The Health Care Crisis of the Century

Posted on March 18, 2014 by MN Gordon

The Health Care Crisis of the Century
By Alex Daley, Chief Technology Investment Strategist, Casey Research

It’s hardly a state secret that we Americans are getting old.  Both in raw numbers and as a percentage of the overall population, the 65-plus cohort is growing rapidly as the baby boomers slide into retirement.

On the plus side, these data confirm that more Americans are living to a ripe old age than ever before—many of them in good health well into their seventies and eighties.

But all too often, with age comes susceptibility to ever more serious ailments and a diminishing quality of life—especially if you contract a disease that obliterates your innate sense of self and destroys everything that makes life worth living.

That’s what Alzheimer’s disease does.  This most common type of dementia was first described by the German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer more than a century ago… but to this day science isn’t sure what exactly it is and what causes it. Continue reading →

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Change We Can Believe In

Posted on March 14, 2014 by MN Gordon

Look around.  Reach for the sky.  Breathe deeply.  Listen peacefully.  From here, at the mile high mountain village of Idyllwild, surrounded by tall pines, sweet smelling cedars, and panoramic views…we can do all of these things with great attainment.

We see the natural world with awe and inspiration.  From this vantage point – a rare escape from the frenetic Los Angeles Basin – not only do we get fresh oxygen…we get fresh perspective.  The spirit of the San Jacinto Mountains is extremely lucid: “Change is in the air,” says Saint Jack.

Winter turns to spring.  Spring turns to summer.  The seasons cycle through with predictable expectations.  It is generally cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer.  Fall is when old life fades away and spring is when new life comes to be.

Change, however, is a subtle thing.  For real change rarely comes to pass.  Generally, what appears to be change is just a slight variation of something that’s come before. Continue reading →

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Where the Stock Market Must Go

Posted on March 11, 2014 by MN Gordon

“May you live in interesting times,” goes the ancient Chinese proverb.  While this sounds like a blessing at first…it’s really not.  Rather, it’s a curse.

Without a doubt, we live in interesting times.  Events unfold in sequences so rapid no one can truly keep up with them.  For example, while everyone was gawping at Russia’s incursion into Ukraine last week, President Obama unveiled a $3.9 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2015.

The plan includes $56 billion in increased spending.  Tax hikes for the rich and tax cuts for the poor are proposed to cover the additional costs.  There’s also $50 million for preservation of bee habitat, among other things, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Still, we won’t hash out the budget proposal today.  Nor will we offer the latest on Ukraine…or the Malaysia Airlines plane that mysteriously vanished on Saturday.  We merely highlight these matters to juxtapose the stimulating news stories that appear on a daily basis. Continue reading →

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A Buy Low Sell High Opportunity?

Posted on March 7, 2014 by MN Gordon

Russian stocks, as measured by the Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSE: RSX), are down 15 percent year-to-date.  On Monday alone, when it looked like President Vladimir Putin had lost his marbles, the RSX dropped 10 percent.  On Tuesday, however, following Putin’s decision to not use force in Ukraine – for now – Russian stocks jumped 4 percent.

On Wednesday the RSX was flat and yesterday it was down about 1 percent.  Could this be a turning point for beaten down Muscovy stocks?  Naturally, we don’t know.  But we think it merits pause for consideration.

According to Jacob Nell of Morgan Stanley, “[Monday’s] sell-off has taken the market to technically extreme oversold levels.  Valuation multiples have only been cheaper in the depths of the 2008 crisis (when earnings fell about 60 percent).  And oil markets are stable in contrast to sell-offs in Russia historically.  Despite the obvious hit to growth expectations implied by the crisis, any sign that tensions are beginning to de-escalate would constitute a buying opportunity.” Continue reading →

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