People forgot all too easily that the driver of the PP is Prosperity... everything else are HEDGES. I understand this immensely. But at 1% or lower long bonds provide little insurance. It would be better to greatly reduce duration as you suggest, or go to cash and look to just ride things out with ...

I need to invest a rather substantial (for me) amount of money, I am partially invested in a euro PP, but just cannot get myself to fully invest in it, not when the german 20year etf is yielding 0.35%, that's just insanity, almost zero upside left, not to speak about stocks which are also at valuat...

That's all in Kill Decision, by Daniel Suarez. Well, his were drones with shotgun shells that crashed into you to set them off, not explosives. His other books (Daemon and Freedom) have all kinds of crazy technology in them too. He consults for the Pentagon. Wired For War by PW Singer is another go...

This is the kind of thing you see in futuristic science fiction movies but it looks like the future has come to New Zealand. Craig, have you tried this yet? No that's not near me yet, thankfully! I'm not sure if this will work in the U.S.A. Given the way we've been using drone technology in the mid...

Fascinating story. Thanks for sharing it. You're right though about your body. Over time you must adapt to what it can and can't do. There are things I used to love doing, but just gave them up due to injury risk as I've gotten older. FWIW, I find pumping iron has been the best thing I've done to fi...

I have been hearing since at least 2008 how LTT are horrible and nobody should own them. Instead people were advised to buy short-term bonds because interest rates would be going up "any day now." In fact, I have heard LTT bonds are horrible to own for probably 20 years if I think back far...

Swiss PP performance in first half of 2016: - The SPI (stock index) is down 3.9%. - The longest Swiss government bond (maturity in 2064) is up 30.6%. - A UBS ETF invested in physical gold is up 23%. - Cash is 0%. A 4x25 portfolio would yield a 12.4% profit year to date. The annualized YTD profit is...

The registrar shows suspended domain again. I'm trying to resolve it one more time. The DNS team at the hosting provider is now involved. It's very frustrating, but it is being fixed.

Yes there was an error at the DNS registrar that caused it to go inactive. I have fixed it and now it will propagate again. Hopefully this will be the last of the issues transferring everything.

How does everyone think this will play out for the PP? I don't know how it will play out short-term for the PP so it's steady as she goes. But it may be a good opportunity for a variable portfolio bullish bet on the British economy going forward. The EU was a huge anchor around Britain's neck and s...

We aren't going back! It took me 2+ days to rebuild everything from SMF's last crash. I don't blame SMF, it was the old hosting provider that was a large part of the problem. But I had problems with SMF in the past (especially with plug-ins and upgrades) and just wanted to do something new that had ...

Best write-up on cables was an old post from John Dunlavy of Dunlavy Audio Labs: http://www.verber.com/mark/ce/cables.html Oh yes, we have heard of golden-eared audiophiles who claim to be able to consistently identify huge, audible differences between cables. But when these experts have visited our...

Japan has existed as unique people and culture for over a millennia. They are not going to vanish just because some economists think they aren't having enough kids to grow GDP to their liking. I recommend everyone visit Japan and see their cities, the people, and the unflappable spirit of the countr...

I suspect there are vintage amp collectors out there. E-Bay would be the first place I'd look and let the market decide. If the amp works that is a big plus. Start the auction at $1 with no reserve and see what happens.

Sadly, I just use 12 gauge zip wire I bought at the hardware store to hookup my speakers. I'm wondering if it's causing electron misalignment and I should upgrade?

Libertarian666 wrote:Ok, since we're talking audio, would it be all right for me to mention that I have a couple of items for sale?

Only if they are tube amps.

I'd agree that many solid state amps today sound very good. Even my Bryston separates are going to be on the chopping block soon to be replaced with a modern Yamaha Aventage all in one receiver just to simplify things. I need to audition it to see how it compares first. But I have to admit, I like t...

It's also possible the market expects Brexit to pass and then the entire EU might unravel. So investors are looking to park money where they think their money would be the safest if the Euro goes away. That could be bonds, cash, and gold.

Enough politics, let's talk audio. Several weeks back on a lark I bought a used Audio Innovations Series 300mkII tube amp (AI300). This is an amp made by the now defunct Audio Innovations out of Britain probably in the early 1990s. It may be older than some of the readers here. I bought it to use in...

But is AA meetings alone worth $40K a month? Because that's what they're charging insurance on the high end scale. Could you clarify what this means? Who is charging insurance, and for what? Do you have a link to support that assertion? Probably that is for high roller celebrity style rehab. I susp...

All well and good. But you know if someone has a destructive habit that can only be controlled by taking a prescription pill before they engage in the activity, then maybe stopping all forms of that habit outright ain't such a bad idea. "I find that my heroin use is far more manageable when I ...

All well and good. But you know if someone has a destructive habit that can only be controlled by taking a prescription pill before they engage in the activity, then maybe stopping all forms of that habit outright ain't such a bad idea. "I find that my heroin use is far more manageable when I s...

The bond market is extremely efficient. It is way more efficient than the stock market in my opinion. The math on them is what it is in terms of duration and interest. The biggest benefit with the barbell over ITT is that nice wad of cash for riding out market turmoil, plus the ability to rebalance ...

I have changed the default cookie name. That will force people that were logged in to do it again and will eventually put everything in sync.

The US 30 year treasury's yield is down to 2.43%, which is below the lowest yields during or after 2008. I have no idea the last time it was down this far. The great depression maybe?? Supposedly this is about the Brexit vote on June 23rd. Maybe next week would be a good time to check the portfolio...