John Batchelor Show: Peter Thiel, Economics

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Recent appearance on the John Batchelor Show discussing Peter Thiel, investing, economics.

TheStreet: How Wells Fargo Scam May Shake the Wheels Off the Banking Industry

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A spectacular scam in which employees of Wells Fargo  (WFC)  opened unauthorized customer accounts in order to earn bigger bonuses may shake the wheels off not only the bank's legendary stagecoach, but the entire industry.

The fate of the 160-year-old company itself is of only secondary interest to me, however. Many other businesses have weathered comparable scandals and bounced back relatively painlessly.

The real problem is that the malfeasance at the bank may lead to the entire industry being relegated further into a minor economic role. Read more here.

Forbes Video: Is A Market Crash Imminent?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When stocks fail to pull back in quite a while, then investors should start to get worried about whether the gains are sustainable.

In the rawest terms, the question is this: Are we headed for a crash? Will be see a repeat of 1987 when stocks plunged around the world in minutes? Will we see a slower slide like that after the tech bubble of the late 1990s? You get the idea.

Watch, listen, and learn in this video.

TheStreet: Below Zero -- The Negative Interest Rates Campaign You May Have Missed

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you think your bank savings earn a measly return now, just wait: It could get even worse.

A coordinated campaign to make negative interest rates a reality in America just got launched -- at least, it looks that way. (See other stories in the Below Zero series for a thorough explanation of negative interest rates and the implications.) Read more here.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Forbes: How To Succeed Like Moby

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It might be hard to imagine Moby as anything other than an uber-famous artist, musician, and DJ. But once upon a time he lived in a disused factory in Connecticut, paying the guards $50 a month to look the other way. In the big scheme of things, that wasn’t so long ago — 1989.

That’s basically where Moby’s recently published book, Poreclain, starts. It then moves location to New York in the early 1990s, a time and place with which I am well acquainted. But that’s not why this book caught my eye. Read more here.

By Uncensored Interview (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Forbes Video: Are Investors Too Sleepy?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

With many things in life, when we get complacent we tend to mess up. The same is true for investors.

Currently, there hasn’t been a major pullback in the markets for a while. The turmoil following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, and the slide in the first few weeks of the year, now both look like distant memories. Yet despite that general lack of volatility, attitudes towards stocks haven’t become ultra cautious.

Edward Dempsey chief investment officer at Pension Partners, explains his thoughts on the matter in this video.

U.S. News: Signs Point to a Stronger Economy

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you are confused over the economy, then you likely aren't the only one.

In late August we got two pieces of seemingly contradictory economic news. One was weak and the other pointed to strength. Here's what they both mean, and why the economy is actually picking up.

On the one hand, the government trimmed its estimate of second GDP quarter growth to a paltry 1.1 percent, according to the latest data. That's weak by any standard and because it was the period from April through June, it was also hard to blame the winter weather, which itself has become something of an annual excuse lately.

On the other hand, the Federal Reserve has indicated it is moving closer to that point where it may raise the cost of borrowing money. Why? Because the economy is showing strength.
So which is it, strong or weak? Read more here.

Photo by John Gibbons on Unsplash