Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

Brennan: Russia may have successfully recruited Trump campaign aides

'El Chapo' case judge executed outside his home ...

Rubio: Trump's problems would deepen if he asked intel chiefs to deny Russian ties

Escalating probes rattle Trump and his aides

Democrats believe that they can take the House in 2018

Cost of universal health care in California -- bigger than state's budget

Google AI beats Chinese master at ancient game of GO ...

McCain: Trump's budget is dead on arrival

Christie: 'I warned Trump about Flynn'

Poll: Trump approval 46% ...

Nobel winner Robert Schiller: Stay in market because it 'could go up 50% from here'

CNN analyst proposes Manchester bombing was a 'false flag'

Robot-proof Jobs

Yale Professor and Nobel Prize winner, Robert Schiller has predicted that robots are a bigger threat to job creation than globalization ... see: Breitbart Article. So his forecast has got me to thinking about what jobs might be spared this degenerative fate. If I were constructing such a list of robot-proof jobs five years ago, I might have included cabbies and hookers. Not so anymore!  Anyway here is a partial list of what seem to be safe bets ... at least for the next 25 years:

Surfing Instructors, Snowplow Drivers, Psychiatrists, Crossing Guards, Hunting Guides, Orderlies, Bartenders, Marriage Counselors,Tugboat Captains, Beggers, Firemen, Jockeys, Flight Attendants, Rappers, Politicians, Manicurists, Dog Walkers, Electricians, Critics, Street Mimes, Morticians, Talk Show Hosts, Nurses, Divorce Lawyers, Santa Clauses, Robot Repairers, Cartoonists, Tax Collectors, Trapeze Artists, First Violinists, School Bus Drivers, Soap Opera Actors, Judges, Plumbers, Blogsters

I better stop ... it does seem endless. And so, although most manufacturing jobs might disappear, it seems that there will always be many unique service jobs ...

Afterward: See also: Market Watch Item.

Irrational Exuberance

Here is a very interesting story about "irrational exuberance" (a term coined by a former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman, Alan Greenspan describing what he considered to be a hyper-inflated stock market) that may be once again rearing its ugly head in American ... see: CNBC Story. Basically, what this analysis by Yale Nobel-prize winning economics professor Robert Schiller suggests is that one key measure ... cyclically adjusted price earnings ratio (CAPE), may be flashing warnings of an impeding major stock market correction ... just like it did in 1929, 2000 and 2008.

From the above chart we can visualize that the CAPE index is moving into dangerous territory which surely suggest future problems for stock investors. However, as we can see in 1929 and 2000, the index can, as often happens, move far above the danger point before things actually correct. So, before you sell all your equities, may I posit that this index may get even further out of bounds before the bottom drops out.

So, if you like to gamble, you might wait until this index gets even more extended in the coming year. And, when the man shining your shoes asks for a market tip, then it might be time to head for the hills. If you are risk averse, you might start paring back or hedging your bets now.

Afterward: Greenspan made this comment in 1996 ... the market didn't crash with the dot-com bubble until four years later ...