The Japanese Yen dropped over 2% today against the U.S. dollar as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced plans for to step up bond purchases massively. According to Bloomberg.com, “The BOJ plans to purchase 7.5 trillion yen ($78.6 billion) of bonds a month and double the monetary base, which includes cash in circulation, in two years, […]
In last week’s column I discussed the need for investors to understand differences in low cost Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). How two ETFs that are mimicking a similar asset class can be totally different, thus rendering it of vital importance that investors look under the hood and understand what they are investing in. This week […]
Remember four years ago when many analysts were predicting the demise of the US dollar to be replaced by the euro as the new global reserve currency? Well, one huge Greek debt crisis later, European banks are virtually insolvent, a deepening recession sweeps across the continent and many are questioning the long-term viability of the […]
The big news of the week has been the new finance minister, Yair Lapid, shooting off his mouth, or should I say his keyboard, in his highly controversial comments about “Mrs. Ricki Cohen” from Hadera. His political enemies have been quick to jump all over him for his definition of the middle class. As a […]
The recent shock retirement of 85-year-old Pope Benedict XVI, the first papal retirement in more than 600 years, has brought work/life balance issues during retirement into the forefront. While it used to be that you basically worked until you died, today many retirees can expect to live 20 to 30 years in retirement, and the […]
A few weeks ago I received a call from a 24 year old, who unfortunately lost his father to cancer. He was set to receive about $200,000 and said he had no clue how to handle money let alone such a sizeable sum. He said he felt overwhelmed and found it necessary to speak with […]
Here come the locusts. If anyone needed a reminder to start their Pessah cleaning, the infiltration of millions of the eighth-plague star should sound the “cleaning bell.” While my son, who loves scaring various female family members with his plastic cockroach, eagerly awaits the locusts’ arrival in Jerusalem so that he can really get a […]
Finally the incessant play by play of the post-election coalition negotiations was bumped from the headlines as Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer surprised some with the announcement of his resignation. While Fischer is getting accolades from all corners of the political spectrum, readers of this column know that I have been quite critical of […]
One of the hottest trades for investors over the last two years has been buying large companies that pay high dividends. With a continued weak global economy and near-zero interest rates, investors have turned to “blue-chip” companies that they know and that pay dividends significantly higher than they can get on a bond or bank […]
A question that is frequently asked, both by clients and in the media, is where speculative investors should put their money. Investors want to know what’s next. As they realize that markets such as China can’t always keep moving up they want to find the “next” China and make a profit while they can. Well […]
