Financial Floyd Blogspot

Good Morning, Life is a cruel teacher that gives the exam first then teaches the lesson. Unfortunately for GM, it has never truly recovered from bankruptcy and on Monday they announced that they would be laying about 15,000 people and closing a couple of manufacturing plants. The lessons from the decline of this American Stallworth should not be overlooked as it provides more in-depth insight to trends that are impacting our daily lives/future opportunities.Various news outlets have been reporting on their recent anoncement, but the insight provided by Reuters , Marketwatch , and Washington Post provide some good but overlapping points. What stands out about from these articles are: 1. Within the next decade , around 75% of GM sales will come from five vehicle lines . The consolidation that GM is going through is a result of sales collapsing for some of their product lines (mainly sedans) but highlights how they failed to be efficient with their plants....

Good Morning, With the market currently being in a downward trend, the question of a recession has been more prevalent within the news. One of the leading indicators used to determine if we are heading into a recession is based upon the inversion of the yield curve. Bloomberg wrote an article late last week about this topic and a couple main takeaways were: 1. To entice people to buy longer-dated bonds, interest rates must be higher. The issue comes when short-term rates are higher than longer-term rates, which creates an inversion of the yield curve 2. Recessions usually begin 6 to 24 months after the yield curve inverts 3. The yield curve right now is normal and not inverted While the yield curve isn't inverted, there are other leading indicators which are pointing toward an economy that is starting to inch down that hill. A couple of the other leading indicators which have been experiencing problems are: 1. Housing starts (building permits, new private housi...

Good Afternoon, Today is Singles Day (11/11) in China which is the most significant  shopping day in the world. According to TicToc (Bloomberg) this day does more sales than the first five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. For those either invested in Alibaba or interested in the Chinese economy, this might serve as an indication of how the tariffs are impacted companies and consumers. Either way, it is something to follow! #financialliteracy #tictoc #bloomberg #alibaba #singlesday #1111 #china #tradewar #tariffs #financialfloyd #phillyfinance https://twitter.com/tictoc/status/1061475338264420352

Good Morning, Yesterday Marketwatch reported that the Federal Reserve met and decided to not raise short-term interest rates this quarter. The biggest takeaway from the article was that the Fed was pleased with the economy and job growth rate, but is still keeping an eye on inflation. Now there is a likely chance that the Federal Reserve can raise short-term interest rates. What this means for investors is that the Federal Reserve will continue to keep considering raising rates (next meeting in December, and their current rate of increase has been done in 25 bps increments) until it sees that the inflation is in line with their goal. The current economy has taken some losses and come down from record highs due to: 1. Increased volatility 2. Concern about dim future growth prospects in 2019 3. Global markets slowing down during the year This domestic bull market is over eight years and just like everything, all good things must come to an end. The biggest issue with this year ...

Good Morning, The IRS released some news last week that retirement savings amounts would be increasing for some plans. Forbes wrote a concise article and highlighted vital changes such as: 1. The maximum contribution amount for Traditional IRAs and 401-Ks increase to $6,000 and $19,000 2. Catch- Up Contributions limits for those age 50 or higher are not changing 3. Solo 401-K (SEP IRA) goes up to $56,000 For those that are currently saving or just starting to save this is great news because we can save more money for our retirement. In a recent post, I did an example of how much someone would need to save, which I will not rehash but will provide a link ( click here ). In my view, the changes made by the IRS overall are a net positive. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrae/2018/11/01/irs-announces-new-bigger-retirement-plan-contribution-limits-for-2019/#7202ea263a31 #financialliteracy #retirementplanning #savings #IRS #IRA #401k #forbes #financialfloyd #philly finance...

Good Morning, Halloween marked the 10 year Anniversary of Bitcoin. CNBC produced an article commemorating the achievement but made some points worth considering: 1. Per the title, the early investors were the real winners as they experienced Bitcoin go from nothing to 20k then back down to 6.2k. 2. Payment efficiency and security have been an issue 3. There are a plethora of direct and indirect competitors Bitcoin had a lot of potential but to date has fallen short. It was initially created to be a medium to transfer value from one person to another anonymously. Before the price went parabolic in 2017 it had already had some adopters in the retail channels, but some of those companies have stopped accepting it. The difficulty of use, no type of FDIC organization to provide insurance, and payment system competition have stifled its projected growth. Even if it never achieves its potential at the minimum it brought blockchain to the forefront which is changing t...