Stocks make record highs as the left awaits the crisis that will never come. We’ve been bullish since 2011 and see no reason to adjust our thesis despite these huge gains.
Linkfest 7/1/2014
From Real Clear Politics: Two Cheers for Congress
“As much as Obama tried to obstruct compromise, thanks to congress rising to the occasion in the 12th hour, the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling, in retrospect, were only a speed bumps.”
From the Wall St. Journal: Rising student loan debt not a bubble, good for economy says expert
“Higher student loan rates helps the economy in several ways; it encourages students to major in high paying STEM fields and it increases spending which goes into GDP. A college education is invaluable in today’s hyper-competitive job market, but we shouldn’t make it more affordable…cont”
From Businessweek: Social media doubters have egg on their face
“We’re seeing a virtuous cycle of higher earnings, capital inflows, and rising valuations. The analysts that initially dismissed Facebook and other social media stocks as bubbles and fads are scrambling to raise their price targets as prices soar.”
From the Wall St. Journal: Bernanke…Man of the Decade?
“Bernanke is the most competent man of the decade, says expert. ‘Against forces that wanted him to fail, he saved the economy, and the media has failed to give him the credit he deserves’..”
From AEI: Job loss could be good for stocks
“That data suggests we shouldn’t be too hasty in wanting better employment data, because stocks may fall if the labor market awakens from its slumber and inflation picks up.”
From Forbes: Embracing Pain at the Pump
“‘Pain at the pump will help the economy in unexpected ways, mainly by forcing consumers that have otherwise been hoarding money to spend it’, says chief expert at McKinsey, a global consulting company. ‘We anticipate constructive price gains for gas and oil without any detrimental economic impact; i.e. reduced consumer spending'”
From Businessweek: The hidden virtue of financial instruments
“These financial instruments, while opaque and occasionally prone to failure, do provide value that may not be obvious to the naiveté. We shouldn’t let our trepidation over moral hazard and taxpayer bailouts impede innovation and the free market… ”
From the Wall St. Journal: Revisiting TARP: Five years later, a resounding success
“The pundits are ignoring the greatest success story of the decade: the passage of TARP and the subsequent meteoric stock market and economic rebound. How so many ‘experts’ got it wrong, and how the three musketeers (Bernanke, Paulson, and Geithner) saved the financial system, not just from insolvency but from the media & liberals that wanted it to fail..'”
Thomas Friedman, New York Times
“The world went from being spherical (positively curved) to being flat and is now hyperbolic (negatively curved). Globalization is not only changing industries, but the definition of change itself. By the time you have finished reading this sentence it will have taken on a new meaning…”
What are you reading today?