Forbes: Could Small Caps Help Investors Beat A Trade War?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Talk of a trade war has been increasingly ubiquitous for the past few months, whether it be between the U.S. and either China or the U.S. and the European Union.

But that hasn't stopped investors piling into U.S. assets including greenbacks and stocks.

Read more here.

PJ Media: Rising Energy Prices Tells Us That the World Will Shun Dealing with Iran

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

The crude oil market has a blunt message for the world.

U.S. sanctions on Iran will bite hard and so remove a chunk of crude oil supply from the global market. That’s why prices for this energy have rallied so much lately.

The price for light sweet crude has rallied almost 10 percent over the past few weeks to $73.63 a barrel recently from $67.25 at the beginning of May, according to data from Bloomberg.

In early May the Trump administration signaled an end to U.S. participation in the so-called Iran nuclear deal and would, therefore, begin to impose sanctions on the country. The Obama-era agreement had allowed Iran to trade oil and other goods in exchange for not developing nuclear weapons. Read more here.

Photo by Delfino Barboza on Unsplash

Korn Ferry: Brexit Break-Ups

In any negotiation, it’s assumed that each side has a common objective. But when it comes to the ongoing Brexit negotiations, that may not be the case.

Over the weekend Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled her Brexit plan. But by Monday two pro-Brexit members of May’s Cabinet had quit in protest. Other ministers may follow suit, and some experts are wondering whether May herself will leave soon. Read more here.

WSJ: Bottom-Up vs. Top-down

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Sometimes you’ll see investment research that discusses so-called top-down and bottom-up estimates of how much money the companies in the S&P 500 index will earn overall.

The differences can sometimes be meaningful. Read more here.

Rob Young from United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ: What's Driving the Bank Stocks?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Bank stocks in recent years have appreciated along with a rise in long-term interest rates, outperforming the broader market over much of that time. Can investors count on this trend continuing, as long as the 10-year yield is rising?

Not necessarily, analysts say, pointing out that long-term interest rates are just one of several factors that drive bank profitability. Read more here.

Photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash

PJ Media: How Artificial Intelligence Can Lead to Better Pay for Human Workers

By SIMON CONSTABLE

More than a few people have their knickers in a twist over artificial intelligence (AI). But they shouldn’t. The technology will make us all richer.

Some folks fear AI to the point where they get paralyzed, whereas the reality is that this new technology will augur consistent pay raises. Here’s the skinny on a situation that shouldn’t be at all terrifying, but is. Read more here.

Forbes: Free Government Money For All? Some People See A Need For It

BY SIMON CONSTABLE

This last decade there's been a growing concern that the capitalist system isn't working enough for all members of society. Income inequality, job insecurity, the working poor, etc. have all been pointed to as problems that need solving, at least by some people.

Now step forward Universal Basic Income (UBI,) a form of standard government-funded stipend that citizens would receive each month if the idea were ever realized on a broad scale. Its proponents think it might solve the perceived ills of our system.

It is also the topic of a soon-to-be-published book titled "Give People Money: How A Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, And Remake The World," which was written by journalist Annie Lowrey. Read more here.

Forbes: Washington's Latest Plan To Waste Your Tax Dollars

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There's wasteful, and then there's government wasteful.

You can guess which one is worse.

Just in case you didn't already know, earlier this month there was a stark reminder of our need to be ever vigilant against government excess. This time, the offending item was in the latest defense spending bill and includes the plan to ship coal to Germany all the way from the U.S., all on the taxpayer dime. Read more here.

P.J. Media: How to Make ObamaCare Pay

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It looks like some enterprising individuals have found a way to make the Affordable Care Act (ACA) more affordable -- at least for themselves.

A new study reveals how they did it, and comes just in time to plan for next year when yet another round of absurdly hefty hikes in insurance premiums are already in the offing.

Read more here.

Forbes: Still Going Strong -- How One Startup Bucked The Financial Crisis And Thrived

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It's something of a maxim on Wall Street that the best trades are often those which are hardest to make. For instance, when the price of a stock has dropped like a stone, there is generally a lingering doubt that buying the stock is the right thing to do. Thoughts whirl around all based on one question: What does everyone else know that I don't?

Imagine then how nerve-wracking it must have been to start a new financial company in 2008, the very depths of the financial crisis. That was a time when waking from even a few hours sleep might bring news of yet another company's demise. It was a period when even the storied firms of Wall Street, such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, were not immune from financial disaster. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Will Women Reign in Spain?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Of all countries, Spain is probably not viewed as the forefront of gender equality—think bullfighting and the macho culture of old there, for example. But score one for a country that has been working to change perceptions: Recently, the country’s new prime minister appointed 11 out of the 17 top ministerial roles to women, the first such majority-women cabinet in the country’s history. Read more here.

John Batchelor Radio Show: Socialism Fails

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Forbes: 5 Lessons From Tesla's Recent Rollercoaster Ride

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Tesla has had a bad few months, that's for sure.

But any student of business should learn from what's happened. And that's where there are plenty of lessons.

Here's what you need to know.

Forbes: 5 Reasons The Drop In Gold Prices Shouldn't Worry Investors

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Gold prices took a hit at the end of last week, and it has some observers concerned.

But the truth is it shouldn't be worrying. Here's what you need to know.

Barron's: Why You Should Buy Europe's Beaten Down Banks

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Italian politics is knotty. But lately, it has become as twisted as a bowl of spaghetti bolognese, providing a chance to buy beaten-down European banking shares that will likely jump when the clouds over the sector evaporate. Read more here.

PJ Media: Why Bernie Sanders' Goal of More Unions Won't Work

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said last month that he wants to foster more unions, but the very things that allow organized labor to increase membership are often also the things that cause their destruction.

At least that’s the way new research points. Read more here.

Forbes: Venezuela's Latest Desperate Plan

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Venezuela just keeps on delivering new economic absurdities.

The country, which has the largest oil reserves in the world, is now considering the idea of importing the stuff. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Raises Have Arrived…In the Public Sector

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Ancient prophets once wrote that seven years of feasts would get followed by seven years of famine. These stories pushed the idea that neither good nor bad times last forever. But now reality is mimicking the parables.

For the last seven years, the one million-plus workers in the National Health Service, the U.K.’s state-funded health system, have received just a 1% raise annually. But this month the U.K. government agreed to raise wages 6.5% over the next three years, more than doubling the recent annual increases. Read more here.

Forbes: A Deep Look Inside The Gig Economy

By SIMON CONSTABLE

How good or bad is the so-called gig economy compared to holding a permanent staff role? It all depends who you ask.

Sarah Kessler, author of Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work, spoke with more than a few people about the matter and discusses it at length in her book which is scheduled for publication June 12. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: In Spain, Italy-- Surviving a Void

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It isn’t something one would expect to see, two major European nations without leaders at the same time. But that’s where Italy and Spain found themselves last week—and where a surprising number of companies find themselves as well. 

For those who missed the headlines, Italy went three months without a majority government, until two major parties finally agreed last Friday on a new prime minister. Meanwhile, a few hundred miles west, Spain’s government collapsed after the prime minister was unseated in a no-confidence vote, and experts wonder how long the new government will last. But as unnerving as this can be, leadership vacuums are of course not limited to politics. Indeed, from abrupt CEO departures to boardroom succession battles, such voids are becoming more common and troubling. Read more here.