Opinion

Following the market these days brings to mind the Yiddish expression, “The problem is that the bride is too pretty.”  That’s because making money has become too easy and investors too sure the market will continue in its winning ways.  Investing is not supposed to be so easy and in the past frothy markets like this one have sometimes been followed by very painful declines.  So what lies ahead?  Will the party continue or is a sharp decline in the making? 

On December 21, tens of millions of individuals, families and small business-owners finally got what they had waited for anxiously– at least they thought so.  That was the day Congress finally passed the COVID relief bill. The $900 billion measure is the second largest spending bill in history, surpassed only by the CARES Act, which was passed earlier this year.

With so much attention still focused on the pandemic and unemployment, lockdowns and quarantines still making headlines, it’s easy to miss that America is becoming a tale of two nations.  In the first there is a very small number of people that is super wealthy and becoming even more so.  In the other there are multitudes of people who are going through financial purgatory.  Some believe the disparity in income is unfair and setting the stage for even worse problems.    

The revival of the dead is a basic concept in Judaism.  Apparently, this idea is also true in investing, and anyone who doubts this need only look at uranium stocks.  For almost a decade they were down and out, shunned, and in some circles, scorned.  Recently, however, many have become Wall Street’s darlings.  Why the change of heart?  Recalling events that have unfolded in this industry will help explain what has happened and possibly shed light on where it is headed.   

Have you ever heard of lanthanides, yttrium, or scandium?  They are three of the 17 rare earth elements (REEs).  If you don’t know what these are, don’t feel badly, because you probably have plenty of company.  Besides, there’s a good chance you’ll learn a lot about them in the coming months.    

I never vote for anybody. I always vote against.

 - Comedian WC Fields