The stock market is near an all-time high, while unemployment is up and wages are flat. It begs the question: is the stock market overvalued? I’m not a stock market expert, I don’t follow the market like some people, but I do know a few things. A share of stock is a piece of a company. In that regard, it is not that different than owning real estate. When you buy an investment property, you don’t look at the value of that property every day, you are more interested in the rent it earns and the costs associated with maintaining the property. The same should be the case with stocks. You shouldn’t look at the price fluctuations of the stock for a company, rather you should look at the earnings and earning potential of the company itself. If you are a day trader who is looking for short-term opportunities, we may be looking at a correction pretty soon. Economic growth has been anemic, even prior to the pandemic, and without major changes to our immigration policies or major breakthroughs in productivity it will be hard to see how valuations will get better in the short run. If you’re a long-term player a good index fund or the right financial advisor, you can still find you some great opportunities. BTW – the winner of the election won’t matter all that much. In his first 43 months in office, the S&P 500 index under Donald Trump increased 49%. That’s a pretty good gain; however, under Obama, the S&P increased by 70% in his first 43 months. Fiscal policy matters for a lot of things, but stock prices don’t seem to have as much of a correlation to politics as most people think.
The usual solutions will not solve the current housing affordability crisis. Any solution that does not begin and end with a sustainable plan to radically increase housing supply is just noise. The barriers to increasing housing supply are complex and require the crucial cooperation of both public and private sectors, and more education.
“Boomerang” was a different kind of film. It was a movie about friendship, loyalty, and romance set in NYC at a medium-sized Black-led company that sold beauty products. Boomerang had an all-black cast and a plot that had nothing to do with being Black. While that was unheard of at the time, Murphy was such a big star that it didn’t seem like a big deal.
Terms like “great, genius,” and “world-class” are overused, perhaps because they mean something different to everyone. Greatness is subjective. Some might say you must be great just to be employed in the film business or to play professional sports, but I don’t think Will Smith or LeBron James think that way. The concept of being great also requires context. You could be a great high school athlete but only an average college player.