Money For the Rest of Us

Why the Federal Reserve had to step in again to sop runs on money market mutual funds and keep the financial system from imploding.Topics covered include:What are the differences between shocks and vulnerabilitiesWhat are the four main vulnerabilities the Federal Reserve monitorsHow deleveraging and demands for liquidity lead to market stressesWhat are the types of money market funds and how were they impacted by the Covid 19 shockHow was Treasury bond trading impacted by the Covid shockWhy the Federal Reserve stepped in to stop the market contagion from spreadingWhat are the downsides to central bank interventionsWhat individual investors can do to protect against future shocksThanks to Mint Mobile and Truebill for sponsoring the episode.For more information on this episode click here.Show NotesPresident’s Working Group on Financial Markets Releases Report on Money Market Funds—U.S. Department of the TreasuryReport of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets: Overview of Recent Events and Potential Reform Options for Money Market Funds, December 2020—U.S. Department of the TreasuryU.S. Credit Markets Interconnectedness and the Effects of the COVID-19 Economic Shock by S.P. Kothari, Dalia Blass, Alan Cohen, Sumit Rajpal, and SEC Research Staff—U.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionFinancial Stability Report November 2020—Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve SystemHow Vanguard Overhauled a Prime Money Fund by Bernice Napach—ThinkAdvisorOvernight Index Swap by James Chen—InvestopediaCash Viewpoint: What do Variable Rate Demand Notes do for Your Money Market Fund—InvescoRelated Episodes270: Repo Rates Soared—Here’s Why It Matters291: How To Survive the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Shutdown305: Are Banks Safe?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When should you protect against rare, but extreme events? When should you self-insure? Under what circumstance should you sell tail risk protection to others?Topics covered include:How tail events differ from tail riskWhy volatility is not the best measure of risk for individualsWhat does it cost to protect against large stock market lossesWhy younger investors can take more risk due to their human capitalHow does the profit wheel options strategy workHow the catastrophic power outage in Texas exemplifies tail riskWhy individuals need to build more reserves because the economic system is too efficient and vulnerable to breakdownsThanks to SmartAsset and Babbel for sponsoring the episode. Use code DAVID for Babbel to get three months free.For more information on this episode click here.Show NotesAverage Weather in San Antonio Texas, United States—Weather SparkUpdate on the CBOE BuyWrite and PutWrite Option Indexes, October 2018—Asset Consulting GroupThe Texas Freeze: Why the Power Grid Failed Katherine Blunt and Russell Gold—The Wall Street JournalHis Lights Stayed on During Texas’ Storm. Now He Owes $16,752 by Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, and Ivan Penn—The New York TimesWhen More Is Not Better: Overcoming America’s Obsession with Economic Efficiency by Roger L. MartinRelated Episodes250: Investing Rule One—Avoid Ruin283: Why You Should Care About Carry Trades321: How to Analyze Complex Investments323: The Economy Is Not A MachineSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How to structure employment so workers are more creative, productive, and happier.Topics include:What percentage of employees work at home due to the pandemicHow many hours per week do men and women work in both paid employment and unpaid caregivingHow workers have been allocating the time saved by not commutingWhy the economy would still prosper if we worked only four hours per dayWhat is the cult of efficiencyWhat is the difference between leisure and amusementWhy employers reward busyness at workHow work can be more satisfying and createThanks to LinkedIn and Policygenius for sponsoring the episode.For more information on this episode click here.Show Notes60 million fewer commuting hours per day: How Americans use time saved by working from home by Jose Maria Barrero, Nick Bloom and Steven J. DavisMental health: C-suite struggles in the pandemic by Rachel Ranosa—Human Resources DirectorDeep Work (Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World) by Cal NewportIn Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell—Harper's MagazineDo Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste HeadleeAristotle's Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle translated by Robert C. Bartlett and Susan D. CollinsRest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim PangThe Art of the Siesta by Thierry PaquotWhen More Is Not Better: Overcoming America's Obsession with Economic Efficiency by Roger L. MartinRelated Episodes107: Work, Freedom and Leaving A Legacy184: Massive Job Losses Are Inevitable But There Will Still Be Work323: The Economy Is Not A MachineSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why has silver jumped to its highest price in eight years. What you need to know to invest in silver.Topics covered include:What drove the huge spike in silver purchasesHow silver differs from meme stocksHow hedge funds are positioned with regard to silverWhat are three ways to invest in silverWhat is the annual demand and supply for silverWhat are the reasons to own silverHow good has silver been as an inflation hedgeWhat is the gold-silver ratio and how to use itWhat happened when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver marketWhat evidence is there that the silver market is manipulatedThanks to Mint Mobile for sponsoring the episode.For more information on this episode click here.Show NotesSilver Prices Surge to Eight-Year High Amid Reddit-Fueled Frenzy by Eddie Spence, Jake Lloyd-Smith, and Yvonne Yue Li—Bloombergr/wallstreetbetsSilver price retreats rapidly in blow to new retail buyers by Henry Sanderson and Neil Hume‘What’d You Miss?’ Full Show (02/01/2021)—BloombergSilver Price Chart—BullionVaultSilver Supply and Demand—The Silver InstituteUnderstanding Futures Expiration & Contract Roll—CME GroupSilver $50: Three Years After the “Shortage” by Miguel Perez-Santalla—BullionVaultJPMorgan Admits Spoofing by 15 Traders, Two Desks in Record Deal by Tom Schoenberg and Matt Robinson—BloombergCME Hikes Silver Margins After Prices Surge to Eight-Year High by Yvonne Yue LiSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How coordinated buying by retail investors has turned the table on Wall Street. Are there signs of a market bubble?Topic covered include:What are meme stocksWhy GameStop's stock (GME) has soared to over $300 from $17 in less than a monthWhat are short squeezes and gamma squeezes and how they can push up a stock priceHow short-sellers including hedge funds are losing big against individual investors on the wallstreetbets subredditIs coordinated buying of options and stocks by individual investors illegal?How market flows into stocks are taking precedence over fundamental dataIs the stock market in a bubble and how does the current market environment compare to the 1999 Internet bubble and the 2006 housing bubble?Thanks to Truebill for sponsoring the episodeFor more information on this episode click here.Show Notesr/wallstreetbetsFOR POSTERITY—Almost Daily Grants 1.25.21GameStop can’t stop going up by Jamie Powell—Financial TimesReddit: bull attack by Jamie Powell and Philip Stafford—Financial TimesHow WallStreetBets Pushed GameStop Shares to the Moon by Brandon Kochkodin—BloombergSubmit Your Pick for the Next Meme Stock Here posted by u/AssPowers 2/18/20—r/wallstreetbets17 CFR § 240.10b-5 - Employment of manipulative and deceptive devices.—Legal Information InstituteHow'd You Guys Manage to Win so Big it Made These Old Guys Drown in Their Tears? posted by u/bawse 1/24/21—r/wallstreetbetsFive Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day by Cormac Mullen and Tracy Alloway—BloombergTweet by Paul Kedrosky (@pkedrosky) on 1/25/21Baupost’s Seth Klarman compares investors to ‘frogs in boiling water’ by Ortenca Aliaj and Eric Platt—Financial TimesUS stock rally drives ‘ludicrous index’ towards dotcom era heights by Eric Platt—Financial TimesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Most global stock ETFs, funds and indices have only about 5% invested in China even though China has the second-largest economy in the world. What are the pros and cons of increasing your allocation to Chinese stocks.Topics covered include:Why has China's economy rebounded faster than other countriesWhat are Chinese A-share stocksHow large are China's economy and stock marketWhat are four threats that could derail the performance of Chinese stocksHow individuals can invest in China's stock market including A-sharesThanks to SmartAsset for sponsoring the episode.For more information on this episode click here.Show NotesChinese shares: should you increase the amount in your portfolio? by Sam Dickens—IG GroupChina A-Shares Definition by Troy Segal—InvestopediaChina’s Economy Powers Ahead While the Rest of the World Reels by Stella Yifan Xie, Eun-Young Jeong and Mike Cherney—The Wall Street JournalChina Still Grew and Fueled Its Rise as Covid-19 Shook the Global Economy by Jonathan Cheng—The Wall Street JournalWith Americans Stuck at Home, Trade With China Roars Back by Ana Swanson—The New York TimesBuffett Indicator: China Stock Market Valuations and Expected Future Returns—GuruFocus.comMSCI Deletions Trigger Rush to Sell Chinese Telecom Stocks by Jeanny Yu and Sofia Horta e CostaExecutive Order on Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies—The White HouseNon-SDN Communist Chinese Military Companies List as of January 08, 2021—U.S. Department of the TreasuryMSCI ACWI Index (USD) December 31, 2020—MSCIHow China Lost Patience With Jack Ma, Its Loudest Billionaire by Lulu Yilun Chen and Coco Liu—BloombergChina Clampdown on Big Tech Puts More Billionaires on Notice by Zheping Huang and Coco Liu—BloombergChina’s College Graduates Can’t Find Jobs. The Solution: Grad School. by Vivian WangSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Should the U.S. cancel $10,000 or more of student loan debt per borrower? What would be the economic and financial impact? Why the student loan system is broken and how to fix it.Topics covered include:How large and what is the growth rate of U.S. student loan balancesWhat are the projections for student loan lossesWhat are the pros and cons of forgiving student loansWhat would be the impact on federal finances of canceling student loansWhy the U.S. government is already technically insolventHow student loan programs should be restructuredThanks to LinkedIn and Policygenius for sponsoring the episode.For more information on this episode click here.Show NotesStudent Loans Owned and Securitized, Outstanding—Federal Reserve Bank of St. LouiseSenate majority gives Biden path to student loan forgiveness by Sylvan Lane—The HillSchumer pressures Biden to bypass Congress to cancel $50,000 in student debt per borrower by Annie Nova—CNBCBiden will call on Congress to forgive $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers by Annie Nova—CNBCOutreach From Borrowers Could Overwhelm Student Loan System When Pandemic Pauses End by: Sarah Sattelmeyer and Lexi West—PEWFinancial Report of the United States Government FY 2019Warren makes case to Fed chair for canceling student loan debt by Naomi Jagoda—The HillStudent Loan Losses Seen Costing U.S. More Than $400 Billion by Josh Mitchell—The Wall Street JournalFinal Monthly Treasury Statement Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government For Fiscal Year 2020 Through September 30, 2020, and Other Periods—U.S. Department of the TreasuryAverage Student Loan Debt at Graduation by Mark Kantrowitz—Savingforcollege.comProfile Of The Labor Force By Educational Attainment by Vernon Brundage, Jr.—U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMillennial life: How young adulthood today compares with prior generations by Kristen Bialkin and Richard Fry—PEW Research CenterForgiving Student Debt Isn’t a Great Stimulus Plan by Noah Smith—BloombergAverage annual salary of bachelor's degree recipients employed full time 1 year after graduation, by field of study: Selected years, 1976 through 2001—National Center for Education StatisticsNACE Salary Survey Winter 2020—National Associations of Colleges and EmployersAustralia’s student loan problem is a teachable moment for the U.S. by Jason Delisle and Alex Usher—BrookingsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How should individuals invest and spend in retirement with interest rates so low, stock valuations high, and inflation uncertain. Why retirement managed payout funds and income replacement funds failed.Topics covered include:How managed payout and income replacement funds compare to immediate annuitiesWhy Vanguard and Fidelity changed the objective of their retiree focused income replacement and managed payout fundsHow fixed annuities workHow retirees should combine annuities with multi-asset class portfolios to ensure a successful retirementWhy the 4% retirement spending rule is not appropriate for all investors all of the time.Why inflation is the biggest determinant of how much retirees can spendWhy is there so much controversy over the current and future inflation rateThanks to Mint Mobile and Truebill for sponsoring the episode.Show Note LinksVanguard Throws in the Towel on Its Managed Payout Fund by Daren Fonda—Barron'sGenerating Retirement Income Isn’t Easy, Even for Vanguard by Reshma Kapadia—Barron'sToday's Best Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuities (MYGAs)—ImmediateAnnuities.comOpinion: The inventor of the ‘4% rule’ just changed it Brett Arends—MarketWatchThe Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future by Jeff BoothAlternate Inflation Charts—John Williams' Shadow Government StatisticsAmericans Are Richer Than We Think by By Phil Gramm and John F. Early—The Wall Street JournalFor more information on this episode click here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How convertible bonds work, why they gained 50% in 2020 and outperformed stocks over the past five years. Why Vanguard shut down their convertible bond mutual funds.Topics discussed include:How big is the convertible bond marketWhy companies issue convertible bondsHow convertible bonds work and how to analyze themWhy convertible bonds have performed so wellWhat is a reasonable expected return for convertible bonds and what are the risksWhat are ways to invest in convertible bondsThanks to Netsuite for sponsoring the episode. Take the Money For the Rest of Us listener survey.Show NotesA Plunge and a Recovery Drives a Top-Performing Year in Convertibles by Andrew Bary—Barron'sConvertible Bond Indices: An Overview by SPDR EMEA ETF Strategy Team—State Street Global AdvisorsCONVERTIBLE SECURITIES: Structures, Valuation, Market Environment, and Asset Allocation by John P. Calamos, Sr with contributions from Eli Pars—Calamos InvestmentsTesla, Inc. 2.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2024 (the “Convertible Notes Offering”) Issuer Free Writing Prospectus—U.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionRisk and Return in Convertible Arbitrage: Evidence from the Convertible Bond Market by Vikas Agarwal, William Fung, Yee Cheng Loon, and Narayan Y. NaikThe Fluctuating Maturities of Convertible Bonds by Patrick Verwijmeren, and Antti YangConvertible Bond Arbitrage by George Long—Eureka HedgeFor more information on this episode click here.Also, go here to learn more about Money For the Rest of Us Plus membership.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A review of how the pandemic, financial markets, and government policy evolved in 2020 to make for an unforgettable year.Topics covered include:Why the Covid-19 pandemic ranks as the second worst in modern historyWhat is the difference between risk and uncertainty and how our investing should be different when dealing with uncertaintyWhat portfolio changes did David make in 2020 and how should he have invested if he had perfect foresightWhy speculative assets such as gold and cryptocurrencies have performed so well in 2020Why high savings rate and pent up demand provides a tailwind for the economyHow to invest and live when the future is unknowableThanks to Policygenius and LinkedIn for sponsoring the episode.Show Notes286: Coronavirus and the Financial Impact of Pandemics291: How To Survive the Coronavirus (COVID-19) ShutdownMadame Vivelda—Saturday Night LiveWhat Is Risk vs Uncertainty?—Money For the Rest of Us Guide299: Has the Pandemic Changed You?Personal Saving Rate—Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis302: Investing is Not Knowing310: Why the Stock Market and Economy Are Rebounding So QuicklyHow 700 Epidemiologists Are Living Now, and What They Think Is Next by Margot Sanger-Katz, Claire Cain Miller, and Quoctrung Bui—The New York TimesPaul McCartney Is Still Trying to Figure Out Love by David Marchese—New York Times MagazineFor more information on this episode click here.Also, go here to learn more about Money For the Rest of Us Plus membership.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.