Milton Friedman on government programs

Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.

~ Milton Friedman

Marc Faber on the Reddit crowd

Concerning the Reddit crowd, which buys meme stocks, unicorns, all sorts of cryptocurrencies, NFTs, etc., I am reminded of the words of Seneca the Younger: “It is the proof of a bad cause when it is applauded by the mob.”

~ Marc Faber, The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, January 1, 2022

President Biden has hot mic moment on inflation question

Peter Doocy: Do you think inflation is a political liability?

President Biden: It's a great asset.  More inflation.  What a stupid son of a bitch.

~ President Joe Biden, "Fox News' Peter Doocy says Biden 'cleared the air' with him following the 'SOB' insult," Fox News, January 24, 2022

Philip Grant on the 2021 IPO class

They sell, you buy.  In a typical initial public offering, management and large shareholders commit to stand pat on their holdings for 180 trading days.  But that informal industry norm has eroded significantly during the recent bull run.  A quarter of last year’s record haul of U.S. IPOs featured expedited lock-up periods, data from Renaissance Capital show.  That’s the highest on record since data collection began in 2011 and compares to just 9% for the 2020 IPO class. 

Shareholders attempting to vote their displeasure may find limited success, as 32% of last year’s IPO class debuted with a dual class share structure, University of Florida Professor Jay R. Ritter finds.  That’s both the highest gross tally and highest proportion of total IPOs since at least 1980.  For context, about 90% of existing public companies in the U.S. are organized under a one-share, one-vote system, according to the Council of Institutional Investors. 

The Renaissance IPO Index, comprised of the largest, most liquid new U.S. listings and rebalanced on a quarterly basis, has suffered a 41% drawdown over the past 11 months, retracing a substantial junk of its 255% jaunt from the March 2020 nadir.

~ Philip Grant, Almost Daily Grant's, January 24, 2022

Doug Casey on the political elites

The people who frequent forums, such as the WEF, see themselves as a special class―the elite.  They all know each other, go to the same schools, and socialize at the same clubs.  They have high incomes, a lot of power and influence, and groom their kids to join the party. 

They’ve jelled into an informal ruling class.  Even while they mouth hypocritical platitudes about democracy, diversity, equity, and other PC nonsense, they, in fact, despise the common man.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they would really like to see―as people such as Ted Turner and Bill Gates have intimated―80% of the world’s population to just disappear.  That way, when they visit places such as Machu Picchu, St. Mark’s Square in Venice, and other fashionable places, they won’t be annoyed by the hoi polloi wandering around as if they were equals.  Enough money and power can get the elite to start thinking that way.  Not to mention that these people are mostly sociopaths, with a heavy admixture of real psychos.

~ Doug Casey, "Doug Casey on Implications of the “Great Reset” Agenda and What it Means for You," Doug Casey's International Man, January 14, 2022

WSJ on the retail investor boom

After shying away from active investing for much of the past decade, millions of Americans, hunkered down at home because of Covid-19, became day traders in 2020...  It is estimated that more than 10 million individual investors opened new brokerage accounts in 2020, according to Devin Ryan, director of financial-technology research at JMP Securities.  Last year the trends from 2020 accelerated.  JMP Securities estimates that a further 15 million Americans signed up for brokerage accounts in 2021.

~ Caitlin McCabe, "Day Traders as ‘Dumb Money’? The Pros Are Now Paying Attention," The Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2022

Egon von Greyerz on the dollar's declining value

The majority of Americans never traveled abroad; they don't have a passport either.  They don't see what's happened to their money.  They don't realize that the value of their money is plunging at such a rapid rate.

~ Egon von Greyerz, founder, Matterhorn Asset Management AG, interview with Dan Ferris, Stansberry Investor Hour, 27:00 mark, January 20, 2022