Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful. — Warren Buffett

Trade wars, insurrection, and new virus mutations spreading quickly around the globe have done little to slow investor enthusiasm. Retail investors continue to flock into stocks with remarkable gusto. If you’re concerned stock prices might be overvalued, you’re not crazy. Experienced economists warn we are almost certainly in the middle of a massive Federal Reserve liquidity bubble.

The problem is if you agree we are in a bubble, then how can the average investor determine when that bubble is coming to an end? The…

I’ve worked professionally as a cross-cultural communication coach for over a decade. The single most often asked question I get from clients is, ‘How can I get my staff to communicate better in English?’

This is the wrong question to be asking. A much better question is, ‘How can I understand my own culture more deeply, to better appreciate how other cultures might interpret my communication and working style?’

In this article:

1. Diversity programs aren’t simply an exercise in being ‘politically correct’.
2. Understanding our own cultural norms is key to understanding someone else’s culture.
3. Dead-simple communication tips for getting the…

From a retail investor’s point of view, the pros have always had a massive advantage over the retail investor — more information, faster trading, direct access to CEOs, and the financial weight and influence to move markets. Last week something changed — retail investors following Wallstreetbets beat Wall Street professionals at their own game.

Some people claim Wallstreetbets is nothing more than run-of-the-mill collusion. Some go as far as to say the collusion amounts to market manipulation. Others insist this online forum is simply the democratization of investing. …

On the back of the news about three promising vaccines, the stock market is on fire again. You might be thinking — ‘I can’t miss!’.

Technology names are up, stocks benefiting from lockdowns are up, stocks hurt by lockdowns are up. The DOW and NASDAQ are both at or near new highs. Now with the end of the pandemic possibly months away and a new US President coming into office, most analysts agree the broadening market breadth suggests a strong bull market. It’s almost too good to be true.

I agree, at first blush, everything looks fantastic, but not…

By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. – Macbeth

Many analysts continue to insist the recent stock market pullback is temporary and ultimately stocks will trade a lot higher in 2021. Yet economists continue to express deep concern over the pandemic-induced recession and the complete disconnection of a great number of popular stocks from underlying fundamentals.

The truth is, the service economy has already been struck a near-fatal blow by the pandemic. Barring a miracle, we have almost certainly witnessed the absolute peak of the greatest bear market rally in at least a century. …

If you’ve been losing money lately searching for good deals in disruptive technology companies, I hear you. If you’ve been rolling the dice on green energy deals, in particular, you’re probably even more frustrated — me too.

Disruptive innovation companies that have virtually no pandemic connections like Tesla, Enphase Energy, and Bloom Energy have inexplicably received an apparent pandemic boost for free just like profitless dot-com stocks did in 1999. …

The stock market likes certainty

The markets have rallied strongly based on long-term lower interest rates promised by the Federal Reserve, the first stimulus package, and widespread expectations of an enormous second stimulus package. In fact, it looks like investors seem to have already priced in a second stimulus package – but what happens if the next stimulus package doesn’t meet the expectations of investors?

How will the election results impact the stock market in 2021 and beyond? Will see a second stock market crash or will prices rally even higher?

Almost certainly the answer to these questions revolves around the size and composition of…

Investors should take note

What struck me when doing research for this article is how uncannily similar people reacted to the pandemic in 1918 and how people have reacted to the pandemic in 2020. Some reacted with panic, some reacted with science and common sense, and some called it fake news.

Throughout the 1918 pandemic, there was a real mix of opinions about how governments should handle the pandemic. The trade-off between shutdowns and protecting the health of the public versus keeping economies open and protecting the economy were as sharply divided then as they are today.

“Throughout the pandemic, the nation lacked a…