Money For the Rest of Us

Greg Dowling of FEG interviews Max Belmont, a gold specialist and portfolio manager at First Eagle Investments. Greg and Max discuss the historical, philosophical, and practical reasons for owning gold. Topics covered include:Where does gold’s reputation as a safe haven come from, and why it trades differently than other commodities.How gold differs from other asset classes including Bitcoin, which is sometimes referred to as digital gold.How we should think about gold when including it in our investment portfolios. Insiders Guide Email Newsletter Get our free Investors' Checklist when you sign up for the free Money for the Rest of Us email newsletter Our Premium Products Asset Camp Money for the Rest of Us Plus Show Notes The Golden Age with Max Belmont - FEG Insight Bridge episode page Related Episodes 431: The Long-term Bullish Case for Gold 316: Paper, Rocks, or Digits—What Makes the Best Money 263: Should You Invest In Gold? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We compare three approaches to closed-end fund investing: Opportunistic trading, the buy and hold income factory, and a systematic approach of selling closed-end funds after 5% gains. We also explore the pros and cons of closed-end funds relative to open-end mutual funds and ETFs. Episode Sponsors Stawberry.me NetSuite  Insiders Guide Email Newsletter Get our free Investors' Checklist when you sign up for the free Money for the Rest of Us email newsletter Our Premium Products Asset Camp Money for the Rest of Us Plus Show Notes The Closed-End Fund Market, 2023—Investment Company Institute The Income Factory: An Investor’s Guide to Consistent Lifetime Returns by Steven Bavaria—McGraw-Hill Companies Retirement Money Secrets: A Financial Insider's Guide to Income Independence by Steve Selengut—RIC LLC How to Invest in Closed-End Funds—Money for the Rest of Us Investing in Closed-End Funds Course—Money for the Rest of Us See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How trade deficits are making the U.S. poorer, while in the past they have made the U.S. wealthier. Topics covered include:Two ways countries can increase their competitivenessHow savings always equals investmentWhy excess savings flows to the U.S. leading to a drop in U.S. domestic savingsWhy the U.S. current trade situation could lead to a debt crisis Episode Sponsors NetSuite  LinkedIn Jobs – Use this link to post your job for free on LinkedIn Jobs Insiders Guide Email Newsletter Get our free Investors' Checklist when you sign up for the free Money for the Rest of Us email newsletter Our Premium Products Asset Camp Money for the Rest of Us Plus Show Notes Why U.S. Debt Must Continue to Rise by Michael Pettis—Carnegie Endowment Could Trump devalue the dollar with a "Mar-a-Lago Accord"? by Paul Diggle and Luke Bartholomew—Aberdeen Investments A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System by Stephen Miran—Hudson Bay Capital Is Peter Navarro Wrong on Trade? by Michael Pettis—Carnegie Endowment Related Episodes 515: Tariffs and the Mar-a-Lago Accord: What Trump Really Wants 470: How the Economy Really Works: Savings, Investing, Consuming and Market Distortions 144: Trade Deficits Aren’t Always Bad. Trade Wars Are. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How the Trump administration is using tariffs as a negotiating tool to weaken the U.S. dollar and increase the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers. Topics covered include:Why U.S. stocks are falling, and recession risk is increasingHow the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency is becoming a burden on the U.S.How the Trump administration aims to reduce its trade deficit and make it less attractive for foreign governments to own U.S. assetsWhat are the risks of trying to weaken the U.S. dollar Episode Sponsors Delete Me – Use code David20 to get 20% off Stawberry.me Insiders Guide Email Newsletter Get our free Investors' Checklist when you sign up for the free Money for the Rest of Us email newsletter Our Premium Products Asset Camp Money for the Rest of Us Plus Show Notes Stock Market News, March 10, 2025: Nasdaq Falls 4% After Trump Doesn't Rule Out Recession by Caitlin McCabe and Krystal Hur—The Wall Street Journal Trump Says US Economy Faces ‘Transition,’ Avoids Recession Call by María Paula Mijares Torres—Bloomberg Is the U.S. Heading for a Recession? Here’s What the Experts Say by Caitlin McCabe—The Wall Street Journal Mark Carney Wins Canada Liberal Contest, Will Succeed Trudeau in Days by Brian Platt and Laura Dhillon Kane—Bloomberg Entering the Fall 2024 | Alarming Signs? - Fireside Chat with Scott Bessent by Simplify Asset Management—YouTube A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System by Stephen Miran—Hudson Bay Capital Could Trump devalue the dollar with a "Mar-a-Lago Accord"? by Paul Diggle and Luke Bartholomew—Aberdeen Investments Wonking Out: The Mysteries of the Almighty Dollar by Paul Krugman—The New York Times On the Persistence of the China Shock by David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon H. Hanson—NBER Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)—World Bank Data Group | Prosperity Data360 Council of Economic Advisors Chair Nominee Stephen Miran’s Critique of the Global Monetary System—Part I by Steven B. Kamin—AEI Using Stock Returns to Assess the Aggregate Effect of the U.S.‑China Trade War by Mary Amiti, Matthieu Gomez, Sang Hoon Kong, and David E. Weinstein—Federal Reserve Bank of New York Two cheers for Germany’s fiscal reform by Neil Shearing—Capital Economics Related Episodes 404: Why Is the U.S. Dollar So Strong? Will It Continue? 322: Why Currency Exchange Rates Matter See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on episode 514, we share a conversation between Howard Smith of Indus Capital and Greg Dowling of FEG Investment Advisors on why Japan could surprise investors over the next decade with strong investment returns. David introduces the episode by sharing his key takeaways from the discussion. FEG Investment Advisor is David's former institutional advisory firm, where he worked for 17 years, before founding Money for the Rest of Us. Greg Dowling is Chief Investment Officer of FEG, and David's former business partner and colleague. Topics covered in the episode include:The false narrative that Japan is a difficult place to invest with subpar returnsWhy Japan's national debt problem is not as worrisome as the U.S. national debtWhy the Japanese yen is tremendously undervaluedHow Japan's corporate governance has improvedOpportunities in Japanese technology industries Insiders Guide Email Newsletter Get our free Investors' Checklist when you sign up for the free Money for the Rest of Us email newsletter Our Premium Products Asset Camp Money for the Rest of Us Plus Show Notes FEG Episode page Indus Capital Berkshire Hathaway 2024 Annual Letter Related Episodes 468: Lessons from Japan’s 34 Years of Stock Market Underperformance 235: What If Home Prices Always Declined 178: Japan and the Impact of A Shrinking Population See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.