Updated Adage

A fool and his bitcoins are soon parted

More Things I Don't Get

I have previously posted a list of things that just go over my head ... see: Perloined Powerline. For the New Year, to show what a curmudgeon I really am,  I thought I would update this list of things that genuinely perplex me:

- The Uber® car service

- Monster truck shows

- Earned-income tax credits

- Bob Dylan's singing

- Social networking

- Pop Tarts®

- Starbucks® (baristas, etc..)

- Infinity pools

- Al Sharpton's religious credentials

- Cabo (Mexico)

- Bitcoins

- Pet reptiles

- Mayor Bill de Blasio

- Mojitos

- Renoir paintings

Bitcoins

People with excess cash are in a bit of a quandary about where to park it ... forget about current money-market funds or CDs.

Expecting higher interest rates this coming year due to the Federal Reserve Bank's backing off of its quantitative easing, bonds are really not a very good investment at the moment … higher interest rates mean lower bond prices … often more than wiping out any interest income. 

And although the stock market has done very well over 2013, it is unlikely that it will repeat this feat to the same degree in 2014.
  

The next option is real estate.  However, higher interest rates mean higher mortgage rates … and the Fed should also be reducing its mortgage repurchasing program … both meaning that housing is unlikely to keep on the recovery pace that it has enjoyed recently.  (It still might be the best place to put some excess funds however.)

Another popular speculative investment, commodities, also tend to suffer when interest rates go up because the carrying costs of commodity purchases steal much commodity price-increase benefit.

And sovereign currencies are a very dangerous place to invest because the machinations of the world’s central banks are difficult to predict and fraught with shady dealings. 

Even the fine art market, although showing some spectacular recent sales, overall is not doing very well … see: New York Times Article.

What to do?  There are always bitcoins (see: LA Times Article … just kidding.)

And, the last time I looked, you can’t stuff cash into a Tempurpedic mattress …