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Articles by Michael McTague
Impact Investing
Now that Labor Day is behind us, it's a good time to evaluate whether American workers are getting paid what they're worth. One good way to do that is to compare their pay to the salary of their CEOs. According to data analyzed by the Associated Press, it's estimated that many CEOs are getting paid nearly 200 times what their workers were paid last year. "The median pay package for CEOs rose to $16.3 million, up 12.6%," through 2023, according to the AP.
Here's why 2023 investing winners
Three investing winners that delivered the most alpha this year - digital assets, luxury goods and uranium - have a good chance to extend gains into 2024. Here's my assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in those categories. Strengths Despite predictions of a recession in 2023, the U.S. economy has proven resilient and appears poised for continued strength in 2024.
Investors, take note: Electric vehicles and wind turbines can't work without this overlooked segment
Today's Elites Should Be Thinking Harder About The Kind of Future They Want
Look up the word "cycle" in a dictionary, and you'll find something like this: "A regularly recurring sequence of events." Sounds simple, but that definition leaves a lot of ambiguity. Zoom in on the "regularly recurring" part. A recurring event is one that happens repeatedly. Wherever on Earth you may be, the sun reliably rises and falls every day. Those are reliably recurring events. They're also regularly recurring because we can know in advance exactly when they will happen.
Watch This Pickleball Stock
By now, you've likely heard of pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in America. But in case you haven't, here's the gist: Pickleball is a mix of tennis and ping pong. You use paddles instead of stringed racquets. And you play with a wiffle ball versus a felt or rubber ball used in other racquet sports. I'm hooked on pickleball-honestly, I'm borderline addicted. And from what I've seen, my affliction is common in the pickleball community. Once you're hooked, you're hooked.
Next Phase of Pharma Growth: Generics
Michael McTague Follow | Amanda Jones | Unsplash Investors have been rattled by many pieces of bad news for months but the massive pharmaceutical industry brings some relief. For 2022, Pfizer ( PFE) is looking at an additional $20 billion in revenue over last year, actually a repeat of its 2021 versus 2020 performance. Their assets are way up and feature $31 billion in cash.
Big Pharma and The Need for Speed
In the pharmaceutical world, fast delivery offers a critical advantage. The market knows that obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia and cancer pose great dangers for the aging populations of many countries. My last column looked at pharmaceutical breakthroughs and their massive benefits. Once a breakthrough is achieved, and after the euphoria of the scientific achievement ebbs, production, shipping and distribution take center stage.
Big Pharma and The Need for Speed
Julian Hochgesang | Unsplash In the pharmaceutical world, fast delivery offers a critical advantage. The market knows that obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia and cancer pose great dangers for the aging populations of many countries. My last column looked at pharmaceutical breakthroughs and their massive benefits. Once a breakthrough is achieved, and after the euphoria of the scientific achievement ebbs, production, shipping and distribution take center stage.
Could Investors Overdose on Pharmaceuticals?
Image: Pawel Czerwinski | Unsplash Pharmaceutical companies have weathered the recent stock market slump far better than most sectors. It's worth reminding ourselves why this is the case - while also taking note of some clouds on the horizon. But first the indisputable facts: The giants - Pfizer ( PFE) with a market cap of $254 billion, Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ) coming in at $424 billion and all the others - are rolling in money.
Meatless Meats and Smokeless Smokes
Michael McTague Follow | "Ours is the age of substitutes: instead of language, we have jargon; instead of principles, slogans; and, instead of genuine ideas, bright ideas." - Eric Bentley Have you noticed how many substitutes encroach on our daily lives?
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
Image: Kodak Brownie camera. Source: cogdogblog, CC0, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons July 2022 - Myth Buster In this final entry in our series (see Part IPart II), we delve into more examples of good and bad planning. The focus in this piece is more instances of poor planning and a consideration of why the plans flopped. Let's begin with small Cadillacs. GM's ( ) luxury car brand was once the premiere American automobile. Big and heavy, it featured a powerful - often twelve cylinder - engine.
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
Image source: The Walt Disney Company June 2022 - Myth Buster Part 2 of this series turns the tables on Part 1, which looked at failures to plan effectively. In this entry, we highlight three spectacular successes. Over the years, the Myth Buster has covered many companies and industries. While we have discussed leisure, The Walt Disney Company ( ) has not gotten much attention.
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
Michael McTague Follow | Image source: TikTok May 2022 - Myth Buster The absence of coronavirus testing kits and the US exit from Afghanistan filled the twenty-four hour news channels for twenty-five hours per day recently. Even President Biden's close allies had unpleasant things to say. It is not our purpose to discuss the rightness or wrongness of political events, but the theme that relates most closely to our interests is poor planning.
Artificial Intelligence Needs To Get Smart
Image source: Roberto Nickson / Unsplash So far, this series has found that learning and agriculture - two critical issues for the future of the human race - are not turning up feasible opportunities for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to show its great power. This final piece of the series looks at another AI headline area - self-driving vehicles - and considers the problem AI faces from the nature of the high technology industry itself.
Artificial Intelligence Needs To Get Smart
Image: Orly Cactus Pear Farm, Negev Desert, Israel. Source: Dr. Avishai Teicher, Pikiwiki Israel, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons March 2022 - Myth Buster In this second entry in the series ( see Part I here), we tighten the focus of the microscope on one of the few areas that Artificial Intelligence (AI) specialists think is primed for a total transformation: Agriculture. As is always the approach taken by advocates, AI people present the problem in extremely broad scope.
Artificial Intelligence Needs To Get Smart
Image source: Acc3552, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons February 2022 - Myth Buster Investors will note that the tech giants may not enjoy a roaring twenties in this century. Surprised? Amazon AMZN and its incredible low wages provided a focus in our earlier analysis of sweatshops. Competitors of the speed-delivery kings do not hibernate either. Target and Dollar General are inching into Amazon territory, following a string of financial successes by giant rival Walmart WMT.
The Year in Review: Michael McTague
Michael McTague Follow | Image: Shanghai. Source: Nghia Le / Pixabay January 2022 - Myth Buster Looking back, 2021 was another year full of dramatic financial issues with many consequences. We tackled a number of them. Once again, we will take a look at how we did and provide an update. Under our last topic - payback -- a few interesting developments arose. While basketball players continue to seek wealth from China, a few standouts are expressing their dissatisfaction.
Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer
Image: Outgoing Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar (left) and newly elected Prime Minister Micheál Martin, June 27, 2020. Source: Houses of the Oireachtas, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr. December 2021 - Myth Buster We begin this final piece in our payback series (see Part I and Part II) with a huge and easily missed financial success story. The small countries in Europe - especially Northern Europe - outpace their larger neighbors in wealth.
Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer
Michael McTague Follow | Image: Electric car charging in Amsterdam. Source: Ludovic Hirlimann, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons November 2021 - Myth Buster In this second entry in the payback series ( see Part I here), we look at actions taken by companies and governments to get back at unfair treatment by others.
Power Tends to Corrupt and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, Part I
Michael McTague Follow | Image source: Viacheslav Lopatin / Shutterstock September 2020 - Myth Buster The coronavirus pandemic blocks out all other concerns. One worry we ought to face is the return of the Puritan spirit. Immortalized - and criticized - in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the Puritan desire to eradicate evil returns at various times in history. Prohibition provides a powerful example, aimed at wiping out the evils of liquor.
Power Tends to Corrupt and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, Part II
Michael McTague Follow | Image: Wellfleet Drive-In Movie Theater. Source: Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism, CC BY-ND 2.0. The Puritans are back in full force. Now secular, they take inspiration from the same love of aggression that spurred Oliver Cromwell. In the first installment ( September 2020), we looked at the absolute, insistent demand to overdo everything despite huge logic gaps.
Power Tends to Corrupt and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, Part III
Michael McTague Follow | Image source: Carl Malamud via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 November 2020 - Myth Buster This final entry in the series (see Part I and Part II) considers at the title itself, taken from the famous statement by Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This implies that anyone who gains control is likely to misuse it.
Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer
Image: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors, introducing his ANTA Sports basketball shoe. Source: ANTA Sports October 2021 - Myth Buster Revenge represents an amazing human activity. In business, kicking opponents when they are down comes with the territory. As Huawei struggles with US government sanctions, Xiaomi steps in to introduce competing products and grab market share. Former Communists learn quickly about the free market economy.
Skimmed Milk Masquerades as Cream
Michael McTague Follow | Image: Prince Harry and Meghan's carriage procession through the streets of Windsor, May 19, 2018. Source: Londisland, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons This final entry in our series looks at that rare group of people who are filthy rich. There are not many people in this category, but the differences between them and those featured in Part 1 and Part 2 stand out. Let's begin with the wealthiest person in the world.
Skimmed Milk Masquerades as Cream - Part 2
Image source: Arek Socha / Pixabay Part 1 of this series looked at the successful executive and his or her image as a person of wealth. Perhaps we should refer to those individuals as apparently wealthy. Part 2 looks a more enterprising group of wealth seekers, who claim to have found a secret means of gaining wealth. We have all run into them. At parties, they tell their private insights on getting rich.
Skimmed Milk Masquerades as Cream
Michael McTague Follow | Image source: Anastase Maragos / Unsplash July 2021 Myth Buster Wealth amazes. Everybody wants it; few attain it. Some who possess it take it for granted. Think of Harry and Meghan, who imply they want to be cut off from the source of their riches. Conversely, many who do not possess wealth claim to have it. This series separates the really wealthy from the pretenders and tries to have a little fun doing so. The Myth Buster is not going to show you how to become wealthy.
Whatever Hysteria Exists is Inflamed by... Secrecy - Part III
Image: Army carrier pigeon with dispatch being attached to leg, St. Pole, France, May 13, 1918. Source: George Lane, National Archives, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 In this third and final entry of the series (see Part I and Part II), we look at the sometimes unpleasant balance between making money and maintaining an ethical core, a challenge faced across industries. During the pandemic, governments greatly expanded their irritating tendency to spy on people.
Whatever Hysteria Exists is Inflamed by... Secrecy
Image: Brooklyn Nets visiting Shanghai, Oct. 7, 2019. Source: Twitter @NBA May 2021 - Myth Buster Our first entry in this series tackled the Boeing 737 problem. This second entry looks at the National Basketball Association (NBA), major sneaker and sports clothes makers and their responses to China's crackdown on Hong Kong and free speech. Two powerful forces are in play. First is the clash of cultural values.
Few of Them Were To Be Trusted Within Reach of a Trowel and a Pile of BRICKS, Part III
Image: Guenter Butschek, CEO and Managing Director; Rajendra Petkar, President and Chief Technology Officer, Tata Motors March 2021 — Myth Buster In our final piece on the emerging economies, we delve into India, a nation with enormous potential. Despite its strengths, India faces as many challenges as other members of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Let’s begin on a positive note with India’s greatest strengths in the marathon race to reach emerged status.
Few of Them Were To Be Trusted Within Reach of a Trowel and a Pile of BRICKS, Part I
Image: Escondida copper mine, Atacama Desert, Chile. Source: BHP January 2021 — Myth Buster As some aspects of the pandemic recede, or at least as some businesses re-start in the US and the wealthier countries, many wonder what is happening to emerging markets? China enjoys a recent burst of economic activity. Russia, another member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations, sings the oil blues as dollars per barrel scrape the bottom of… the barrel.
The Year in Review - Michael McTague
Image source: Macrotrends December 2020 — Myth Buster What a year for finance and everything else! Outstanding market performance stopped in its tracks. Roaring manufacturing and services halted. Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) froze. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and online retailers skyrocketed (“Miracle Cures Come in Small Packages”). Plans and expectations turned upside down for so many. Consider the fissure between northern and southern Europe.
The effectiveness of germicidal wipes and ultraviolet irradiation in reducing bacterial loads on electronic tablet devices used to obtain patient information in orthopaedic clinics Evaluation of tablet cleaning methods
Electronic tablet devices are commonly used in outpatient clinics to obtain patient information for both clinical and research purposes. These devices are often colonized with bacteria; there are many cleaning methods to reduce this bacterial load. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate whether regular cleaning with either germicidal wipes or ultraviolet (UV) irradiation leads to lower bacterial levels compared to irregular cleaning.
Financial Myths 2018: The Year in Review
How did the Myth Buster do this year? While looking at the problems of Facebook (FB) and its sloppy handling of private user data, we raised the issue of monopolies. Big, predatory companies are supposed to find themselves in trouble with the federal government. Despite its misdeeds, Facebook avoided disaster and actually made more money while it was defending itself to Congress and hiding behind a cloud of algorithms.
Jeff Kagan: Why Trump Bullying Works
Like so many others, I seem to both love and hate what Donald Trump says. Every time he opens his mouth, its like listening to a school yard bully, not a Presidential candidate. However, as time goes by I am starting to figure him out. And perhaps, if we can overlook bad behavior, Trump may be just what this country needs right now. There are two big questions that I don’t have an answer for...however, I don’t have an answer for any candidate. One, can he beat Hillary Clinton?
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