Substack Library

Glossary

Money Bad

To those of you that have recently signed up, welcome! My name is Paul and I help you follow the money to put current issues into perspective. For more about what these essays are about, click here. I’ve shared the rubric that organizes these posts here. Today’s note is about a) saving money b) stocks and c) Russia and other countries known as “emerging markets.” If someone forwarded this to you, click below to subscribe.

The Cost of Invading

For those new to Things I Didn’t Learn in School, a brief explanation. We air a podcast twice a month and a weekly written note. The two are different, but inter-relate. The weekly note is usually about a macro-economic or investment topic, very broadly defined. The podcasts are micro, individual life stories. Our next episode airs October 27. Each helps illustrate the other. More about what we (and it is a team) are up to, is here. If you are less familiar with investing, The Lull, which includes editions #32, #33 and #36 is a good place to start.

The Talent Skedaddle

If someone forwarded this to you, you can sign up here.

China Context

For foreigners, particularly Americans, it’s hard to make sense of Chinese policy because the systems are so different. This is evident in the reaction to Chinese regulators’ decision to defenestrate private Chinese education companies. A representative sample from Bloomberg:  “after a week of wild market swings and tense calls with clients, some investors have decided China just isn’t worth the trouble.” For the record, China’s stock market is up 27% since Jan. 1, 2020 and down 7% this year.  With that in mind, some context.

US & China Entwined

What’d you think when Reagan called you guys the evil empire?

Playing Chess with Putin

The US leveled sanctions on Russia this week, using what was regarded as the “nuclear option,” targeting Russia’s bond market. Based on both market pricing and the tenuous connection many Russians will make between financial conditions and Putin, I suspect the bomb missed the mark.

The Cost of Conflict

Likely all of us registered, perhaps out of our peripheral vision, that Chinese and Americans sat down last week at a hotel in Anchorage, Alaska and that there was a “clash” and “posturing.”

The Investment Risks of Regime Shifts

The below post was originally published in mid-December via the South China Morning Post (pre-this Substack distribution) and because both many readers didn’t receive it and due to of what’s transpired more recently, I’m re-sharing. Since this was published, we’ve crossed the threshold into violence.