August 27, 2017, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk: Stocks, Bonds, Economy, Investing

August 27, 2017....Bob Brinker hosted Moneytalk live today....(comments welcome)

STOCK MARKET....No changes in Brinker's dollar-cost-average advice or 50-50 asset allocation for those in retirement.   Brinker commented to Bob from New Hampshire: "There is no stock market weakness right now. It's only down about 1% from all-time-highs."

DOLLAR COST AVERAGE, BUT ALWAYS BE WORRIED.... Caller Marie from Chicago wanted to know if her son should just dollar-cost-average into the market at these levels and not worry about it,

 BB agreed with this exception:  "I think you should always be worried.....I think if people are not worried at the world they are looking at today they are not paying attention.....Where we get on this is complacency. If we are just going to take the don't worry-be happy road, then we are complacent. And I think that is a dangerous state of mind to be in....

DON'T GET COMPLACENT ABOUT MARKET... BB continued:  For example, occasionally you will hear someone call the program and say,  hi Bob, I'm retired and have 80 or 90% of my money in the stock market.....To me, that is the definition of complacency. And any time the market takes a hit, you have a chance to reevaluate your risk tolerance. Any time the market is under pressure, and there have  been plenty of times it was under pressure in the last decade, that's for sure......Are you truly comfortable with what's going on in your portfolio at any given point. What happens when you see your portfolio take a hit. Does that bother you? Or do you say, I didn't know that stocks can go down in value.

LAST GOOD SIZE CORRECTION?   BB continued:  "We had a really good size correction, if you recall......dating back to 2015 - 16. Remember that correction. It started in mid-2015 and continued to February 10th 2016 when it bottomed out in the low to mid-1800s.  Now we were fortunate enough there to trigger a buy signal - and outright buy-signal. Upgrading the market to attractive for purchase at that time....We were certainly grateful for that opportunity.....Such opportunities don't occur every day and this market has been on a run from the spring of 2009 - the likes of which has rarely been seen.  So the idea that you are going to watch a market more than triple in price in 8 1/2 years, you certainly don't want to be complacent."

Honey EC: I have to research my old Marketimers. I do not recall a buy signal in 2016 - and even if there was, it was just as useless as horns on a brass monkey (or however that old saying goes). Brinker has not raised cash for ANY corrections since year 2000.... Yep, that's YEAR-2000. It's always ride it down - ride it back up, unless you happen to have some spare cash lying around the house. 

IN EDIT: I have been informed by reliable sources that Brinker actually did issue a buy-signal in February 2016 - as he stated. But as usual, no cash raised for it in advance. 

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT ESTIMATE UPGRADED:  Q2 estimate is now at 2.6 - new estimate is now at 2.8%....If that happens, the annual rate which is now 2.0% will go to 2.1% - which is "closer to the average GDP growth."

FEDERAL RESERVE....BB comments: The Jackson Hole confab is now in the record books. Monetary policy was not discussed.

LUMP SUM VS MONTHLY PAYOUT FOR MULTI-MILLIONAIRE.....Bob from New Hampshire - net worth $2.6 million - said he was "nearing Critical Mass" and wanted help choosing between a lump sum payout of $417,000 and $2272 monthly payout.  BB advised him that if he took the lump sum, that would increase his net worth by about 20%, but that the monthly payout yield was about 6 1/2%. He seemed to encourage the caller to take the lump sum.

MULTI-MILLIONAIRE WORRIED ABOUT MARKET:....JayJay in New Haven, "Sitting on $2 Mill" net worth .....with asset allocation at 60-40 and worried about "market overheated."  BB told him he recommends 50-50 for those in retirement, depending on risk tolerance. 

BRINKER'S POLITICS....BB waxed on with his speculation about what was going to happen after Congress goes back to work on tax reform and a few other things. He made the usual point that they are "dysfunctional" and a few other insults that probably made him feel good, but may not have helped investors very much. You be the judge:

=>TAX REFORM, WHAT'S IN, WHAT'S OUT, WHAT'S UP, WHAT'S DOWN. dRahme's audio clip from opening monologue. 

LOTTERY WINNER....BB had some fun advising Ms Wanczyk about how she should have acted after winning a lump sum payment of $480 million. Seems that she did it all wrong, according to BB she should have gone into hiding and not told anyone.......Massachusetts state lottery officials named Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee as the winner of the $758.7 million Powerball Thursday in a press conference.

BRINKER'S CORRECTION FROM LAST WEEK.....BB very subtly corrected what he said last week about mortgage interest deduction being on the table for possible elimination, He only said it once with no explanation about why he said just the opposite last week.  (Too embarrassed?)   I did the research and proved that it wasn't. Did he read the facts here? Why so little concern for misleading (and in some cases) scaring, audience members? 

HONEY'S QUIZ: WHO CAN GUESS BB'S FAVORITE NEW INSIDE JOKE WORD......BB uses this word several times on each program now when talking about political issues.  Can anyone guess what it is? First person that guesses it, I will post here with their handle/name.

==> Two hours later:  Biker said...OK, I'll bite. I noted the use of the term "Donnybrook" several times when describing the expected deliberations over tax reform. Not sure why that would be considered an inside joke, though.
August 27, 2017 at 7:17 PM

HONEY HERE: That didn't take long. That's the answer. Anyone who knows Brinker's sense of humor sees a big watermelon-eating grin on his face every time he announces some upcoming government issue will be a "donnybrook."  His own inside joke against the President. 

FRANKJ'S MONEYTALK GUEST AUTHOR SUMMARY 

Bob’s third hour guest on August 27, 2017 was a Canadian, Pierre L. Siklos, author of "Central Banks Into the Breach: From Triumph to Crisis and the Road Ahead."

OK, this interview was pretty lackluster in my opinion, so I am going to default to bullet points:

• · The Fed reacted quickly to the 2008 meltdown and the US began to recover before the UK and Europe. 

• · Super Mario (Draghi) is doing the best he can, given the politics he has to deal with. 

• · There is no deposit insurance in the Eurozone. 

• · Of the Fed’s QE efforts, QE1 was the most successful, 2 and 3 were less successful. 

• · The Fed has to be very careful when unwinding its balance sheet to avoid anything like the taper tantrum that occurred in 2013. Communication is important. 

• · Our current $600 billion in deficit spending might be viewed as fiscal stimulus. The deficit should shrink in relation to the economy as the economy grows. 

• · Spending $100 billion per year for the next 10 years on infrastructure: “won’t help that much,” the real benefit will be the productivity boost that results in, later. 

• · He agreed with Bob that interest rates have been too low for too long. 

• · US tax policy needs to be simplified to help small and medium sized businesses contribute to growth. 

• · Our $20 trillion in national debt is a time bomb (my words) if interest rates begin to “normalize.” Each 1% rise in interest rates adds $200 billion to the interest owed. 

The take-away: central banks are now responsible for monetary policy AND maintaining financial stability.

Honey Here: Thanks Frankj....I agree that this guest did not add much value to Moneytalk today, but your summary is interesting, as always. 

=> THE CANYONS OF WALL STREET NEXT WEEK:  Thanks to dRahme, here is BB's report. 

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August 20, 2017, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk: Stocks, Bonds, Economy and Investing Commentary

August 20, 2017....Bob Brinker hosted Moneytalk live today.....(comments welcome)

STOCKS....Brinker announced that the S&P 500 Index closed at 2425.5 and the DJIA closed at 21, 674. That is just 2% under the all-time-closing highs. He called it "noise." 

BOND MUTUAL FUNDS.... BB repeated his advice to only buy short-duration bond funds several times today.

INTEREST RATE RISK.... BB is still adamant (after 4 years of preaching it and being wrong) that he recommends short-duration bond mutual funds - and that is all that he has in Marketimer.

Honey EC: Yes, all three of the bond mutual funds in Marketimer have short-duration. But making that drastic change four years ago has cost his followers a  lot of gains every year. 

MARKETIMER INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS (VANGUARD FTSE ALL-WORLD)... BB said that each of his Marketimer model portfolios have international stock fund holdings.  It has done very well in 2017, but not so well in years past. He said that portfolios I and II hold 20% and the balanced portfolio III holds 10%. He reminded listeners that most index funds  have a sizable amount of international investments in them also.

POLITICS, SOME POSSIBLE, SOME BLATANTLY FALSE.....Brinker spent the first long opening monologue speculating and prognosticating about what Congress has to work on when they return from their summer vacation. The first thing on their plate is raising the debt ceiling.

Then Brinker morphed into a real jabberfest about how Congress is  near record levels of dysfunction.  And from there he slid on over to  tax reform. Brinker told the audience that Mnuchin has said that the home mortgage deduction is "on the table" for elimination.  Brinker even called it a "Donnybrook."  That is completely false!

If Brinker would have been honest, he would have stated that the whiners are complaining that the standard deduction will be raised - which simply means that it will take a higher deduction to get above that standard - but nothing is lost.

Here are direct quote from Whitehouse.gov:  "......double the standard deduction, while eliminating most tax breaks except for home ownership and charitable deductions."...... "Home ownership, charitable giving, and retirement savings will be protected – but other tax benefits will be eliminated."

Honey EC: While I try to avoid politics, I am not going to let Brinker scare his listeners (one called today, very concerned about this) with FALSE information (posted above).  Personally, I was embarrassed for, and ashamed of,  Bob Brinker over this today. 

==> NEWSFLASH UPDATE:  Thanks to dRahme, audio clip of Brinker's political opening monologue.

==> NEWSFLASH UPDATE: Thanks to dRahme, audio clip of 2nd hour lessons on Critical Mass.

==> NEWSFLASH UPDATE: Thanks to dRahme, audio clip of what's new on Wall Street next week.

OWNING MYLAN PHARMACEUTICALS  and TOBACCO.....BB told caller Frank from Ohio that he would never invest in Mylan because what they did with the Epipen was so "off the charts."  And he had never invested in tobacco products because their products were "unconscionable" - in his opinion.

Honey EC: In the past, Brinker has talked about his mother dying very young from smoking. This is one subject that I agree wholeheartedly with him about.  I also blame smoking for my mother's early death. 

SOME INVESTING POINTS BRINKER MADE TODAY:

1. Do not buy Whole Life Insurance for investment purposes
2. Buy Term Life Insurance for protection of the bread-winner
3. Save at least 10% of your income.
4. Do not carry a balance on your credit cards- pay them off monthly
5. Why pay someone to be your financial manager - learn to be your own
6. Keep a balanced asset allocation near 50-50 in retirement.
ADDED IN EDIT: It is always best to keep deductibles high for home and car insurance.
7. People who do not listen to Moneytalk are "CLUELESS."

FRANKJ'S MONEYTALK GUEST SUMMARY

Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal was Bob’s third hour guest on the August 20, 2017 edition of MoneyTalk. The guest’s book, “ "An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take it Back"  was the topic of conversation.

She said she wrote the book because after spending some years overseas, she was shocked at how expensive things were upon her return. Dr. Rosenthal graduated from Harvard Medical School and practiced in New York before turning to journalism with the New York Times.

Some of the conversation had to do with pricing. Bob proposed a minor procedure that the hospital might price at $7000, but the negotiated price with the insurance company was $1500. Insurance would cover $1200 and the patient would pay $300. The guest said the hospital (provider) puts a price out there they would like to get – and once in a while, someone might walk in with a suitcase full of cash and be willing to pay the $7000. There is little incentive for the hospital to start off with a competitive price.

Hip replacements in California could cost as much as $100,000. She cited an example of a company in CA telling its employees, “we will pay $40K for a hip replacement, if you go somewhere that costs more, you pay the difference.” She said the hospitals that were charging $100K dropped their prices.

Rules of Dysfunction: “A lifetime of treatment is preferable to a cure.” She cited people who have Type 1 diabetes who need regular, daily treatments. An entire sub-industry has grown up around these individuals. Why would the industry be focused on finding a cure? She said there are advances if there is a financial reward. In the case of multiple sclerosis, current drugs cost $5000 per month, she cited this as an example of “whatever the market will bear,” pricing.

“Sticky pricing” occurs when a new drug comes on the market that priced higher than existing drugs that essentially do the same thing. The makers of the existing drugs then raise their prices. Prices for tech products like computers, phones and flat screens have come down even as these products improved greatly. This hasn’t happened with medical procedures or drugs. Pricing is not tied to inflation, price increases outstrip inflation.

More expensive is not better. That was Dr. Rosenthal’s answer to caller Mary from Illinois who asked about seeing a more expensive doctor vs. a “cheaper” one. Patients need to ask questions about what things cost. Their doctor might not know the answer but they will learn it if enough people ask. If a blood test is ordered, ask that it be done at a commercial lab. If an X-ray is ordered, don’t assume the hospital’s X-ray facility is competitive.

Donna who lives in NJ asked about billable and contracted rates for procedures. This led to a discussion by the guest over “balance billing” and “surprise billing.” Balance billing is when the provider bills the patient for the cost NOT covered by the insurer. She said the service provider is not legally allowed to do that. You should probably check the rules in your own state, I am not sure if she meant it is not allowed in all states.

“Surprise billing” bites you when you are treated by an out-of-network provider. She gave the example of someone who goes to a hospital emergency room that is “in network,” but the doctor is not “in network.” You are supposed to be told in advance so that you can consent to be treated by the out of network doctor. You can fight surprise billing.

She took state insurance commissioners to task. In order for insurance companies to offer plans in a state, the insurance commissioners should require them to have an adequate network with enough doctors in the network so patients can actually see a doctor in a reasonable amount of time. Bob mentioned concierge doctors and they agreed people go this route for improved access.

Bob wrapped up at the usual time, about 3:52.

Honey here: Thank you for that great summary. It sounds like the whole healthcare industry is a blooming mess. Yikes! 

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August 13, 2017, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk, Stocks, Bonds, Economy, and Investing

August 13, 2017....Bob Brinker hosted Moneytalk live today....(comments welcome)

STOCKS...BB comments:   The market has been favorable for a long time....BB told John from Chicago that he thought it was fine at age 61 with 5 years to retirement to have 80% invested in the stock market. He told John from Ohio (age 47) and Brittany from Conn (age 54) that 70% in stocks was okay for them.

Honey EC:These comments that arrived after today's show may speak for a lot of listeners:

Irishcajun said:

Thanks again for hosting this site. I miss the old days of BB where he actually talked about current economic data and its effect on the markets. We heard very little today that would actually help steer economic decisions related to current markets until the very end of the show. Unfortunately, this was only a passing reference to the S&P being at 2,441 close to its all time high of 2480, and an offhand comment about world politics - not very helpful.

 BONDS..... BB is still recommending short duration bond mutual funds. No changes in his bond fund holdings in Marketimer.

/INTEREST RATES....Interestingly, today I heard Brinker use the word "if" when he referred to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

INFLATION....BB pointed out that according to the Rule of 72, inflation at 2% will cut the value of money in half in 36 years.  He also reported this news:  The Producer Price Index for final demand declined 0.1 percent in July, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today....For the 12 months ended in July, prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services rose 1.9 percent.

==> Thanks to dRahme, audio clip: Hour 1 - Interest Rates, GDP, Inflation

WHAT PERCENTAGE SHOULD YOU BET ON ANY ONE COMPANY.....Caller Ron from San Jose had 25% of his portfolio invested in his company stock and asked for Brinker's opinion about buying more because the company was giving him large discoutns.. After lengthy questioning, Brinker said that the question was "not answerable" - that he simply could not give John an answer to his question.    NVIDIA STOCK NVIDIA  Market's Hottest Stock Plunges 

==> Thanks to dRahme audio clip: Hour 2 - Jamie Dimon, Wells Fargo, Caller Ron on Nvidia.

REITS AND SHOPPING MALLS.... BB said to be careful about owning REITS that invest in shopping malls. The future of walk-in shopping malls is not looking good.

Honey EC: I wonder why - NOT.  Free delivery is becoming quite common and some places even offer free returns. I used to spend time each week  browsing through malls with a group of "shopping buddies."  But as time went on, the malls and most of the stores, seemed to cater to teens with the noise that they call music at deafening volume. This soon made the malls lose appeal for women who want to talk about bargains and gossip over lunch. 

WHO CARES WHAT JAMIE DIMON SAYS ABOUT POLITICS?  Brinker talked at length about how Dimon has traveled across the country and world using vulgar language to trash the United States and WashDC.  Does he have any reason to complain - ya think?  "Dimon is one of the few bank chief executives to become a billionaire, thanks in part to a $485 million USD stake in JPMorgan Chase. He received a $23 million pay package for fiscal year 2011, more than any other bank CEO in the United States.Dimon received $20 million in compensation for his work in fiscal year 2013. He earned $28.2 million in 2016."

NORTH KOREA....KIM JUNG UN....BB comments: I don't think he has any thoughts of longevity....because if he attacks anyone, how many days will he have left?  "It's a single digit number that starts with one."  So if he uses any of that stuff he's crazier than we think. I'm not ruling it out, but he's crazier than we think. 

FRANKJ'S MONEYTALK GUEST SUMMARY
COMPARE DATA FROM PRIOR MAXWELL MONEYTALK INTERVIEWS BELOW

The venerable Charlie Maxwell was Bob’s third hour guest on the August 13, 2017 MoneyTalk broadcast. Mr. Maxwell is a global energy expert and he has been on the show often enough to have earned the complete suite of Starship regalia: coffee mug, baseball cap, money clip, briefcase, gold wings and genuine MoneyTalk Starship leather flight jacket.

Bob said that oil prices are affected by two forces: increased fracking in the US (making more available) and OPEC’s supply reductions, (decreasing the quantity). Mr. Maxwell said that was a precise description of the situation. The economics of the US oil industry used to require $80 to $100 per barrel, but American know how concerning shale oil has brought us less expensive oil. The economy has benefitted from these low energy costs.

The Keystone XL pipeline has been approved. This is the best alternative to the other ways of getting Canadian oil to the Gulf Coast where the refineries are. Charlie recounted:

• · Moving the oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast by truck. Forget about it. Not enough trucks and not the highway infrastructure.
•           20 or so smaller existing pipelines:  not practical.
•       By train: risky – given accidents that have taken place with spilled crude catching on fire.

Keystone is the best choice. It will be a new pipeline without the maintenance needs of older, existing pipelines.

Will there be a rebirth of coal?

Charlie indicated here in the US – not so much. He named all the health hazards. We are fortunate to have natural gas that will help us bridge the transition from coal to cleaner energy. Countries like India, China and Russia don’t have much choice, they will continue to use coal. Global consumption of coal will continue to increase even though it will decline here in the US. Charlie channeled Bob Brinker saying, “We’re in the catbird seat.”

Nuclear

The accident at Fukushima, Japan will continue to hurt nuclear energy development for the next 10 years. However, nuclear produces about 25% of global energy and Mr. Maxwell sees it as a “bridge source” of energy in the future. (Work stopped recently on two nuke plants in South Carolina but I think it was a due to costs). 
Solar and Wind

All the best wind locations have been developed. Much of the energy produced by windfarms is lost if it needs to transported for long distances over transmission lines. He sees a brighter future for solar energy (sorry).

Global sources of energy:

Oil 32%, coal 29%, natural gas 25%, nuclear 7%, hydro 3%, all others including wood, biomass, solar and wind: 4%.

Bob asked what Charlie thought about Saudi Aramco. The guest said that Saudi Arabia dominated worldwide oil production for years, but the “end of the rainbow” is now in sight. (Editorial comment:  this reminded me of the book by Matthew R. Simmons titled, “Twilight in the Desert,” and examination of the outlook for Saudi oil production, published in 2006. An interesting book.)

Caller Tom from WI wanted to know if fracking creates the possibility of earthquakes. Charlie answered that it does but he pointed out they have not produced serious damage.

Then we heard from a repeat caller, Keith who calls in from New York. Keith always seems to have an axe to grind and his tone was aggressive as usual. He ranted some about the health problems people living near windfarms experience from the low frequency vibrations of the turning rotors. He said something about the crony capitalism of solar energy projects (I agree wholeheartedly with him on this). Charlie reiterated that wind power expansion will slow down then there will be no more expansion. It will peak at 3% of worldwide energy production.

Bob queried Charlie on the prices for West Texas Intermediate. Charlie said it is now at $45-46 per barrel and should range from $38 to 50 for the rest of the year. Prices in 2018: $49, and in 2019 and 2020, $54 and $57 respectively. These higher prices reflect a lack of investment over the last few years.
Bob wrapped up at 3:52 pm.

Data from previous Charlie Maxwell interviews:

From the Dec. 1 2013 interview:

The interview got underway at about 3:18 pm but some connection problems at first had Bob filling in a little time until Charlie came on the line. The interview topics included natural gas and the interplay between it and oil here in the US, the Keystone Pipeline, the price differential between West Texas Crude and Brent Crude and Charlie’s outlook for energy in the US.

Charlie started off with a quick review of our energy use here in the US.

• We consume 16-17 million barrels a day here.

• This is down from a peak of 20 million.

• We produce between 5.5 and 7.5 million barrels a day.

• We import about 9, down from 11.5 million.

• Charlie thinks imports will drop to about 6 million barrels in the future and this would strengthen the dollar.

Bob and Charlie revisited the price difference between West Texas crude oil and Brent crude. The world price is based on Brent crude, and West Texas prices have been lower. Apparently this gap closed as Charlie predicted it would, but it has now opened up again. As Charlie pointed out on his prior ride on the Starship Moneytalk, a distribution bottleneck created a surplus of West Texas crude so this is the reason for the lower price. Charlie sees additional pipeline capacity as the way to get this oil to market.

Thomas from Birmingham boarded the Starship at its next stop and asked about the long term price outlook for oil – relating the price to something he read about the increase in the world’s population. Charlie’s answer was that most analysts (including him) who forecast future prices are wrong, but he did posit that the price of natural gas is low and that oil is 3.5 times more expensive in terms of its thermal equivalent. He said that this is a ratio that cannot exist for very much longer.

In closing, Bob and Charlie revisited the price spread of Brent vs. West Texas and Charlie said the premium (on Brent) should disappear as the pipeline is built.

From the June 2015 interview:

Charlie said the Saudis are going to allow the price to fall, i.e., not cut their production to encourage a rise in the world price. His forecast is that prices will gradually rise and there will be equilibrium 2017 to 2018. (He also said, when forecasting, it is important to do so often.) He thinks the price of oil will be at $80 to $100 per barrel by 2020.

The “rig count” is down but the new drilling rigs are so productive that the industry has been able to maintain high levels of production. It takes about 5 years to bring a new field on-stream so it is hard for the industry to know what demand levels will be that far ahead. Charlie said we need to produce an additional 7.5% (of oil) each year to keep up with the increase in use.

Some data points from the Sept. 7 2016 interview.

• In 1970 we produced 12 million barrels per day in the US.

• We will produce 10-11 million in 5-6 years (with the new technology and finds).

• Our production will flatten and then decline.

• Canada peaked in the late 60’s early 70’s.

• Even with the non-conventional oil they’re producing now, they won’t break through their previous peak.

Bill from Alaska wanted to know how the North Slope figured in. Charlie was almost melancholy in his description of how North Slope oil production is in the “depletion” stage. There are a few fields yet to be opened but production peaked at 1.7 to 1.8 million barrels per day and is now down to 900,000.

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August 6, 2017, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk, Stocks, Bonds, Economy, and Investing

August 6, 2017.....Bob Brinker hosted Moneytalk live today....(comments welcome)

STOCKS....BB comments....These are the Dog Days of August....trading volume is usually lower than average....so far this month, the market has traded sideways with volatility benign.

Honey EC: In the August issue of Marketimer, Brinker still recommends dollar-cost-averaging new money into the market - and all model portfolios are fully invested. 

US DOLLAR VS BRAZIL, RUSSIA OR CHINA CURRENCY.... Caller Michael in San Rafael wanted to know if it was possible for the dollar to no longer be the world currency. Brinker said "not in our lifetime" because no one would want to put their money in those country's currencies.

JOBS REPORT.....BB said the July jobs report was very good - 209,000 new jobs in July - with no revisions from past months. Wages have increased.

Jim sent these comments that add a lot of important data that BB "forgot" to mention:

Jim has left a new comment on your post "August 6, 2017, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk, Stocks, B...":

In the month of July there were +16,000 manufacturing jobs created. Manufacturing jobs have now increased in 7 of the past 8 months. I think Brinker failed to mention this when he was giving the details of the jobs report. He also never mentions when new factories opening in the U.S. such as Foxconn, an electronic supplier for Apple which recently announced a plant in Wisconsin. Just like the mainstream media Brinker does not like to mention facts that don't fit his narrative.

THANKS TO DRAHME,  here are Brinker's comments on the jobs report.

NO RECESSION ON THE RADAR.... In the August issue of  Marketimer, Brinker reviewed the Five Root Causes of a Bear Market, and is estimating 2017 GDP growth between 2% and 2.6%. Based on a price/earnings ration  range of 17 to 18 times operating earnings in a low inflation economy, he believes this provides the potential for the S&P 500 Index to trade into the mid-2500s going forward.  

TOPIC OF THE DAY: HYPOTHETICAL TAX CHANGES.....Brinker devoted most of the monologues to speculating about what Congress might do when they come back to work next month - and possibly begin working on tax reform.  And almost all of the callers stayed on the same topic.

Honey EC: I will not waste your time or mine covering his ideas about hypotheticals that Congress might do regarding tax changes. Brinker makes it very clear that he views all tax proposals through the prism of John Maynard Keynes - and certainly has no respect for Milton Freidman.  

HOWEVER, THANKS TO DRAHME, DECIDE FOR YOURSELF: here is the audio from the opening monologue. 

BRINKER'S  EMBARRASSINGLY SOCIALIST COMMENT....Caller Ken from Iowa asked why Congress would consider cutting taxes on the 1% of people who own 47% of the nation's wealth.

Brinker answered: "Because they are not taking income inequality into consideration." 

Honey sez the following to Mr. Brinker: 

1. Net worth does not correlate to INCOME.
2. Those who make the most income (who may or may not have a large net worth) pay the VAST majority of the taxes.
3. Any time, anyone is allowed to spend their own money, rather than have it stolen by  the government, much of that money will stimulate the economy and create jobs.

THANKS TO DRAHME,  audio clip of what's coming out next week and some discussion about deflation.

DUE TO FAMILY ACTIVITIES, FRANKJ'S MONEYTALK GUEST SUMMARY IS NOT AVAILABLE

Brinker's guest author was Brian Merchant: "The Secret History of the iPhone."

Honey EC: The guest and Brinker talked a lot about the hazards of driving while texting - actually, it is deadly!  And how ridiculous it is to see young people run into posts and fall in ditches while texting. Also, it's very sad to see families sitting together and all looking at their iPhones. 

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