It appears investors are celebrating tax day by taking the day off. Okay, I'm just kidding on that end ... but futures are forecasting only slight movement in the S&P and Dow ... though as the day goes on that will surely change.We seem to focus so much on the U.S. markets that other areas tend to get lost in the shuffle. I mention this because it seems that (according to Daily Shot) the Chinese economy has been rebounding strongly ... and it seemed like a good time to, once again, mention the wisdom in diversification ... holding investments throughout the globe.What brought this immediately to mind? The University of Michigan Sentiment Index for April showed an unexpected decline. Are people starting to feel that the U.S. market party might be winding down after years of celebration?
Even so, the President feels market returns could have been much better ... and (per the first story below) mentioned that the Dow should be as much as 37% higher (but an inept Fed, of course, has been holding us back).
Some feel that making a move toward any of our branches having too much control over actions by the Fed could put us on a slippery slope ... although claims that the Fed has always been independent might not hold water as Forbes pointed out in a March article many instances where the White House seemed to control decision makers at the Fed.The past weekend had a lot of exciting things going on in the way of entertainment ... with Game of Thrones ... the Masters (wow!) ... and Billions ... in my view ...might have been the best episode yet.But many were finishing up their taxes ... as, alas, today is "tax day" ... and those filings are due.An interesting article in Politico claims that a majority of Americans don't feel they received a tax cut at all, although a few independent groups conclude they did. So here we are ... the Republicans will try hard to convince us we are better off by tax reform ... while the Democrats try just as hard to convince us we've been sold a bill of goods.It's business as usual on Capitol Hill ...... and those of us who pay attention will find the constant fighting quite taxing indeed.Are you happy with the way the stock market has behaved over the last few years? Well ...
according to the White House,it could have done much better as the Fed held things back (
MarketWatch)... that's right ... the Fed.
As their actions tend to control stocks... and a surprise rate rise ... due to a good economy ... might be a big risk for the markets (
CNBC)... of course ...
that was just one person's opinion... but if you like to hear investment views of some learned people, you might want to listen to podcasts. Here are some of interest (
USNews)Ah, the Ides of April ... tax time.
Many delay doing them and rush as the deadline nears(guilty!). But what do you risk if you miss the deadline? Quite a bit, it seems (
CNBC)... but let's say you do get a refund ... good for you.
What will you buy with your refund(if you don't pay off debts?) ... this is a pretty choice list (
USAToday)...
though if a Tesla is something you've wanted... you might want to pay attention to their new pricing scheme. It seems to change every week (
Fortune)
Let's say you don't want to spend much... or anything at all, for that matter. Then pay attention to this ... as in celebration of Tax Day ... there are deals a-plenty! (
USAToday)
