{"id":72753,"date":"2022-05-14T02:15:25","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T09:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=72753"},"modified":"2023-05-12T11:03:36","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T18:03:36","slug":"black-coffee-14-may-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id72753-black-coffee-14-may-2022.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Out to Lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

I hope everybody had an enjoyable week. Without further ado, let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

Ralph would treat the day’s decisions as though he were playing chess. The only trouble was that he would never be a very good chess player.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— William Golding, The Lord of the Flies<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Upton Sinclair<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Ancient proverb<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? In 2017, Austria introduced a 100-year bond that, despite the ludicrous long-term redemption period, sold at the paltry yield of 2.10%. Fast forward to this week, where the bond closed below par<\/a> for the first time since it was issued. Yep – they’re now underwater, which is bad news for those pension funds and insurers who ignored their roles as fiduciaries by deciding to gamble with their clients’ money by investing in a high duration-risk “asset” in exchange for, at best, puny returns. Then again, they’re not the only ones who are underwater:<\/p>\n

\"\"

(h\/t: Wall St. Silver)<\/p><\/div>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, Alasdair Macleod observed this week that, “By imposing sanctions on Russia, the West has effectively lined up its geopolitical opponents into a common cause against an American dollar-dominated faction. But Russia happens to be the world’s largest exporters of energy, commodities, and raw materials, and China is the supplier of semi-manufactured and consumer goods to the world. As a result, the West is increasingly vulnerable<\/a> with no apparent alternative to the dollar’s hegemony.” Yes, but how will it end? As Hemingway wrote: Gradually … then suddenly.<\/p>\n