Ryan Detrick on Fed tapering

I think investors can live with tapering because everyone knows it's going to happen and it's been talked about so much.  But knowing rates are going to stay a little bit lower for longer, that's that cherry on top with an economy that overall still improving.

~ Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist, LPL Financial, "Shrugging Off Grim News, Stocks Rise for a 7th Month," The New York Times, September 1, 2021

(The market has closed at a record high 53 times - the most by this point of the year since 1964, according to LPL Financial.)

Jim O'Sullivan on the stimulus drug wearing off

People will be surprised at how much the economy decelerates over the next year as the stimulus boost fades.

~ Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. macrostrategist, TD Securities

(As quoted in "Biden's Challenge: A Wobbly Economy," The New York Times, September 1, 2021)

The New York Times on the uneven recovery in retail, air travel and restaurants

There is little evidence in government data that the spread of the Delta variant has suppressed spending in retail stores.  But air travel, as measured by the number of people screened at airport security checkpoints, has tailed off in recent days after returning to about 80% of where it was during the same week in 2019.

Restaurant bookings on OpenTable, which had nearly returned to normal in June and July, are back down to 10% below their prepandemic level.  Data from Homebase, which provides time-management software to small businesses, shows a sharp decline in the number of hours worked at restaurants and entertainment venues.

~ Matt Phillips, "Biden's Challenge: A Wobbly Economy," The New York Times, September 1, 2021

Warren Buffett on opportunity

Big opportunities in life have to be seized.  We don't do very many things, but when we get the chance to do something that's right and big, we've got to do it.  Do do it in a small scale is just as big a mistake as not doing it at all.  You've got to grab 'em when they come.

~ Warren Buffet, "How to invest for beginners" lecture, 5:00 mark, May 9, 2020

Marko Papic on investing and political bias

One of the biggest sources of alpha in the market is when people invest based on their political bias.

~ Marko Papic, Stansberry Investor Hour interview, 23:30 mark, September 2, 2021

Rob Stallard on the impact of withdrawing from Afghanistan on the U.S. defense budget

We doubt if the end in Afghanistan will have any more impact on the US psyche than the withdrawal from Iraq.

We see the conclusion of the longest war in US history as dovetailing with the shift from counter terrorism to containing China, and an increased aversion in the West to open ended military expeditions. 

~ Rob Stallard, Vertical Research Partners defense analyst, "7 Defense Stocks That Still Offer Value Now That the U.S. Has Left Afghanistan," Barron's, September 1, 2021

(Barron's: The Afghan war stretched over 20 years, so the exit is a quite a milestone for the U.S..  Yet the implications for the military budget aren’t significant.  Afghanistan was due to consume about $9 billion in fiscal year 2022 spending, according to Stallard.   The total defense-funding request from President Joe Biden tops $750 billion. compared with the $741 billion spent in the current fiscal year.)

Yogi Berra on life

It's not supposed to be easy.  Anyone who thinks it's easy is stupid.

~ Yogi Berra