Topley’s Top Ten – November 13, 2019

Author

Matt Topley
November 13, 2019

1.Per capita liquid milk consumption in the U.S. has declined more than 40% since 1975.

And the company’sdeeply distressed 6.5% bonds maturing in March 2023 recently traded at 15.5cents on the dollar to yield 87.6%, according to IHS Markit. The spread is8,584 basis points above comparable Treasury yields.

Dean Foods declares bankruptcy …The drop to penny stock.

No. 1 milk company declares bankruptcyamid drop in demand

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN and DEE-ANN DURBINyesterday

2.Gold Sees Biggest Outflows in 3 Years..

GLD-Gold ETF.

HeavyGlobal Inflation Prints this week from USA, EU, UK, Japan.  YesterdayGold Hits Three-Month Low on Trade Worth 3 Million Ounces – It hastraded lower six out of the last seven days.

From Dave Lutz at JonesTrading

3.Financial ETF Makes New Highs….Rates Bottom?

XLF-Financials ETF

KRE-Regional Bank ETF Still Below Highs.

4.Four Week Jump in Sentimet.

Erin McGough-Linkedin

5.Risk On Buybacks Regain Favor Over Dividends and Semiconductors 10% Above Previous Highs.

Claudio Brocado

Semi-Conductors 10% Above Previous Highs.

6.Top Ranked Unicorns.

300 Unicorns-Private Companies with $1B Valuations.

Full List

The IPO market is rebelling against many of 2019’s money-losing unicorns.Here’s what’s scaring investors away — and what it means for the future.

  • Many of the startups that have tested the initial public offering market in 2019 have floundered amid a disconnect between private valuation and public trading levels.

  • Several unicorns – or startups valued at more than $1 billion – have even called off their IPOs or pushed them back as the market sends mixed signals.

  • Here’s what’s keeping public investors wary of the IPO market, and what it means for the future of startups looking to go public.

7.London set for over 200 new hotels as investors take advantage of weak pound

Evening Standard

Scoresof new hotels are planned in London ( Getty Images )

More than 200 new hotels are planned for London, withinvestors enticed by tourist numbers and the weaker pound, research showed onMonday.

Of the210 hotels that have planning permission, or on which construction has started,almost a quarter, 48, are in the Westminster borough. 

Projectsunder way include Qatari Diar working on transforming the former AmericanEmbassy on Grosvenor Square into a 137-bedroom luxury hotel that will featurerestaurants, shops and a ballroom.

Lawfirm Boodle Hatfield, which compiled the data, said that the UK’s hotels marketis one of the few sectors of the British economy hereto have benefited from theBrexit-related slump in sterling. 

Thathas made it cheaper for international tourists to visit and encouraged more “staycations”.

Thestudy also pointed to it being less expensive for overseas buyers to investhere.

RajeevJoshi, partner at Boodle Hatfield, said: “For tourism to continue to grow, theUK needs to ensure that post-Brexit, we do not start to be seen as a lessconvenient destination for tourists from the European Union or from furtherafield.”

Headded that: “Greater investment in infrastructure will be a key part of this.” 

Thedelayed Crossrail project is expected to bring significantly more shoppers intocentral London when it opens.

8.Industries Transformed by Millennials.

Is thereanyone who doesn’t “know” how much technology has affected our lives? If youdidn’t “know” better, you’d think that you should put all your money into dataanalytics and artificial intelligence. Unfortunately for investors, technologydoesn’t make the top 20 industries which will be prospered by the aging of ourlargest adult population group (see chart below).

Nobody Knows Nothin’ at PsychologicalExtremes

by Bill Smead of Smead Capital Management, 11/11/19

9.Are You Prepared to Be Your Parent’s Parent?

byAlison Robb

Financial Frequency. myFamilyNovember 12, 2019 .3 min read

Even though I was all grown up, married, working full time with a familyof my own, I still felt like I was my parents “kid”. I still went to them foradvice and I still needed their help. They were always there for me when Ineeded them.

As you grow older, it’s easy to forget that your parents are growingolder too, and that there may come a time when the roles of parent and childwill reverse. I definitely wasn’t thinking about it until life forced me too.

Due to a cancer diagnosis, I was suddenly thrown into the role of beinga parent to my parents.  I was now the one giving advice and helping themmake the important decisions. It was now my turn to be there for them.

The situation also forced me to think about not only their futuretogether, but apart as well. So I had to have the tough conversations with themto make sure when the time came, we were properly prepared to get through thedifficult decisions that were to come.

Based on my own personal experience, and what I learned along the way,here are some tips that might help make transition with aging parents go moresmoothly for all involved.

Start the Conversation Early

Having the “you’re getting older” conversation with your parents isnever easy but it’s one that needs to happen. The earlier you can get talk toyour parents about their living and financial future, as well as end of lifecare the better.  Planning ahead as much as possible relieves a lot ofstress for when the time comes that you have to make those tough decisions.

Know Where Their Important Documents Are Located

It’s important to know where documents such as birth and marriagecertificates, Social Security cards, all insurance policies, and mortgage informationis located.  The last thing you want to do is scramble to locate them inthe event of a sudden sickness or loss. In addition, you should have adiscussion about adding your name to bank accounts and safety deposit boxes inthe event you need to access them if your parents cannot.

Do your parents have a will or power of attorney?  Make sure youknow where the originals and copies are located.  If they don’t haveeither, make it a part of your conversation as both are important tools when itcomes to financial planning.

Understand Their Finances

Make sure you are aware of your parent’s current income andexpenses.  Know how much they have coming in each month from sources suchas retirement accounts and pensions, social security, disability, etc.  Youalso want to know things like how much they pay for their mortgage if they haveone, car payments, credit card bills, utilities, and any personal expenses tofully understand their monthly budget.  This is especially important whenone parent dies. The loss of retirement or social security income of thedeceased spouse can have a big financial impact, so you will want to be able toplan ahead so you can be prepared for such changes.

Assess Their Current Living Arrangements

As your parents grow older, it’s also important to have an open andhonest discussion about their living arrangements, and decide if it stillsuitable, or if downsizing/moving should be considered sooner rather thanlater.  Depending on their proximity to you or other family members, ageand wellness, there are many options, like staying at home with help fromfamily or professionals, independent living communities, assisted livingcommunities, or living with family members.

Understand Their Medical Wishes

Another tough conversation but one that needs to happen is about medicaldecisions. Do they have a Health Care Proxy?  If not, you should discusswho should be designated to make health decisions if your parents are no longerable to. This is important to make sure any medical treatment being providedfits the wishes of your parents in the event they cannot communicate itthemselves. Without it, the doctor may have no choice but to provide medicaltreatment they wouldn’t want.

Something else I learned while going through this process was that Ialso needed to be having similar conversations with my husband.  Eventhough we are not that close to our twilight years, having things in place suchas life insurance, wills, and even a HealthCare Proxy is still necessary, especially if you have kids.  It’s nevertoo early to start getting organized and preparing for the future so youchildren aren’t left in limbo.

No one said getting old was easy and it’s especially hard watching yourparents change with age.  But, taking the time to help your parents planfor their future needs will prepare them and you for the journey that liesahead. That way you can spend more time on the really important things, likemaking memories.

10.Leaving the SHOULD Life

BrianVon Ancken—How and why to stop letting SHOULD runyour life

Photo: Javier Allegue Barros

Did you know the most common regret at the end of life is having livedyour life to other people’s expectations?

Living a life filled withother people’s agendas and belief systems is what I call a SHOULD life.

We all live a SHOULD life tosome degree, and I lived it more than most.

For most of my life, Ibelieved following the expectations of friends, family and society would leadto the perfect life. And so I became an All American guy: football star, goodgrades, college, 9–5 job, and married my college sweetheart. I was happy, butalso always worried about other peoples’ perceptions, and constantly feltpressure to do what I thought I SHOULD do.

It wasn’t until life threwme a devastating curveball in the form of miscarriages and divorce that Irealized despite all efforts to do things the ‘right way’, the SHOULD life wasno path to true contentment. If I was going to move forward on my own path, Ifirst had to shake my addiction to the SHOULD life. Which started with the wordSHOULD.

OUR UNIQUE ADDICTION TOSHOULD

Once I became aware of howmuch I encountered the word SHOULD (sometimes over 100 times in 1 day), Irealized I wasn’t alone. SHOULD is the 25th most commonverb used in the English language and is used more than ‘need’and ‘feel’. Tune into almost any news, social media or personal conversation,and it will be hard to miss an ‘I SHOULD’, ‘they SHOULD’, or ‘you SHOULD’.

And it would be one thing ifSHOULD was a necessary component of language but that’s not the case. Manyother languages, including Italian, French and Dutch use SHOULD much lessfrequently than English. In fact, in some languages (such as in the Africanlanguage Mende) you either do or don’t do something, there is no SHOULD at all.

If we don’t need the wordSHOULD, why live the SHOULD life?

WHY CARE ABOUT THE WORDSHOULD?

Reflecting on my life, Irealized SHOULD seemed productive but actually played a negative role. SHOULDposes as giving directions on how to live life, but actually just reminds ushow we are failing. SHOULD poses as a motivator (I SHOULD go to the gym), butis really the voice of self hatred (I am so lazy!).

Being bombarded with a wordthat tells us we are failing has its consequences. My own daily uses of SHOULDfast tracked me to negative headspaces of regret, guilt, and anger. Every viewof social media shouted out all the things I SHOULD be doing. Even something assimple as “you should read this book” could be a trigger for guilt and stress.

The SHOULDs I had thought werepushing me toward a perfect life were actually weighing me down. And it wasclear I needed a SHOULD diet.

HOW I WENT ON A SHOULD DIET

SHOULD Awareness andReduction

First, I made a consciouseffort to become aware when SHOULD was used around me and to evaluate my owntrue feelings about the SHOULD proposed. I then tried to avoid using the wordmyself.

Removing SHOULD from myvocabulary was challenging. I still struggle in certain situations to find analternative to SHOULD. The best method for me is to focus on why I want theunderlying desire and speak to that. ‘I SHOULD do yoga’ becomes ‘My body feelsgreat when I do yoga’. Instead of telling someone, ‘You SHOULD eat morebroccoli’ say, ‘I know health is important to you and I’ve read broccoli is reallyhealthy’. By reframing it, the thought is no longer a directive with negativeimplications, but a realistic assessment of needs. In most cases, just noticingSHOULD in the present moment allowed me to reframe to a better alternative.

Take the Pressure Off

An essential complement toSHOULD reduction was taking the pressure off myself. SHOULDs are A+ perfectionchasers and I committed to take the pressure off doing all the SHOULDs for aweek. That meant noticing anytime I felt pressure around something I SHOULD do,catching it and letting it go. So instead of agonizing over finishing everyto-do for the day, I could feel content with what the day allowed me to getdone. That week of less pressure became a month and then a year. Taking thepressure off and focusing on my true needs gave me a lightness I hadn’t felt inyears.

The Results

By focusing on my needsrather than SHOULDs, I reduced those unwanted feelings of FOMO, insecurity andunworthiness. I am now more assertive and empowered to make decisions even if Ididn’t know their outcome. My life is following an unconventional and uncertainpath untethered to society, family or friends’ expectations. And it feelsgreat.

ARE YOU SHOULDING ME?

I’m aware of the irony thaton some level this article can read like one big SHOULD but the intent is toraise awareness. Awareness of the simplicity and benefits of a SHOULD diet andhow you don’t need a tough life curveball to start your journey away from theSHOULD life.

Simply remember the SHOULDlife as the top regret of the dying and ask whether your use of SHOULD hasconsequences for yourself and others.

If you want to try a SHOULDdiet for yourself, these could be useful places to start:

  • 1 DAY SHOULD CHALLENGE: Tryto not use SHOULD at all for 1 day and notice how you feel when you hear othersuse it. Sounds easy, but it is harder than you think. Don’t forget, instead of‘I SHOULD go to the gym’, try something like ‘I feel so alive and strong when Imake time for myself to go the gym’. If 1 day goes well, try another!

  • NOTE TO SELF ‘TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF’: Createa reminder for yourself to take the pressure off of needing SHOULDs’perfection. This can be something simple like a sticky note with an A+ crossedout, or a daily morning reminder of “Need over SHOULD” to help you value yourneeds and wants.

  • SHARE YOUR SHOULD DIET: Shareyour experience of these exercises with others and you’ll be surprised how muchpeople have to say about SHOULD. You can also share your experience direct withme on Instagram @brianvonancken.

These exercises are simple,accessible and powerful. Small efforts to raise your basic awareness andintentionality around using the word SHOULD can lead to large scale positivechange. It’s not like you need to quit your job and move to Bali.

Now I actually relish when Ifind myself wanting to use SHOULD, because it is an opportunity to take amoment to reflect on what I really want.

And in doing so, while itmay not get me that imaginary perfect A+ life, it has allowed me to move fromliving the SHOULD life, to the good life: my life.