Having the dollar as king of currencies means borrowing costs from banks like JPMorgan Chase are lower than they would otherwise be. Likewise, imported goods in stores like Macy's, are cheaper. The good news is that situation isn't changing anytime soon.

It isn't so much that the dollar is a Goliath to the yuan as David as that the biblical fight between a giant and a young man looks fairly matched when you start comparing the two currencies. Read more here.

Photo by Sahand Hoseini on Unsplash

U.S. News: What Market Pros Will Be Watching in 2016

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If Mr. Market flummoxed you in 2015, don't worry. There's always tomorrow. 

Wall Street saw the eurozone narrowly avert disaster as Greece agreed to another bailout, China's stock market fall off a cliff and energy stocks suffer. Meanwhile, many health care companies and tech stocks continue to roll. 

What will the new year bring? To give you a little assistance in navigating the investment world, here's what some long-time market experts will be watching in 2016. 

Read more here.

TheStreet: Why Artificial Intelligence and Smart Machines Won't Destroy Us

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you're worried that more intelligent machines will begin to make humans irrelevant in the work place, don't be. We've been down this road before, and it didn't turn out half as bad as many feared.

Yes, it's true that IBM's (IBM - Get Report) Watson computer has become a Jeopardy champion and that machines can learn. Apple's iPhone auto-correct seems to be improving, and Alphabet's Google search features do an increasingly good job of anticipating what you're really scouring the Web for.

Read more here.

Forbes: Schlonged -- Famous Quotes Using Trump's Latest Quip

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Entrepreneur and presidential candidate Donald Trump has done it again. He has captured the imagination of the press corps, this time by using the word “schlonged.” He meant “defeated,” he says.

Trump is not the first to use the word in that manner. Apparently, a host at National Public Radio described a 1984 political defeat using the term on-air in 2011, according to a report in the Washington Post. Another report by the Washington Post says he probably got the meaning wrong because he isn’t familiar with Yiddish, which maybe true.

Still, that’s where English is different from some other languages. It morphs over time. The way we use words changes and maybe Trump is an unlikely innovator in this field.

With that in mind I have amended some classic quotes to include this vernacular in the way Trump says he meant. No offense intended to anyone.

Read more here.

OZY: What More Cowbell Means For Europe's Economy

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A decade and a half ago, Saturday Night Live viewers first heard the phrase “More cowbell!” from actor Christopher Walken playing fictional music producer “the Bruce Dickinson.” Since then, the line has become an iconic quip — but one that’s not limited to pop culture. Across the pond, investors have been calling for more financial cowbell from the European Central Bank, and earlier this month, they got it. Sort of.

The head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, did deliver more cowbell in the form of some stimulus and lowered interest rates, but not as much as had been expected. “Ultimately, and profoundly, the ECB disappointed, and this has rarely been seen in Draghi’s tenure,” states a recent report from the bank Brown Brothers Harriman. Some small commotion followed in the financial markets. Still, the question remains: Will the policy move ultimately achieve the desired goals of lifting inflation and spurring growth? Read more here.

Photo by Christian Englmeier on Unsplash