The Dividend Cafe

Today's call focuses on the latest in financial markets and the reconciliation bill. DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

I wrote last week about a small amount of rather large economic principles that are too often forgotten in contemporary thought, and in many cases were never learned in today’s financial advisory community. I promised a part II this week where we focused more on the application of these principles, and there is no way I would disappoint you after that powerful cliffhanger. I will point out before we dive into the Dividend Cafe that I hosted a fireside chat with Bahnsen Group economic and policy advisor, Larry Kudlow, this week. You can find that whole video replay on our website if you are so inclined. Today’s Dividend Cafe is short and sweet but does focus entirely on the promised mission – putting into practice for investors what the theories of economic wisdom look like. Off we go … Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

Today's Dividend Cafe dives into some of the great economic principles one has to learn if they are to ever learn anything about economics and finds a comparison with the great investing principle of all time.  I hope I will connect the dots well for you. DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

I loved writing the Dividend Cafe for many years with a “jump around” approach, basically covering a wide array of topics that would enter my orbit of interest each week. I made a decision late last year to start writing “single topic” and to write the entire thing in “one sitting” – basically Friday mornings – so as to make it a more coherent and cohesive read. I do like it better that way, and the feedback I have gotten suggests you do too. Today is a little old school, which happens every once in a while when no singular topic is inspiring me. There are a number of things I want to look at today, from the Value/Growth discussion to the impact of debt on the economy to so much more. I did write it all in “one sitting” (yes, Friday morning – I am a serious creature of habit), but it covers a handful of different topics that entered my world this morning from a plethora of inspirations. So off we go into the Dividend Cafe, a read that will be well worth your while. Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

The effort to meet face to face with leading money managers, hedge funds, macroeconomic analysts, and other such “life of the party” luminaries began in 2006. Of course, back then I was overseeing just $100 million of client assets and busily deciding if I was going to move my business at UBS to either Bear Stearns or to Morgan Stanley (yes, that was a real dilemma I once faced; I’d say the angels aided me in my decision). But I had very limited access, basically no clout, and asset management firms that were perplexed by an advisor’s desire to do such intense due diligence. “Your firm has told you these managers are good. Isn’t that good enough?” “Your firm likes our fund. Why do you need to meet the managers?” My stubborn insistence on actually creating my own process, on doing much deeper dives than the average advisor does, paid off in big ways for me. But I quickly found out that the “payoff” was not merely in how I was able to better vet products and solutions used on behalf of my clients. These meetings became a source of transformative learning for me in my career as an investment professional. This week’s Dividend Cafe is not about the trip down memory lane, unless by memory lane you mean the last five days. But Brian Szytel and Deiya Pernas have once again joined me for over a dozen face-to-face meetings with stellar investment professionals, and we do so in a time where great questions exist about the current market cycle. About geopolitics. About China. About the Fed. About risk asset valuations. About societal stability. So jump on into this week’s Dividend Cafe, and get a glimpse into what we learned this week. The results may or may not shock you, but they will not bore you. Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

This week’s Dividend Cafe does cover a lot of topics, but all through the prism of looking at the recent past as well as the pending future. I think you’ll find it an interesting historical journey and, even more so, a good analysis of so many investment and market realities. The market enjoyed a little roller coaster this week, and I also dive into some lessons from that. I think a lot of stuff that gets covered in Dividend Cafe may mean nothing to some readers. It all means something to me, but different readers may find different topics with varying levels of application and interest. But the one universal – the one thing I constantly pray will come through in the pages of Dividend Cafe – is the primacy of behavior. My unpacking of matters monetary policy, valuations, economic growth, profit trajectories, market history, alternative investments, and all those things – none of them – not a single one – will ever trump the underlying thing I most care about for investors: Their own behavior. Some bad things happened this week – for those who behaved badly. Nothing terrible happened this week – for those who behaved well. That is more or less a dual truism that I could repeat every single week. In the meantime, let’s jump into the Dividend Cafe! Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

As I have teed up all week, I am devoting today’s Dividend Cafe to the takeaways from this week’s SALT Conference here in New York City. The quick qualifier I will offer is that this is not going to be a boring recap of all the speakers, all the events, and all the things that you don’t care about. I did not attend the Chainsmokers concert on Tuesday night, and I did not attend the luncheon address from Paris Hilton on Wednesday, either. In the ten years I have attended the event in Las Vegas I don’t think I ever got a concert either, despite such names as Lenny Kravitz, Duran Duran, Train, One Republic, and The Killers performing. I did attend past luncheons with Dennis Miller, Magic Johnson, Coach K, and the now late Kobe Bryant. In fact, that lunch event with Kobe Bryant started a domino train that led to me doing a real estate transaction with Kobe – but I will save that story for another day. But as much as they have always done to make this a pretty fun event with a powerful complement of entertainment to the symposium of content, whether in Las Vegas or now this year in New York City, there is nothing that they can do to make me a fun person. I absolutely love the speakers, and for the last two events, I have been honored to be a speaker myself. But whether or not you care about this conference, I believe there are some takeaways from the event this year that are going to make this a meaty and substantive Dividend Cafe. So read on, and I promise I won’t let you down. Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com