This Week's Video: Sectors Sending Mixed Signals

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While Western Leadership May (or may not) Resist Belt and Road, Western Investors Absolutely Should Not!

From Bloomberg's May 12, 2017 Economic Brief:

China is one of the few countries in the world today with money to spend, and Xi Jinping is ready to write some checks.

Those checks would be written to fund China's "Belt and Road Initiative".

Quote of the Day: Really? Tax reform in the face of such perverse incentives??

All in favor of tax simplification say "aye". AYE!!! All opposed say "nay". ..................

I know that all of you, umm, well....., we do have a client/subscriber or three in the tax-planning business (each of whom I respect and admire [sincerely!])..... so let's say most of you sympathize with my AYE!!

This Week's Message: Are Stocks Dangerously Expensive? -- AND -- Highlights of our in-house study on the financial sector

Here's a look at our tracking of current-year price to earnings ratios for the S&P 500 (spx), major U.S. sectors, and much of the rest of the world -- along with our target allocation percentages:   click charts to enlarge

Quote of the Day

As you've gathered, our chief aim herein is to help our readers/clients keep the day-to-day world of markets in proper perspective, and to keep their eyes on the long-term ball.

Quote of the Day

I can virtually assure you, any ad for a sure fire investing/trading system isn't worth the cost of whatever medium utilized to bring it to you (in the olden days we said "the paper it's printed on").

This Week's Message: What Motivates the Seers

RBC's guy feels very good about the market these days:              emphasis mine...

(Bloomberg) -- Risk assets should continue higher amid an economy that’s in good shape, barring “some exogenous event,” and “bearish arguments appear to be increasingly contrived,” RBC strategists led by Jonathan Golub write in a note. * Drivers of market upside include: synchronized global pickup, easier lending conditions, improving consumer situation, renormalization of rates and corporate profits.....

And, clearly, he's in no mood for dissenting opinions.