Connecting the Dots

US stock benchmarks hit new all-time highs this month, and despite rich valuations, buyers think they’ll go higher still.

The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates again last week. Yes, it was a tiny hike, but as they say, “A quarter-point here and a quarter-point there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”

America is fully employed, or so say the statistics. Federal Reserve officials think the job market is strong enough to justify higher interest rates. They’re afraid inflation will get out of control.

Americans have hated government red tape since 1776. Our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, complained King George III “sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”

Does the past predict the future? If you work in the regulated financial industry, you can only answer that question two ways. Your acceptable answers are:

Silicon Valley is a mystery to most people. So is technology in general, for that matter.

Obamacare probably doesn’t affect you directly.

I like Starbucks. That’s not the same as liking Starbucks coffee. I think their coffee is fine, but I’m not a connoisseur. I just like it hot and caffeinated.

On November 16, 2016, just a week after he won the election, Donald Trump went out for steak. Not just any steak, either. The president-elect took his family to New York’s exclusive 21 Club, ditching the press pool to enjoy some privacy.

American stores are dropping like flies. More than 8,600 retail locations could close their doors in 2017, according to a recent Credit Suisse report.

United Airlines had a rough week, but not as rough as one of its passengers. Dr. David Dao received a concussion, a broken nose, and two broken teeth after airport police forcibly dragged him off the plane he had boarded only a short while earlier.

Wishful thinking, as we all know, is the death knoll for many investors. Getting carried away by emotion has rarely, if ever, been a recipe for accumulating vast riches.