The Sunday Drive - 05/14/2023 Edition

Musings and Meanderings of a Financial Provocateur

May 14, 2023

👋🏼 Hello friends,

For all the mothers who read the Sunday Drive, please accept my warmest Mother’s Day wishes. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with love and joy.

Let's take it easy and enjoy a leisurely Sunday Drive around the internet.

Vibin'

The White House and Republican leadership in the House continue to be locked in a Battle Royale over the debt ceiling, and the economic future of many millions of people hangs in the balance. It’s hard to find anything meaningful to add to the conversation that hasn’t already been discussed in the financial and other media.

So this week, I guess I’ll just vibe to Beat It from Michael Jackson’s 1982 album, Thriller.

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💭 Quote of the Week‌

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
- Abraham Lincoln

📈 Chart of the Week

Our workforce is getting older, as we know. My strong belief continues to be that AI, despite the scary potential outcomes that some people forecast, is the key to renewed productivity growth and hence, stronger economic growth in the future.

🚙 Interesting Drive-By's

🤔 Taylor Swift and the Real Lesson from the Ticketmaster Antitrust Hearings - Interesting article by Ninos Malek of the Foundation for Economic Education

Real competition, contrary to the textbook portrayal, is a rivalrous process in which companies fight to reach the top and be the best.

📈 Investing’s Big Blindspot - from Tom Morgan of Sapient Capital

There are over 1,000 books about Buffett listed on Amazon. This speaks to the belief that internalizing the folksy lessons from Warren and Charlie can make you a better investor.
But, if these insights are so widely known, it’s highly unlikely they will produce exceptional performance. Don’t follow the nerd herd. In fact, the application of rigid rules might be close to the opposite of how Warren and Charlie have become wise investors.

📉 Near-Retirees with Target-Date Funds Didn’t Escape the Downturn - from Eleanor O’Sullivan of Rethinking65

Are target-date funds supposed to protect their investors from losses when they are a few years from retirement or newly retired? Some investors might think so, but that’s not what happened in 2022.
In fact, investors in 2025 target-date retirement investments had a bumpy ride in 2022. It was the year, Morningstar Inc. says, that “(almost) nothing worked.’’

🤷🏼‍♂️ Homeowners are “Quiet Quitting” - from Josh Rosen of Markets Insider

New home listings in April were down more than 20% from a year ago and homeowners are increasingly staying put with low mortgage rates locked in, rather than trying to secure a new home at a higher rates.
That's keeping inventory low and prices high — and sidelining would-be buyers looking to upgrade their homes.

👋🏼 Parting Thought

Sending these to all the mothers out there everywhere.

If you have any cool articles or ideas that might be interesting for future Sunday Drive-by's, please send them along or tweet 'em at me.

‌I hope you have a relaxing weekend and a great week ahead. See you next Sunday...

Your faithful financial provocateur,

-Mike‌

If you enjoy the Sunday Drive, I'd be honored if you'd share it with others.‌‌

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