Category: Trends & News

Earlier this year I quoted Chicago-based hedge fund manager John Thompson of Vilas Capital Management– who has been incredibly vocal (and blunt) about Tesla. Back in March, Thompson said that he thinks Tesla is going to crash . . . “. . .partially due to their incompetence in making and delivering the Model

Yesterday I told you about a still little-known gem in the US tax code known as opportunity zones. The example I gave you yesterday is– let’s say you have Apple stock, and you sell today for a total gain of $250,000. Ordinarily you’d have to pay tax on that gain. But if you

Hudson Yards is a gigantic real estate project on New York City’s western edge that will be the most expensive development in US history when it’s completed in 2025. At $25 billion, the project costs more than the size of the entire economy of Iceland… which is saying a lot given that Hudson

In 279 BC, the vast army of King Pyrrhus of Epirus was met by Roman forces at the Battle of Asculum in southern Italy, in what would be one of the costliest military engagements of ancient history. Pyrrhus fancied himself the second coming of Alexander the Great and believed that he was a

It was February 15, 1898. The American Civil War was a distant memory, and the United States had become the largest economy in the world. Still, something was missing in the Land of the Free: colonies. More than 100 years before, other leading powers like Spain and Britain had established colonies all over

On June 8, 2006, more than a decade ago, armed agents from the Internal Revenue Service arrived at the home of Michael and Shelly Ioane of Atwater, California. Michael Ioane was suspected of tax fraud, and the IRS agents were there to conduct a search of the premises and look for evidence. About

This month, college freshmen across the US are settling into their new lives. For the next four (or five… or maybe even six) years, they’ll be immersed in safe spaces and bombarded with repugnant, hyper-socialist groupthink. Then, at the end, they’ll walk away with a degree of questionable use… but they’ll also walk

Last week I wrote about farmland in South Africa… And how it’s taken a pounding thanks to a radical politician who is threatening to seize farmland from white farmers without compensation. While I don’t think it’s time to buy South African farmland yet – that situation can get MUCH worse before bottoming –

We poke a lot of fun at the MANY absurdities we see in this current bubble. As we’ve discussed countless times over the past few years, there are consequences from the fact that central bankers have conjured trillions of dollars out of thin air and pushed down interest rates to zero. Stock, bonds

[Editor’s Note: As we’re coming up on the end of the year, we thought it would be appropriate to republish some of our most popular Notes articles of 2018. Today’s article was originally published on September 17, 2018.] It was mid-September in 1683, almost 335 years ago to the day. Turkish forces of

“Holy Crap– turn on your TV! This is crazy!” It was Sunday, September 14, 2008. Exactly 10 years ago to the day. My friend Jeff called me and told me to turn on the television—where I saw dozens of people on the streets of Manhattan filing out of a skyscraper carrying boxes full

An insane event on March 2, 2017 likely signaled the top of the current market… On that day, shares of Snap (SNAP), owner of the popular Snapchat app, went public at a valuation of more than $30 billion. But it wasn’t the sky-high stock price that made this IPO special. Nor was it