This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

CNBC recently noted that:  "Major funds invested in gun stocks include the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, iShares Russell 2000 ETF and Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF."  They went on to state that: "Last week's mass killing of 17 people at a public high school in Parkland, Florida, has caused some major pension funds and institutions to investigate the extent of their investments in gun makers. Some of Wall Street's largest exchange-traded funds are currently invested in American Outdoor Brands — formerly Smith & Wesson — and Sturm, Ruger & Co., designers, makers and retailers of firearms for domestic buyers. Fierce scrutiny has pushed New Jersey state lawmakers to restrict the state's public pensions from investing in the stocks of gun manufacturers, while the world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, said it would 'engage' with (gun) companies on their response to the shooting."  We have come to expect large investment fund

Clearly, cryptocurrencies are causing concern on Capitol Hill and, as a result, within U.S. financial regulatory agencies. Last week, the House Science Committee held a hearing titled “Beyond Bitcoin: Emerging Applications for Blockchain Technology.” The week before, at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on cryptocurrencies, the heads of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, J. Christopher Giancarlo and Jay Clayton, respectively, testified about their regulatory approach in this area. Most of their testimony focused on fraud in the initial coin offering marketplace. The Senate hearing was not about protecting the public: It was about turf. Both agency heads appeared to be using the attention on ICOs and potential — in some cases, actual — fraud to get additional budget resources they can’t otherwise obtain. As policymakers examine the cryptocurrency market, they should consider putting Treasury in charge of supervision. They both missed

Clearly, cryptocurrencies are  causing concern  on Capitol Hill and, as a result, within U.S. financial regulatory agencies. Last week, the House Science Committee held a hearing titled “Beyond Bitcoin: Emerging Applications for Blockchain Technology.” The week before, at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on cryptocurrencies, the heads of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, J. Christopher Giancarlo and Jay Clayton, respectively, testified about their regulatory approach in this area. Most of their testimony focused on fraud in the initial coin offering marketplace. The Senate hearing was not about protecting the public: It was about turf. Both agency heads appeared to be using the attention on ICOs and potential — in some cases, actual — fraud to get additional budget resources they can’t otherwise obtain. They both missed an opportunity to describe how they would use a new and potentially very effective technology — blockchain —

The "Killer" Blockchain Application? On February 14, four witnesses (an analyst in Cybersecurity Policy from the Congressional Research Service, the director of NIST's  Information Technology Laboratory, the vice president of food safety of Walmart, the vice president of blockchain technologies of IBM and the Associate Clinical Professor of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law) showed up in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, to testify about blockchain technology before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Subcommittee on Research and Technology. The witnesses answered questions from members of the two subcommittees. Summary I attended this hearing and below are my summarized findings, in case you didn’t have the time to attend this mind-blowing hearing. Mr. Chris A. Jaikaran, analyst in Cybersecurity Policy, covered blockchain applications in cryptocurrencies, healthcare, identity management, and supply chain management. He discussed certain pitfalls of th

We noted, with interest, testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, February 6th concerning cryptocurrencies. The heads of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, J. Christopher Giancarlo and Jay Clayton, respectively, testified about cryptocurrencies. Their comments focused on fraud in the initial coin offering marketplace. An initial coin offering uses crowdfunding to issue cryptocurrency, which is then used as capital for a startup. Blockchain is a new technology used to structure cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. It is believed to have a structure in which falsification is extremely difficult relative to conventional centralized-management systems and is expected to be applied to a wide variety of fields. Of course, this hearing was not about protecting the public: It was about turf. The SEC does not have direct authority over cryptocurrencies or ICOs. Congress will probably explicitly give the agency direct authority t

As we noted on 12/30/17 when we released our 2018 Economic Forecast, "We anticipate the following: 1. Interest rates. Increasing. 2. Market volatility. We expect a major spike. 3. Bitcoin. Gaining traction, especially in light of increased traditional market volatility. 4. Equity returns. Lower than 2017. 5. Black Unemployment. Black unemployment falls at the end of a sustained period of domestic economic growth and falls with a decline in immigration. This is counterbalanced, however, by increasing racism in general and specifically negative, anti-Black racial attitudes. Given an increase in the latter, we expect Black unemployment to increase toward the end of 2018, despite positive headwinds from reduced immigration." Black unemployment was reported at 7.7%. The Dow is down 1,500 points. For more, see: forecast2018.eventbrite.com   

Impact Investing Forum- Hilton West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL- April 22-24, 2018 www.opalgroup.net/trk/iifb1825.html The Impact Investing Forum will look at many of the asset classes that encompass this space. We invite you to join us and meet top influencers, experienced investors, money managers, and service providers that are leading the charge in this ever growing space. Themes of defining impact investing, portfolio construction, asset class opportunities, and the role of the investor are just a few of the stimulating topics to be covered at this event. Exclusive discount for readers of this blog - get 15% off. Discount Code: CIIF2018

Five days after the trump administration proclaimed that "African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded,” the US Department of Labor reported on Friday that Black unemployment for the month of January jumped to 7.7%. As we noted on 12/30/17 in our Fully Adjusted Return Economic Forecast summary, "Black unemployment falls at the end of a sustained period of domestic economic growth and falls with a decline in immigration. This is counterbalanced, however, by increasing racism in general and specifically negative, anti-Black racial attitudes. Given an increase in the latter, we expect Black unemployment to increase toward the end of 2018, despite positive headwinds from reduced immigration." Note that our June 11, 2016 Fully Adjusted Return Election Forecast also correctly predicted Donald Trump's win, and can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-trump-win-william-michael-cunningham-am-mba/ For the full 2018 Economic forec