If this stock market reversal is due exclusively to the virus, then why is United Healthcare down far more than SPX? Why is healthcare as a sector broadly not outperforming? Answer to these questions: the market is digesting a better than 50% chance of Bernie getting the nomination.

Thats DoubleLine Capital Jeffrey Gundlach explaining in an email to CNBC why he believes the stock market has taken such a bruising this week.

The S&P 500 dropped more than 6% over the course of Monday and Tuesday before mounting a slight comeback in Wednesdays trading session.

Maybe this is the dark side of momentum investing, Gundlach wrote. The market goes down in a knee jerk way on the Bernie rise, but the market going down makes Bernies polls go up on his rejection of a market based economy. Which makes the market go down another leg. Rinse and repeat.

This isnt the first time that Gundlach has warned of what a Sanders presidency could ultimately do to the stock market.

If people get more worried about Bernie Sanders and they start to price in his spending programs, then you could really start to see trouble in both bonds and stocks, which could really be on a rough ride, he said earlier this year.

At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -4.42% , S&P 500 SPX, -4.42% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, -4.61% were all in positive territory, but were well off their highs for Wednesdays session.

In the latest Real Clear Politics poll for the presidential election coming up in November, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders beats incumbent President Donald Trump by a margin of 47% to 44%.

Read more here:
Bond King says were experiencing the dark side of momentum investing and its not because of the coronavirus - MarketWatch

A number of small schools like Colby, in Maine, are hoping to improve off-campus amenities by helping to revitalize downtowns.

WATERVILLE, Maine Colby College is in an especially good place these days.

Applications to the liberal arts college are up 170 percent since 2014. An ambitious fund-raising campaign has pulled in more than $500 million over the past three years. And construction is underway on a massive campus athletic complex with an Olympic-size pool, an indoor competition center and an ice arena.

Unlike so many small colleges, were doing exceptionally well, said David A. Greene, Colbys president.

But from its perch on a serene hilltop in Waterville, a blue-collar community of roughly 16,000 about an hour outside Portland, Colby is seeking to lift the citys fortunes as well. Waterville, on a bank of the Kennebec River, has struggled to regain its footing since several mills shut down in the 1990s and early 2000s. Colby is aiming to supercharge an economic revival by remaking the hollowed-out downtown.

Colby is joining a number of smaller colleges that are taking a role in revitalizing flagging downtowns. If colleges are marketing distinctive academic programs and high-quality campus amenities to compete for increasingly discerning students, so, too, are they trying to leverage off-campus assets.

A lot of universities, especially in tertiary cities, are finding that creating a more revitalized downtown is just as important as making sure everything is tight within the four walls of the campus, said Michael Cady, the vice president of marketing for Charlestowne Hotels, a firm that specializes in managing university hotels.

Its a competitive market for students its almost a recruitment tool, Mr. Cady said. The town needs to be as vibrant and culturally interesting as the campus.

Colgate University, for example, with roughly 3,000 undergraduate students, owns a historic inn with a tavern, a bookstore and a movie theater in the Village of Hamilton, N.Y. Its efforts began in 2000 and have picked up in recent years.

Having invested about $30 million in the downtown so far, Colgate is now funding construction of affordably priced housing for university staff and other local workers, and is seeking approval for a mixed-use development that would include co-working and incubator space.

Having a vibrant village center is important for the local community, but also for visitors to the university, prospective students, current students and their families, and alumni, said Daniel DeVries, Colgates media relations director.

In Waterville, Colby College is drawing on the fund-raising campaign, cash reserves and debt financing to pump some $82 million into the redevelopment of five major projects on Main Street, about two miles from campus. The first to open was a 200-bed residential hall for students and faculty in 2018, Colbys only off-campus housing.

Across the street, it spent more than $5 million renovating a long-vacant bank building, then dangled low rents to woo an outlet of a Portland-based pizza pub and a software company looking to train local workers. An artisanal chocolate shop with a cafe is on the way.

And nearby, the college is building a 53-room hotel and restaurant, a visual and performing arts center, and an arts collaborative with studio spaces. All of the buildings will stay on the city tax rolls.

Colbys fate is intertwined with the citys, Mr. Greene said. We recruit people from all over the world. If they dont want to move here, it will have a major detrimental impact.

Mr. Greene is positioning Colby to be more of an anchor and less of an island.

Previous investments in the city were sporadic and modest, he said, and he detected some resentment toward the school when he arrived in 2014 from the University of Chicago, where he also worked on community revitalization. He was especially troubled to hear local references to Colby as the palace.

I thought that was the most damning metaphor, Mr. Greene said. Its in our best interests to invest in downtown, yes, but its also a moral obligation.

The new residential hall, funded in part by the Harold Alfond Foundation of Maine, is intended to put more feet on downtown streets and strengthen town-gown relations. Students must commit to community volunteerism as a condition of living there. And a 3,800-square-foot meeting space on the ground floor is open for use by community groups and city commissions.

All of the appliances for the buildings apartments were bought from a local company, as were the windows, Mr. Greene said.

The overall downtown revitalization strategy is the result of many months of planning sessions involving college officials and local leaders. That united front among city stakeholders, along with the substantial institutional investment, is attracting additional investment, said Christopher Flagg, the president of North River, a real estate investment, development and management company in New York.

North River owns the Hathaway Creative Center, part of the former Lockwood Mill Complex, which was converted to loft-style apartments and commercial space at the foot of Main Street. The buildings tenants now include MaineGeneral Health, a brewery, an antiques mall and a co-working space.

Last year, North River bought two vacant sister buildings and plans to invest $20 million in their redevelopment over the next two years, Mr. Flagg said.

Local investors are also stepping up. William Mitchell, an insurance agency owner and a nephew of former Senator George J. Mitchell, a Maine Democrat, recently opened an events center downtown and has acquired several buildings in the area. Previous revitalization efforts were false starts, he said, but Mr. Greenes plan is taking it to a whole new level.

The activity has prompted a handful of naysayers to complain that Colby is taking over downtown, Mr. Mitchell said. But he brushes off such complaints with a simple question: Who other than Colby could have taken the lead on such a major initiative?

Mayor Nick Isgro said that Colbys investments were welcome, but that the focus on the arts and restaurants should not overshadow the citys need for better-paying, middle-class jobs. Many residents are underemployed and struggle financially, he said.

The tightrope Ive tried to walk is to make sure the city is taking advantage of opportunities, but that our longtime residents still have a voice at the table, Mr. Isgro said. Its not revitalization if we leave people behind.

Other indicators are encouraging. Waterville is growing, even as the statewide population has been stagnant for years, said Garvan Donegan, the director of planning and economic development at the Central Maine Growth Council. The citys population grew 6 percent from 2010 to 2017.

That may sound nominal, Mr. Donegan said, but it truly is not.

The housing market is also healthy. The average number of days a home sits on the market is around 30, down from three or four months several years ago, said Don Plourde, the owner of Coldwell Banker Plourde Real Estate. The median price is around $160,000, which buys an older three-bedroom ranch. But the city needs new housing if it is to attract more residents, he said.

Andrew Volk, a 2005 Colby graduate, said he was optimistic about Watervilles prospects. He and his wife, Briana, who own the Hunt + Alpine Club, a popular cocktail bar in Portland, will open a restaurant called Vernas All Day on the ground floor of Colbys downtown residential hall by the end of the year.

The Volks were courted by Colbys vice president of planning, but it wasnt a hard sell.

Wed always kind of talked about what the next step is, and I liked that Colby would be our landlord, Mr. Volk said.

The concept for Vernas is fairly simple a casual American chophouse with classic cocktails. Mr. Volk said he and his wife were mindful that were creating a restaurant for Waterville, not for Portland.

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Colleges Invest So Whats the Town Like? Gets an Upbeat Answer - The New York Times

Space-based broadband internet for the masses is being built over at Elon Musk's SpaceX, with the initial launch of the service -- dubbed Starlink -- expected by the end of 2020. The company's forward-thinking mentality on the commercialization of the final frontier is partially responsible for the surge in interest in investing in the movement. Problem is, SpaceX isn't a publicly traded company, leaving just a few names like Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) for investors to choose from when it comes to innovation in the burgeoning space economy.

But there's another possibility: Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM), which just completed its first year operating its own broadband-speed service with global coverage. The company has yet to reach peak operational efficiency with its new satellite constellation, but solid progress is being made.

Image source: Getty Images.

When I first bought in on Iridium a few years ago, it was all on the promise of the company being able to deploy its NEXT satellite constellation, a broadband-speed communications service with 100% coverage of the globe. The company already provided services -- primarily to government organizations, and the maritime and aviation industries -- but high-speed data services were something else entirely.

Fast-forward a few years (and some 220% in share price advance), and NEXT is up and running. The service has helped Iridium reignite growth with new global Internet of Things connectivity capabilities and broadband internet for industries operating in remote locations (like aviation, maritime, mining, and government entities). A new air traffic control system based on the satellites, called Aireon, is also just getting going. With the first year of next-gen operations in the books, 18% total growth in billable subscribers led to a 10% increase in service revenues.

Service

End of 2019 Billable Subscribers

End of 2018 Billable Subscribers

% Growth

Commercial voice and data

363,000

361,000

1%

Commercial IoT

802,000

647,000

24%

Government voice and data

57,000

54,000

6%

Government IoT

78,000

59,000

32%

Data source: Iridium Communications.

For 2020, management said to expect another 6% to 8% increase in service revenue to $474 million to $483 million, and operational earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to increase 7% to 10% to $355 million to $365 million. Not too shabby.

More importantly, though, is that with the NEXT satellites now in orbit and Iridium having recently restructured its debt associated with getting the constellation in orbit, free cash flow (what's left after cash operating and capital expenses are paid for) ran at positive $80.3 million in 2019. Management expects free cash flow should increase somewhere in the 20% ballpark in 2020.

But what about that new SpaceX Starlink service coming online? Iridium CEO Matthew Desch had this to say on the last earnings call:

I would say that they're mostly focused on what I would call the commodity broadband space, trying to provide services that compete almost -- more with existing [very small aperture terminal (VSAT)] and fixed satellite services space, but even going beyond that to someone like StarLink or maybe someday Amazon Web Services, I would say that they're even going after what I would call the core fixed market, particularly consumer kind of markets that maybe are served by Hughes and ViaSat today or even by fiber and other kinds of solutions. Those are completely different markets from what Iridium is interested in or has been addressing. We've stayed away from those.

Desch said he and the rest of Iridium are rooting on the progress of Starlink and others because it's good for the space industry and complementary to the service Iridium already provides -- namely, commercial and government broadband versus consumer broadband. That should put a potential investor's mind at ease for now about future disruption. For the time being, though, Iridium Communications looks like one of the better ways to invest in the growing space economy.

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Looking to Invest in SpaceX? This Public Company Already Generates Revenue From Its Next-Gen Satellite Constellation - The Motley Fool

German-listed companies invest 11 times more in low-carbon investments such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and smart energy grids than UK firms. Photograph: Alamy

British companies are lagging far behind their European neighbours in low-carbon investment after contributing only 3% of the continents 124bn (104.2bn) green spending last year.

A report has revealed that German-listed companies invested 11 times more in low-carbon investments such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and smart energy grids than UK firms.

London-listed companies spent 4bn on green research and technologies compared with 44.4bn from German groups, including the carmaker Volkswagen, which invested more than a third of Europes total low-carbon spending in 2019.

The report, from the climate disclosure organisation CDP, said Germany, Spain and Italy topped the company league table for low-carbon investment last year while the UK finished sixth, below France and Denmark.

The report, which was co-authored by the global management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, reflected well on countries that are home to major manufacturers and utilities that have made heavy investments in electric vehicles and renewable energy projects in the last year.

By contrast, UK companies did not fare as well in the investment rankings because much of the countrys green infrastructure spending is outsourced to foreign companies, including Spains Iberdrola, the owner of Scottish Power, and the Danish wind power giant rsted.

The report warned that despite the 124bn investment in green solutions across the continent, low-carbon spending will need to double if Europe hopes to meet its climate targets.

On average, companies included in the report dedicated about 12% of their annual spending to low-carbon technologies but this will need to rise to 25% to help create a carbon-neutral Europe.

UK and EU leaders have agreed to be climate neutral, or net zero, by 2050 in a bid to keep global temperatures from climbing to levels that could lead to catastrophic climate chaos.

Steven Tebbe, the managing director of CDP in Europe, said achieving this goal means that Europes economy needs to cut its emissions at the rate of nearly 8%, which requires a fundamental transformation of our economic business model.

He said: The investment decisions taken by European companies and their owners will make or break whether we are successful and they need to double down.

The report found that almost 900 listed European companies invested a total of 59bn in new low-carbon capital investments and 65bn in research and development last year.

The biggest areas of new investment were in research and development of electric vehicle technologies, which reached 43bn across Europe, and capital investment in renewable energy, which reached 16bn. Investment in energy grid infrastructure and smart energy technology climbed to 15bn and 8bn respectively.

Across many types of investment, the business case for transitioning businesses on to a low-carbon pathway is clear and the opportunities vast, Tebbe said.

The CDP estimates that the potential value of Europes new low-carbon business opportunities could reach 1.22tn more than six times the 192bn of green investment required to realise this financial benefit.

But overall current investment levels are still short of putting European firms on track for net zero emissions, he said.

For industries where decarbonisation is more challenging, there is a serious need for financial markets and policymakers to create better conditions for low-carbon investment and deliver stronger incentives to drive investment into breakthrough technologies, where capital expenditure is often high and returns long-term.

Read more:
UK lags behind in 124bn European low-carbon investment table - The Guardian

Ultimate isnt a term to toss around lightly. But in this case it fits. I believe the investment portfolio Im about to describe is the absolute best way for most investors to achieve long-term growth in the stock markets and Ive believed that since the 1990s.

My view is based on the best academic research I know of as well as my own experience working with thousands of investors over the past half century. Ive been recommending this combination for more than 20 years, and it is the basis of the majority of my own investments.

Ive got loads of evidence to back up my confidence. The strategy itself isnt new, and as I do every year, I am updating the results to reflect one more year of data.

In a nutshell, the ultimate portfolio starts with the S&P 500 Index SPX, -4.42%, then adds small and equal portions of nine other carefully selected U.S. and international asset classes, each one of which is an excellent long-term diversification vehicle.

The result is a low-cost equity portfolio with massive diversification that will take advantage of market opportunities wherever they are, and at about the same risk as that of the S&P 500.

I like to roll this out in steps rather than all at once, so you can see how it goes together. Heres a table that might make it easier to follow along.

The base ingredient in this portfolio is the S&P 500 Index, which is a pretty decent investment all by itself. For the past 50 calendar years, from 1970 through 2019, the S&P 500 compounded at 10.6%. An initial investment of $100,000 would have grown to nearly $15.4 million.

For the sake of our discussion, think of the S&P 500 index as Portfolio 1. Its not bad, and you could do much worse. But you can do a whole lot better, too.

You take the first small step by adding large-cap value stocks, ones that are regarded as relatively underpriced (hence the term value).

(The links above, and others below, are to specific articles from 2015 that focus on each asset class.)

By moving only 10% of the portfolio from the S&P 500 into large-cap value stocks (thus leaving the other 90% in the S&P 500), you create what I call Portfolio 2.

Although only 10% of the portfolio has changed, the 50-year return improves enough to be worth noticing. Assuming annual rebalancing (an assumption that applies throughout this discussion), the 10.8% compound return of Portfolio 2 was enough to turn $100,000 into $16.9 million.

In dollars, this simple step adds more than 15 times your entire original investment of $100,000 the result of changing only one-tenth of the portfolio. If that isnt enough to get your attention, I dont know what would it would take.

In the next step we build Portfolio 3 by putting another 10% into U.S. small-cap blend stocks, decreasing the weight of the S&P 500 to 80%. Small-cap stocks, both in the U.S. and internationally, have a long history of higher returns than the stocks of larger companies.

This change boosts the 50-year compound return of the portfolio to 11%; an initial $100,000 investment would have grown to nearly $18.1 million an increase of $2.7 million from Portfolio 1.

Taking still another small step, we add 10% in U.S. small-cap value stocks, reducing the weight of the S&P 500 to 70%.

Small-cap value stocks historically have been the most productive of all major U.S. asset classes, and they boost the compound return of Portfolio 4 to 11.3%, enough to turn that initial $100,000 investment into $21.6 million.

With more than two-thirds of the portfolio still in the S&P 500, that seems like a marvelous result.

In the next step, creating Portfolio 5, we invest another 10% of the portfolio in U.S. REITs funds. Result: a compound return of 11.4% and an ending portfolio value of $22.3 million.

Lets pause for a moment to recap.

First, Portfolio 5s increase in compound return over Portfolio 4 was small, but over 50 years that tiny step produced an additional $708,000. This is a lesson I hope you wont ever forget: Small differences in return, given enough time, can add up to big differences in dollars.

Second, Portfolio 5, with its substantially higher return, had essentially the same risk level as the S&P 500 Index. Higher returns, without adding risk, has to be a winning combination.

Some investors may wish to stop here and not invest in international stocks. If thats the limit of your comfort level, thats fine. The combination of asset classes in Portfolio 5 is excellent, and I expect it will do well in the future.

But I believe any portfolio worth being described as ultimate must venture beyond the U.S. borders. And the rewards have definitely been there.

Accordingly, in building the ultimate equity portfolio I add four important international asset classes: international large-cap blend stocks, international large-cap value stocks, international small-cap blend stocks and international small-cap value stocks.

Giving each of these a 10% weight reduces the influence of the S&P 500 to 20%. If that sounds frightening, think about this: Over 50 years, the changes I just described (Portfolio 6) increased the compound return to 12%, and the portfolio value to $29.4 million.

That is an increase of 91% over the S&P 500 by itself. And Portfolio 6 produced that result with only a slight increase in statistical risk.

The final step, which results in Portfolio 7, is to add 10% in emerging markets stocks, representing countries with expanding economies and prospects for rapid growth. While this asset class has been a laggard lately, in eight of the most recent 20 calendar years, it was either the top-performing equity asset class or No. 2.

This additional slice of emerging markets stocks boosts the compound return to 12.6% and brings the final portfolio value to a whopping $37 million nearly 2.5 times that of the S&P 500 alone.

Thats the Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio, which over nearly half a century obviously stood the test of time very well.

As you will see, Table 1 includes another column, labeled Portfolio 8. This is my suggested All-Value Portfolio, which includes only five asset classes instead of the 10 in Portfolio 7. Portfolio 8 starts with Portfolio 7, then eliminates REITs and the blend asset classes. The 50-year performance of Portfolio 8 is slightly less than that of Portfolio 7, but still stunning at 12.6% in compound return and a final value of just under $37.1 million. Portfolios 7 and 8 are among the results of my long-standing commitment to find higher expected rates of return with little or no additional risk.

Investors who build either of these portfolios using low-cost index funds or ETFs dont have to rely on anybodys ability to choose stocks. Nor must they make economic or market predictions.

Obviously, all these performance statistics are based on the past. Will we see returns like these in the future? Nobody knows.

However, every academic Im familiar with expects that, over the long term, stocks will continue to outperform bonds, small-cap stocks will continue to outperform large-cap stocks, and value stocks will continue to outperform growth stocks.

Depending on your need for return and your risk tolerance, Portfolios 7 and 8 are the best ways I know to put those insights to work for you.

Its easier to describe this strategy than to implement it in real life. Youll get an excellent start with this article, in which my friend and colleague Chris Pedersen identifies the best-in-class exchange-traded funds for all these building blocks.

Theres much more to say on this whole topic, and I hope youll check out my podcast 10 more things you need to know about the Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy.

Richard Buck contributed to this article.

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This is the best way to achieve long-term growth in your stock investments - MarketWatch

The Climate Crisis and Peak oil demand are making expensive projects like Alberta's Teck Frontier look like bad investments.

Everybody in Canada is pointing fingers about Teck Resources cancelling it's giant $20 billion open pit tar sands mine. Alberta's Premier Kenney blames 'Urban-green-left zealots' and says it will "further weaken national unity. Temporary leader of the opposition Scheer blames the Prime Minister, saying "Justin Trudeaus inaction has emboldened radical activists" and Make no mistake: Justin Trudeau killed Teck Frontier.

But the fact is that it made no economic sense in a world awash in cheap oil; Teck needed $95 a barrel to break even and Canadian oil is selling for $38. Permian Basin oil sells for $50. And who was going to lend Teck $20 billion, when the people who fund these projects are pulling out of the market?

Many have joined Climate Action 100+, "an investor initiative launched in 2017 to ensure the worlds largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change."

And now, JPMorgan Chase is warning that climate change is a threat to "human life as we know it." According to Bloomberg,

The response to climate change should be motivated not only by central estimates of outcomes but also by the likelihood of extreme events, bank economists David Mackie and Jessica Murray wrote in a Jan. 14 report to clients. We cannot rule out catastrophic outcomes where human life as we know it is threatened.

This is from a company that has invested $75 billion in fracking and Arctic oil, and right now is demolishing a perfectly good, recently renovated building, with an upfront carbon load in replacing the square footage of about 63,971 tonnes of CO2. Even they are now talking climate crisis.

According to the JP Morgan report leaked to the Guardian, "the climate crisis will impact the world economy, human health, water stress, migration and the survival of other species on Earth."

Drawing on extensive academic literature and forecasts by the International Monetary Fund and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the paper notes that global heating is on course to hit 3.5C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century... The authors say policymakers need to change direction because a business-as-usual climate policy would likely push the earth to a place that we havent seen for many millions of years, with outcomes that might be impossible to reverse.

Although precise predictions are not possible, it is clear that the Earth is on an unsustainable trajectory. Something will have to change at some point if the human race is going to survive.

JP Morgan is backtracking a bit, telling the BBC that the report was wholly independent from the company as a whole, and not a commentary on it, but it is all part of a trend.

Take that Mad Money guy, Jim Cramer, who is saying "fossil fuels are done." He doesn't mention climate change, but blames investor attitudes. Quoted by Nick Cunningham in Oilprice.com:

I am sorry, but you cannot blame Justin Trudeau for that.

The Climate Crisis and Peak oil demand are making expensive projects like Alberta's Teck Frontier look like bad investments.

See the article here:
Oil investments are the new tobacco - Treehugger

There's been a lot of turbulence lately in the stock market, with indexes soaring to new record highs only to hit big air pockets that send them plunging again. With global issues like the COVID-19 outbreak adding to existing geopolitical and macroeconomic worries, there's a lot for investors to keep in mind.

Even when times are tough, it's important to stick with an investing plan. But that doesn't mean you need to be a superhero with your portfolio. To help you calm your nerves, here are three things you can consider to help you take advantage of turbulent markets while staying in your natural comfort zone.

If you have a lot of cash on the sidelines and want to put some of it to work, then jumping in right after a big down move can a great thing to do. However, nobody wants to invest all of their available cash only to see the market keep on falling even further. There are a lot more shallow corrections than full-blown bear markets, but the psychological impact of being wrong can be even more damaging to your investing plan than missing out on the full profits from investing right at a bottom.

Image source: Getty Images.

One thing that many investors do in this situation is to break their available cash into pieces. You can then invest one piece right away, taking advantage of bargain prices on stocks you like. Then, you can either set a timeline for investing future amounts or you can look to invest more money if the prices on the stocks you like fall even further and therefore look even more attractive.

You have complete flexibility to set things up in whatever way makes you most comfortable. But by eliminating the pressure of having to invest every single penny all at once, you can feel more confident that you'll end up where you want to be in the long run.

Another thing you can do when the market starts looking more attractive is to increase the amount of money you divert toward investing for retirement. Most employers let you set how much money you have taken out of your paycheck as a 401(k) contribution as a percentage of your total pay, and adding a percentage point or two to your contribution amount can help you take greater advantage of bargains while they last. If the market rebounds, you can always move the percentage back down.

Increase your retirement savings is especially effective because many workers don't even notice all that much the money that's coming out of their paychecks to go toward 401(k) contributions. Put more money to work when markets are falling, and you'll be in an even better situation when the rebound comes.

Dollar-cost averaging is a simple but effective technique that fits well with most investors' mindset. To use it, you just take the same dollar amount every month or every quarter and invest it. Over time, the amount you invest will buy more shares when the price of a stock or fund is low, and buy fewer shares when the price is high.

Dollar-cost averaging works best when markets are choppy, because you get a lot of opportunities to buy more shares when they're cheap. However, it's a time-tested strategy that also works well over the long run, and millions of investors have used it to give themselves a sense of security and safety as their portfolios grow.

Whenever the stock market starts to have big ups and downs, it can make even experienced investors feel a little seasick. By looking at these three ways to keep investing, though, you'll be able to get past your fear and stay on track to meet your long-term financial goals.

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3 Ways to Keep Investing Even When You're Scared - The Motley Fool

Seke Ballard

On January 1, 2020, Illinois joined 11 other states and DC to legalize recreational marijuana. Personally, Ive never been a huge fan of weed, except for the occasional brownie or gummy. Yet on Friday, January 3, I waited for four hours to get my first sample of legal weed. I would have done it sooner, but for the first two days, I didnt get there in time; the dispensarys staff had already cut the line off.

My main thought while waiting? How much money are these people making anyway? The people shepherding us through the line dropped the stat that Illinois made over $5M in revenue in the first two days alone (and nearly $11M over the course of the first five days). The cannabis industry is expected to grow from $40 billion in 2020 to $80 billion in 2030.

Some of my clients have raised the idea of getting into the business whether through a dispensary, farming or consulting. Everyone wants to be a part of The Green Rush, but theres still a lot of uncertainty and confusion on just how to do that.

Enter Seke Ballard. Seke is the Founder & CEO of Good Tree Capital, a financial technology firm that grants loans to vetted, licensed cannabis companies. It also allows people to invest in these loans as a way of using their funds to help out entrepreneurs and earn interest in the process. By using an innovative approach to evaluating credit risk, this Harvard Business School grad and his company are revolutionizing the way we all can invest in marijuana.

Bridging the Gap

Seke is passionate about the role of capital in the creation of wealth and economic development. I was taught by my father from an early age that the way to true wealth was creating my own business, he said. He was also fascinated by the history of black-owned banks and how discrimination in capital distribution has led to an extraordinary Racial Wealth Gap. He recently got lost in a nerd rabbit hole after reading an Atlantic article about the serious decline of black-owned banks after the great recession.

The book The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran, takes an even deeper dive. Its dire statistics demonstrate that the hand that drives black poverty is not a natural and invisible one, but rather the coercive hand of the state that has consistently excluded blacks from full participation in American capitalism. If you have not read it, get to a bookstore or Amazon right away. Heres a few of the stats youll find:

After doing the research, Seke realized that many of the remaining black banks were on the brink of failure because of the health of their loan portfolios. This industry is ripe for disruption, he said. My motivation is to build a better mousetrap.

A new way of lending

Seke aimed to build a model that moved capital more efficiently. It could take four to six months for an SBA loan applicant to fill out paper forms, gather supporting documents, submit the information and get a response from a loan officer. The trailing 10-year default rate on those loans is 17.6%, which adds to the costs of servicing and collecting on them. And the process is heavily biased. All things being equal, people of color are 2.7x more likely to get denied for a loan and pay higher interest rates, he said. Our lending model avoids this sort of bias by evaluating applicants based exclusively on their financial and operating data.

Seke got to work building an algorithm that could accurately make lending decisions, relying on the most relevant factors in loan defaults. The only way to avoid bias, he said, is to build the technology with intentionality. He built his technology based on analyzing some 1.2 million loans and pulling out the most important factors. From that, he created rules-based software that incorporated observable, objective metrics in making loan decisions. When he fed the loan data back through his new algorithm, the technology got the decision to approve or deny financing right 98.2% of the time.

It felt like we struck gold, Seke said. We built technology that can do what human loan officers are doing, only much better. Not only is the technology more accurate and efficient, it doesnt contain the subconscious human bias that comes with regular lending. Equally important, lower default rates generate more profit for the investors and lower costs for processing the loans.

Seke Ballard

How it works

Armed with this new technology, Seke quit his high-paying job at Amazon to start Good Tree Capital. He wanted to open up economic opportunities for people interested in the cannabis industry. He focused on the cannabis industry because the people affected most by the criminalization of marijuana (African Americans and Latinos) werent reaping the profits from the now legal sales. There was no overlap in that Venn diagram, he said. I wanted to change that. The American Civil Liberties Union found that between 2001 and 2010, black people were nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana use than whites, despite similar use. Yet recent surveys have shown more the vast majority of legal cannabis companies are owned by white men.

In order to change that, Seke worked very hard in helping craft the Illinois law to make sure people who were most affected by the criminalization got preferences when it came to recreational licenses. These social equity applicants include people who have been arrested or convicted of a cannabis-related offense as well as their families, and people with strong ties to poorer communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis law enforcement. In addition to helping social equity applicants get preference, he has held seminars to help ensure people submit quality applications.

Seke is now focusing on helping people fund their new ventures. Running these ventures is not cheap. The costs associated with the application for a dispensary in Illinois are:

There are also some extra fees associated with the operation of the dispensary:

Seke originally marketed his technology to big banks, but they were not interested given the high risk of investing in the marijuana industry. (It is still illegal on the federal level.) So instead, the company gave loans from its own balance sheet. He has started by offering $250,000 in loans each to 100 social equity applicants hoping to win licenses in Illinois. There are currently 55 licensed cannabis dispensaries in the state. Illinois will issue up to 75 new recreational licenses in May 2020.

To help defray the costs, Seke has covered the loan application fee and provided a letter of intent that the applicants could take to help their application process. Additionally, instead of the loan approval process taking four to six months, hes gotten it down to a week. People apply through the website and they know whether they are rejected or preliminarily approved within minutes. If preliminarily approved, they ask for additional documentation to verify the self-disclosed information.

The results of Sekes technology and hard work have been astounding. Of the Illinois social equity applicants approved through Sekes technology 56% were African American, 14% were Hispanic, 14% were other, 9% were white and 7% were Asian. Additionally, 45% were women.

Hes not done yet. Theres a mountain of unmet demand, Seke said. Hes currently considering taking on more funding from bigger investors to meet this demand. Most investors so far have been happy to invest in a way that aligns with their values and also see a return they wouldnt have gotten otherwise.

Originally posted here:
Meet The Man Revolutionizing Marijuana Investing - Forbes

The notion that weight determines your health is seriously disturbed. As a Registered Dietitian, I know firsthand that calculations like body mass index (BMI) are completely outdated and are a poor measure of health since they only look at weight and height. Looking beyond weight is important to understand what is going on inside your body. Just because you have a normal BMI doesn't necessarily mean you are healthy: enter the term "skinny fat."

The term first gained traction after a piece in Time Magazine profiled individuals who had "normal weight" but had some major underlying health issues. Medically described as metabolically obese normal weight, this refers to people who may have a normal weight or BMI but have risks for health problems in the same way as an outwardly obese person would. Although we don't like the term "skinny fat" as it is super shame-y, it is commonly used describe a serious health issue.

Does your diet primarily consist of excessive sugar, salt, and processed foods? Was the last time you visited a gym back in freshman year of college? Poor diet and lack of exercise, as well as a sedentary lifestyle, can lead to metabolic obesity. Most of us have a decent idea of whether or not we eat a balanced diet and stay active on a consistent basis.

Some more clinical indicators of being metabolically obese that you can discuss with your doctor include:

Diet, exercise, and lifestyle factors all play a huge part in maintaining good health and promoting longevity. Even if you have a normal BMI, high cholesterol and elevated blood sugar can put you at increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. Research has shown that poor diet and lack of exercise are also two key factors that can increase a persons risk of developing cancer.

A big danger for individuals who are metabolically obese is excess visceral fat. While subcutaneous fat (also known as "belly fat") is the layer of fat that sits directly under the skin and can be easy to see, visceral fat lies deeper and surrounds the internal organs. Visceral fat has been strongly linked to metabolic disease and insulin resistance, even for individuals with a BMI within the normal range. You may have heard of the apples and pears scenario that mimics body composition: pears tend to store fat in their lower extremities such as the hips and thighs, whereas apples tend to store fat in the belly. Individuals with an apple shape that store fat in the belly tend to have more visceral fat. Your waist circumference can give you a clearer picture: men should have a waist circumference of less than 40 inches and women should have a waist circumference of less than 35 inches. Cortisol, which is the stress hormone, can also increase how much visceral fat your body stores.

Stay hydrated: Did you know that up to 60% of the human adult body is made up of water? If there is one thing you can do for your health, its to start committing to your hydration. Try lining up your water bottles on your desk so you can see how much you need to drink by the end of the day. When you have a goal and can visualize it, meeting your hydration needs may be easier. You can even fill up a pitcher and keep it in your fridge as a reminder that it must be finished by days end.

Focus on fiber: Fibrous foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Plus, fiber can help lower cholesterol levels and also control blood sugar. Fruits and vegetables also are full of water and can help you meet your hydration goal without having to down another water bottle.

Get moving: How are you spending the majority of your day? Are you sitting at a desk or laying on the couch practically 24/7? A study published in 2019 by the European Society of Cardiology found that 20 years of a sedentary lifestyle is associated with a two times risk of premature death. Regular aerobic exercise can also reduce the amount of visceral fat in your body. Consider getting a standing desk at work or just making an effort to get up and move more throughout the day.

Commit to your sleep: Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to increased risk for several chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes. Commit to going to bed an hour earlier and avoid skimping on sleep. Plus, the extra rest may give you more energy to workout the next day.

81 Healthy Dinner Ideas to Make ASAP

The rest is here:
What Is Skinny Fat? - How to Tell If You're Metabolically Obese - GoodHousekeeping.com

Scott Morton was never concerned about his weight. He enjoyed life, went to the gym for leisurely walks on the treadmill, and admittedly made poor food and beverage choices.

"After retiring in fall of 2016, it was a time for fun and exploring the U.S.," he tells Men's Health.

Over time, Morton noticed his clothes fit tighter than normal, requiring him to size up or purchase button extenders to close shirt collars. But it wasn't until 2018, when the now 57-year-old retired engineer weighed 256 pounds, that he decided to make a change.

"The exact moment of my wake up call to lose the weight was immediately after being rejected to be a kidney donor for my brother," he says.

Morton's brother, Jeff, required a new kidney due to complications from kidney disease. At the time, Morton had high glucose and blood pressure, making him ineligible to donate his own kidney. However, doctors said losing at least 28 pounds would improve Morton's health, and possibly allow him to become an organ donor.

Jeff had been waiting for a suitable donor on the national registry and would need to begin dialysis if no one was found.

"At first, it was mentally difficult to get over the idea that I let myself go and may have screwed up my chance to donate to my brother. I had nothing to lose by trying to re-qualify and everything to gain for him," he says.

In September 2018, Morton changed lifestyle in order to help his brother. He began the high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet to lose weight.

"I set a goal of 1790 calories per day, [ate] very low carb, and increased exercise," he says. I used a Fitbit to track my works out at Life Time on the treadmill for usually one to two hours a day."

Morton closely tracked calories and carb intake using MyFitness Pal and weighed himself daily. Immediately, he saw results. Although, adjusting to a diet was challenging for the first few weeks, Morton remained motivated. After three months, he lost 42 pounds. In January 2019, Morton received the good news that he could donate a kidney to his brother, and surgery was performed on January 29, 2019.

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"I'm so happy for my brother and his wifenow they can really enjoy their retirement," Morton says. "My motivator was to help my brother live, but this experience also helped me live a better life."

Originally posted here:
Keto and Walking Helped This Man Lose Enough Weight to Donate a Kidney to His Brother - Men's Health