September 13th, 2021, Season 3 Episode 34
"Enlightenment" - A Herold & Lantern Investments Podcast featuring Mr. Keith Lanton, President.
Adversity has indeed been unfolding around the world as of late. On Saturday, we sat in solemn remembrance on the 20-year anniversary of 9/11. We have seen ubiquitous natural disasters, such as wildfires and hurricanes, ravage the nation. And, of course, geopolitical tensions between the US and China continue to persist. All of this, inter alia, has given off the impression that the world is headed downhill. But Keith steps in to offer an alternative perspective, in that the overall trend is that the world, when considered on a comprehensive basis and in the annals of time, is significantly improving - something of which we often lose sight. He suggests that our grim outlook on life may very well be a function of the slow pace of the development of the good relative to the fast pace of the development of the bad. When we consider the facts that, inter alia, legal slavery has essentially been abolished around the globe and war casualty rates are at an all-time low, along with the fact that world markets are incrementally moving higher, we might come to realize that - while it is easy to harp on the bad - we might be best off focusing on the good.
Keith notes that, this morning, we are beginning to see a rebound in last week's market sell-off, with the DOW projected to rise by 200 points, the S&P 500 by 27 points, and the NASDAQ by just over 90 points. In some more miscellaneous news, Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 13 this week. House Democrats are expected to outline its plans for new tax hikes, including a 26.5 percent corporate tax rate. Asian and European markets are mostly higher. Barron's says that the market may be due for a pause or pullback, but no correction or prolonged decline. And Bank of America is predicting a 10-year average loss for the S&P 500 of 8/10 of 1 percent per year, suggesting that the index is headed essentially nowhere for a decade.
In other news, Keith acknowledges the concern that the market will continue to recede even after the delta variant stops making headlines, saying that we cannot fully ascribe the current growth dip to the delta variant. In fact, many economists fear that this dip is not temporary, and that there will continue to be ongoing supply shortages and a large percentage of Americans reliant on government assistance such as stimulus checks and eviction moratoriums even after the delta variant. Keith also notes a trend that Americans are moving to more remote and suburban locations, and, as such, virtual work may not be transitory. This implies substantial demographic changes around the country, as well as profound changes in the housing market; the national median existing home sale price in July was up 18 percent from a year ago.
Keith then cites a prominent economist from Boston University, who has mentioned that individuals are too focused on wealth accumulation and much less on how to have the best lifestyle today and in the future. The economist also feels that lots of people are claiming their Social Security benefits prematurely, and that people are generally retiring too early. Keith then gets into a brief discussion on Bitcoin, stating that the online cryptocurrency remains uncertain, but SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has suggested he is open to to Bitcoin ETF moving forward.
** For informational and educational purposes only, not intended as investment advice. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice.
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