Bitcoin is “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.” —Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway When I was 17 years old, I bought shares of the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company (that grocery chain is now part of the Ahold Delhaize conglomerate). Being the kid I was, I held it only long enough to make the money I needed to buy the computer and the mountain bike I wanted. Stop & Shop wasn’t the only stock I considered. I remember ruling out Berkshire Hathaway because I didn’t have the $6,000-or-so to buy one single share. Maybe I should have split more wood…
Insights & Advice
Allen Harris
The taxman cometh
“Let me tell you how it will be; there’s one for you, nineteen for me.” —The Beatles The U.S. stock market can perform well even when U.S. corporate taxes rise. I’ll get to that in a moment, but let’s not bury the lead. Increasing corporate tax rates feels like old news compared to President Biden’s newly released details on paying for his proposed American Families Plan. The White House proposes nearly doubling the capital gains tax rate from 23.8% to 43.4% (including an existing 3.8% surtax) for people earning more than $1 million per year. That would be higher than the current…
The pastrami must be amazing
Corporate earnings for the first quarter of 2021 were released in earnest last week. If you listen to the earnings guidance from one soft drink company, there’s good reason to have a Coke and a smile. Coca-Cola blew past both its earnings and revenue expectations. But since I tend to advocate for the use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), you may wonder why I care. James Quincy, the CEO of Coca-Cola, called the company’s earnings a “super encouraging” sign that the world is reopening after being shut down due to COVID-19 precautions. Coca-Cola derives about half of its sales from locations…
Selling dirty
According to a survey performed by AlixPartners (AP), U.S. consumers are the “most anxious” about their health and finances. Chinese consumers rank the lowest in terms of anxiety pertaining to those issues. AP’s April 2021 survey concluded that “half of all global consumers say their spending habits have changed permanently due to the pandemic.” Whether you are a business owner or an investor, it is essential to understand where consumer spending will be directed. To figure out the “where,” we have to understand the “why.” According to the AP survey, nearly one out of every three U.S. consumers identified as being very…