What's up World Elections? Why are Countries so Divided?

Dear Reader,

Identity. What makes you, you. The masks we wear — or don’t wear — shape the way that we interact with the world around us, and they determine the space in front of us. That inner person (your inner voice) is who you are. What you tell yourself and what you express to others is what you are. And your reflections on life and your reactions to life will determine where you are. Your identity is only as valuable as its ability to help you create a sense of order in your mind about what is going on in the world. Live what you preach and accept your reality as best as you can. In a world dominated by distractions, we are increasingly getting out of touch with our ability to direct ourselves to where it matters most. We don’t become who we are by staying as we are now. There’s a constant fight between who I want to be versus who I should be. Should I always be nice and genuine? Positive and soft-spoken? Or can I benefit from being ruthless and emotionless? With a thick face and a black heart.

Thick Face, Black Heart. Key takeaways from a great book: When you conceal your will from others, that is thick. When you impose your will on others, that is black. A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one's own path, not chasing after the dreams or fulfilling the expectations of others. The thick-faced person has the ability to put self-doubt aside. He refuses to accept the limitations that others have tried to impose on him and he does not accept any of the limitations that we commonly impose on ourselves. Black heart is the ability to take action without regard to how the consequences will affect others. No price is too high to pay for victory, as long it is achieved at someone else's expense. To conquer others through ruthless means is not difficult: all you must do is agree to sell your soul to the devil. There is no one out there you have to conquer. When you have successfully conquered yourself, the world will be at your feet. Extraordinary people don't care what others think of them. Keep your misfortune private and only share it with those who can truly support you. One who is skilled in defeat shall never see destruction.

The Market. The US monthly international trade deficit decreased in January 2019 from $59.9 billion in December to $51.1 billion in January. Trump is threatening $11 billion tariffs on the EU (on wine, cheese, ski suits, helicopters, and motorcycles). The world economy will grow only 3.3% this year, the weakest growth since 2009. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in March. A bad diet kills more people globally than tobacco. This is expected to be the first quarter of negative year-over-year earnings growth since the 2015-16 earnings recession. Investors are betting on the future earnings or profitability of a particular company or industry when they buy a stock. Making ourselves inaccessible from time to time is essential to boosting our focus.Americans borrowed $88 billion in the past year to pay for health care. About 45% of Americans said they are concerned that a major health event will leave them bankrupt. Americans spend $3.5 trillion on healthcare, 1/5 of the economy. Spending is expected to rise to $5.6 trillion in 2026. Sources of return for investors: earnings growth and dividends. The value of any company should theoretically be the combined value of its existing business persisting into the future and a speculative component that represents the market’s guesstimate of the present value of future growth. Why do markets appreciate over time? Because earnings have grown over the very long term and reinvested dividends additionally contribute to the growth. The International Monetary Fund cites a slowdown in 70% of the world’s economies in 2019. 

2019 Q1 Earnings. Over this next month, we will see a large portion of the financial industry reporting earnings, with JPM, PNC, FRC, and WFC leading the charge. Out of these 4 companies, we saw 3 beat, and 1 miss. JPMorgan beat expectations by 9.9%, PNC beat by 3.3%, First Republic beat by 2.9%, leaving Wells Fargo to miss by 7.7%. Next week will be another massive week for financial earnings reports, with Charles Schwab, Goldman, Citi, BOA, Blackrock, and Morgan Stanley releasing earnings. Currently, it seems optimistic for the financial industry, with these three massive companies posting surprises, showing that we might just have a bit more fuel for this late stage expansion. We saw the market rise to 6-month highs after these banks posted earnings, which brings hope for next week after more financial institutions start postings.

Elections. Back in 2016, the US presidential elections showed a country divided almost completely in two. Since then elections all across the world have followed a similar trend. Israel recently held parliamentary elections where the results were so close that seats were divided 35-35 between the two major parties before a recount gave the current prime minister’s party 36 seats. In India, a similar theme can be seen as the world’s largest democracy begins its elections. India has nearly 900 million registered voters and several high profile candidates running this election. A central issue for India has been religion, almost 80% of the voting population is Hindi and religious differences have been driving the country apart. Lynching is becoming more common as some radical citizens have targeted members of India’s Muslim population. Whatever the outcome may be there is no doubt that these elections show a world that is starkly divided.

Big news for SpaceX this week. In February of last year, Elon Musk launched his car into space on the first ever flight of the Falcon Heavy. On Thursday, a new iteration of the rocket launched its first payload, delivering a 13,000-pound satellite to orbit and successfully landing the 2 side boosters and the center core; a feat that other companies and space agencies are nowhere near being able to achieve. The company is now preparing to launch the rocket a third time in June to deploy some of the first operational satellites for their Starlink satellite constellation. The company has also begun to test a prototype of their Starship rocket which will likely be the first rocket to bring humans to Mars. Following their streak of success, SpaceX signed a contract with NASA to intercept and try to move an asteroid. These recent developments show that the aerospace industry has plenty of room to grow.


Keep Climbing,


The Alchanati Campbell and Associates Team