Markets were good again this week, with stocks and bonds both increasing in spite of plenty of economic headwinds on the horizon and growing geopolitical risks. Nothing seems able to stop the momentum......until it does!

The S&P 500 hit another record high, but stock investors reacted poorly to a weaker-than-expected jobs report for August. Bonds rallied, as a slowing US economy portends a weaker labor market and potentially slack demand, setting aside concerns about long-term inflation, at least for the time being. Gold continued on its tear.

This article is an update of my personal portfolio at the end of 1H2025 (June 30, 2025). To say it was a volatile quarter is the mother of all understatements. Fortunately, I came out OK thanks to the fact that investors – especially in the bond market – provided guardrails for the nutty economic policies of Mr Trump. I saw the train wreck coming, but I failed to anticipate the shockingly fast recovery. You can read the gory details in this article.

This article contains tables and commentary regarding the rather volatile but ultimately positive first half of 2025.

NATO was front and centre last week as the annual NATO Summit was held in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, making it an opportune time...

This is a very brief update for the Mag 7 stocks for 1Q2025, all of which were down, several sharply. It is not getting better either!

Inspired by Mr Trump's false claims that he inherited the "worst economy ever", this article looks at administrations' economic performance.

This article summarises two articles and one podcast that are topical,: US/EU automotive tariffs, social security "fraud", and steel tariffs

The week started with the Trump Administration announcing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, the first two of which were quickly rescinded

Better late than never, in that this article is about my views on American exceptionalism, both economically and as far as US stocks.

This article contains a summary of full-year 2024 performance of the indices and assets tracked by EMC, plus historical data, too.

I "guessed" at how markets would perform in 2024 last year at this time. Some I got right, some I got wrong, not different from the pros.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) has had an amazing run since it adopted its Bitcoin accumulation strategy in Aug 2020. Has it run too far too fast?

Some stocks that clearly "track" President-elect Trump's varied campaign promises have rallied hard, including TSLA, BTC, COIN and KRE.

This article is short and covers the blowout results and reasons, what Trump 2.0 means for investors, and Mr Trump's promises.

Here are a few last-minute thoughts on the US election which will be held on Tuesday, Nov 5. A lot is at stake, but Weds, the world goes on

This is the update of my personal portfolio for the most recent quarter ended September 30, 2024. 

There are many important issues in the US Presidential election, but none more so perhaps than immigration, inflation, and abortion.