The Sunday Drive - 10/13/2024 Edition [#132]
Musings and Meanderings of a Financial Provocateur
👋🏼 Hello friends,
Greetings from Saratoga Springs, NY. Let’s enjoy a leisurely Sunday Drive around the Internet.
🎶 Vibin'
I’ve been thinking recently about the importance of service and the role it plays in my life. I’m a protector and provider for my family, a fiduciary for our investors and clients, and a supporter and servant to my friends and colleagues.
In the interest of growing as a person, I try to work on learning what the people in my life need and then do my best to give it to them. So this week, I’m vibin’ to the 1991 live performance of What You Need by INXS. Enjoy.
💭 Quote of the Week
“May you cherish this labor in the waves and wars: bring the trial on.“
— Odysseus
📈 Chart of the Week
After such a prolonged period of strong equity performance over the last 15 years, it’s worth looking back to see if we might gain some historical perspective about where the market has been and where it might be headed.
This week’s Chart comes courtesy of GMO and their co-founder and perma-bear, Jeremy Grantham. I’ve followed Jeremy’s career for a very long time and he has never seen a bull market he liked or thought was justified on valuation.
However, the Chart does make one wonder if we might experience a multi-year period of poor equity returns. If so, what would the investment backdrop be to drive such an outcome?
Could it be deflation akin to the 1930s? Inflation like the 1970s? Neither? Both?
Slowing population growth and ultimately outright population decline across the developed world will almost certainly be deflationary (see Japan).
On the other hand, the amount of (mostly government) debt outstanding continues to grow and a rapidly growing money supply is ultimately inflationary.
Perhaps these two macro forces will cancel each other out. That would, in some sense, be the best case for investors.
That said, there is a pretty reasonable case to be made that investment returns could be more tepid in the coming years than in the past decade and a half.
🚙 Interesting Drive-By's
💡 Back to the Future: Historical Futurism by Kyle Harrison
🤔 “October Surprises” That Disrupted U.S. Presidential Elections - History.com
😉 Life’s Short, So Stop Trying to Perfect It - by Oliver Burkeman
💔 1 in 8 Americans Feel Lonely - from Sherwood News
💰 The History of Wall Street: From Colonial Wall to Global Finance
👋🏼 Parting Thought
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 (X ‘em?) at me.
Please note that the content in The Sunday Drive is intended for informational purposes only, and is in no way intended to be financial, legal, tax, marital, or even cooking advice. Consult your own professionals as needed. The views expressed in The Sunday Drive are mine alone, and are not necessarily the views of Investment Research Partners or Cache Financials.
I hope you have a relaxing weekend and a great week ahead. See you next Sunday...
Your faithful financial provocateur,
-Mike
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Love that Dead cartoon