America’s intellectual property (IP) is worth more than $6.6 trillion and employs 45 million Americans and hundreds of millions more worldwide. It is estimated that IP-intensive industries account for one-third of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product and 52% of U.S. merchandise exports. It is why we, as a country, are fighting so hard to protect these rights today. The figures above come from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. If anything, they understate the value of IP to all of us. So what, exactly is IP? Generally, it is any product of the human intellect that the law protects from…
Insights & Advice
Bill Schmick
Fed stimulus continues to pump the markets
When asked, the members of the Federal Reserve Board continue to argue that the almost $500 million they have pumped into the overnight repurchase market since September is not quantitative easing. The stock market disagrees. “Not QE” is the term most often used by the Street in describing this fairly hefty expansion of the central bank’s balance sheet. Because the purchases that the Fed is making are categorized as debt instruments that mature in 12 months or less, they escape the hard and fast definition of what the Fed labels as quantitative easing. QE is the purchase of longer-dated maturities…
Can we afford four more years of trade wars?
The Phase One trade deal with China was signed with a great deal of pomp and circumstance this week. While happy that trade tensions on both sides have been reduced, the vast majority of Wall Street players saw the deal as a win for China. After almost three years of threats, bluster and on-again-off-again tariffs, we are right back where we were before Donald Trump was elected. Yes, China has agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion in U.S. goods over the next two years, but the trade deficit was always the wrong metric when comparing our overall trade with…
The Teflon markets
It was another up week for the stock market. As we hit record high after record high, investors want more and expect to get it. Forecasts are getting even rosier for this year and, if all goes well, we can expect the signing of the long-awaited Phase One China trade deal next week. What’s not to like? Geopolitics for one thing. As I wrote last week, investors should expect a response after the killing of Iran’s number two guy, General Qasem Soleimani. I expressed hope that it would be sooner rather than later since the market hates the unknown. That…