September has now come to an end and what a month this has been. September is known to be a bad month for bull markets. The pattern has been similar over almost a century: falling share prices and high volatility. Some of it was also due to the Fed's refusal of raising interest rates, its suggestion to go beyond buying bonds and start buying stocks, and a major bank falling deeper into abyss.
Positive news for oil investors (not so much for those who have to regularly fill up at the gas pump), Saudi Arabi and Iran have overcome their issues and agreed on capping daily oil production. Oh yes, and then there is millenials who are reportedly struggling to become wealthy and children who are potty trained by strangers.
And who hasn't read the “terrible” news that Brangelina is no longer. How will Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sort out their lives and finances? Will it be an ultimate fighting battle similar to the one over whether or not athletes are paid too much?
If all of this is too much celebrity and sports news, how about a great series about some of the most successful investors ever walking the planet.
1. Major stock markets across the globe have seen tremendous volatility in September, which again has proved to be a bad month for shares. While this is nothing new, it is the regularity for almost one hundred years that is intriguing. One might argue it's a self-fulfilling prophecy – psychology at its best.
2. The highly anticipated Fed meeting delivered nothing: the Fed again refrained from raising interest rates. Some Fed members, however, would prefer to see rates raised rather sooner than later
3. Despite all the tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran prior to the OPEC meeting, members announced a cap of around 32.5 million barrels per day lifting oil prices up by about 6% the same day. How long will the improved relationship last?
4. Deutsche Bank, one of the world's biggest bank has come under enormous pressure. After years of lackluster management decisions, 14 billion dollar law suits looming, might this be another Lehman Brothers moment? Is this the moment many have waited for to bring the the current cycle to an end and turn the bull market into the long-awaited bear market?
5. The Bank of Japan has started it, the European Central Bank considers it part of its arsenal to stimulate the economy, and now even the Fed is doing the unthinkable: after quantitative easing, buying bonds, it is now considering to buy stocks. This would undoubtedly abrogate normal and healthy market forces.
6. Millenials cannot catch a break. After years of recession, laden with student loans, struggling to get on the housing ladder, they also appear to be less wealthy than their older peers with the latter apparently twice as wealthy in their early thirties than millenials.
7. Even though this isn't Hello or Closer magazine, some celebrity news: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are getting divorced. This is how they might separate their finances.
8. The Ultimate Fighting Championship: two guys battle it out. Not physically, but verbally. Discussing a question that could be asked in many sports: are athletes paid too much? Whether it's football, baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, are players, managers, coaches, and others involved in some of the most watched sports really paid too much or is it simply supply and demand?
9. I get it: some of these are certainly outsourcable chores. Having someone cook for you occassionally is certainly an awesome treat, but paying someone else to potty train your kids or teach them how to ride a bike doesn't sound right.
10. Although this didn't happen in the last few weeks, I came across this interesting series on some of the most successful investors - living and of past day, in September . If you want to understand better how George Soros, Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Benjamin Graham, and John Templeton.
Warren Buffett: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/5708407/How-to-invest-like-Warren-Buffett.html
George Soros: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/10749558/How-to-invest-like-...-George-Soros.html
Peter Lynch:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/10651578/How-to-invest-like...top-stock-picker-Peter-Lynch.html
Benjamin Graham: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/10729828/Isa-ideas-How-to-invest-like...Benjamin-Graham.html
John Templeton: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/10644238/How-to-invest-like-...-Sir-John-Templeton.html
