Tag Archives: Robert Kaplan

June 2023 Audio Video Review -Student Loan Update – Candid Kaplan Review – Financial Planning and Capital Market Review – By John Kvale CFA, CFP

Hello and Welcome to our June 2023 Financial Planning and Capital Market Update!

If you are too busy to read, feel free to listen as we describe our post and thoughts in friendly podcast audio format as well as Video!

Newbies –

We like to articulate our thoughts and review on a Monthly basis our Financial Planning Tips, Capital Markets thoughts and current events!

Hope you enjoy!

June 2023 Video


YouTube

Financial Planning Tip(s)

Student Loan Update – No forgiveness – BUT story not over

Supreme knocks the loan forgiveness down – BUT plans continue – story not over !

There are plans to delay the repayments, what will be interesting to see if interest starts acrueing again and the end result of the forgiveness… stay tuned, likely not over!

Capital Market Comments

Robert Kaplan gets Candid – Accidentally Lets Rabbit out of the Hat

In a stumbled upon podcast, we discover some accidental VERY candid comments from former Dallas Federal Reserve chair, Robert Kaplan, here in this post.

  • There are still TONS of stimulus in the system – We new it!
  • Higher for Longer
  • Good Ole Boys Club – New it again!

Have a Great Day, Talk to You at the End of July !

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Robert Kaplan Speaks Candidly, Echoes Our Main Thoughts for the Newsletter – NICE – There is Still Stimulus out there and Higher for Longer!

The Forward-Guidance podcast review, recommended from one of my coveted study buddy groups, a week or so ago!

With downtime over the holiday weekend and the newsletter not being in print just yet… Robert Kaplan’s comments from a podcast came in very much in line with some of the articles in our coming Q 3 2023 newsletter, as such we had to bring you up to speed on this podcast.  NICE!

Recall Robert Kaplan was a Dallas Federal Reserve President, before getting caught up in a political issue and he along with several other members ended up resigning. 

What stands out about this podcast is the candor that Kaplan gives, which is what we are always looking for. Is it because this is a less than hugely popular podcast ? … although it will make my regular check for subject matter from now on, Or it is due to the resignation which would make Kaplan never available for public service again? …so he has nothing to lose period. Does not matter the reason his candor again is what grabbed attention. 

The just over one-hour podcast which can be found here (Forward Guidance), had three important points to bring to your attention: 

There’s still stimulus flowing in through the system- Again one of our articles in the coming Q 3 2023 newsletter speaks about the ERC or employee retention credit, Kaplan mentioned specifically talking to many mayors of many cities across the United States which have an abundance amount of stimulus capital still on their balance sheet that must be spent before 2025. hmmmmm 

Higher interest rates for longer should be the baseline assumption according to Kaplan– Again this is the subject matter of another of our newsletter articles. Kaplan speaks to the podcaster candidly and says capital markets even though we were just beginning a credit cycle (Tightening of lending standards, less loans, higher interest rates and lower margins, increased defaults all the intent of the federal reserve’s higher rates to slow the economy)- while capital markets and participants are pricing a lower interest rate at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, Kaplan cautions participants to take Jerome Powell at his word. The only thing that would make him change his posture is some large event created by the further progress of the aforementioned credit cycle. 

It is a good old boys club– In an aha moment that we always thought existed, Kaplan slips and says his dissenting vote in September of 20 was a frowned upon event by Jerome Powell! However he quickly corrected himself and said I will let Powell speak for himself, but the rabbit was out of the hat, Kaplan realizing this went on to say that the general spirit of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) is everybody agrees and falls in line with a distinct hierarchy of ranking. We could all remember and learn that there is a very much pecking order where the king is the chair, and the pawns are supposed to follow. 

Apologies for the length of this post, as mentioned with some time off and the dictation in hand, along with a total complement to our pending newsletter, wanted to bring this to your attention.

Have a great “Inside the Federal Reserve via Robert Kaplan” day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Federal Reserve Detailed Analysis from Last Weeks Announcement … A Very Stern Jerome Powell

As mentioned in our Preview Post last week, we have been watching the FOMC as their posture is due to change with regards to the stimulus put in motion early last year….

Jerome Powell Gets Tough

Recall as the economy was shut down last year the FOMC chaired by Jerome Powell and its members moved interest rates on the short end of the curve to zero and commenced a $120 billion per month purchase of treasuries and mortgage back securities. Both of these moves were to help stimulate the economy and to stabilize the capital markets.

Meeting their goal of stabilization and a much-improved economy the FOMC are ready to shift policies and unless any major economic or other disruption occurs Powell made it very clear that he expects policymakers to begin decreasing the $120 billion per month purchases, and if all goes well to have completely stopped monthly purchases by mid-2022.

As mentioned in some of our prior posts this message has been floated by multiple fed presidents and Capital Markets seem to be taking this news in stride, much to participants and reserve members’ pleasure.

Much of the mainstream media seemed to report that there was no major change in policy or tone to which we disagree.  In listening to Powell especially in his interviews after the pre-plan reading of notes, he seemed much firmer and resolved to stop the monthly purchases and the tone in his voice in our minds, let us know if this would occur in the very near future.

As has been mentioned before many of our fellow professional investors have long desired this happened many months ago, but no matter, it appears that it is about to occur slowly and diligently, and capital markets are accepting.

On another totally different and non-market related and non-economic related topic several federal reserve members had transactions over the past year that were not optically good for the federal reserve. One of the members is our very own favorite Robert Kaplan who had multiple large transactions in securities that the federal reserve was involved.

While we will voice no opinion on this … Jerome Powell was very stern surprisingly, and in our mind so stern that it could be an occupational loss for some of these members. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this, but this is not the end of it and once again Powell was very angry and forceful on this point.

Bottom line we would expect a taper, slow lane of monthly purchases to commence shortly and will be watching interest rates which have already made some moves as well as capital market participation.

Have a Great “About to Taper” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Kaplan Town Hall/Newsletter Preview Breaking News … Friday … Sports Begin …

Another Fantastic Kaplan (Dallas FOMC President) Town Hall

On Wednesday evening of this week, Robert Kaplan did another Town Hall …. Pretty sure this is our third or fourth to attend so there is some continuity working as we can hear changes, continued thoughts and just a general getting to know Kaplan…

The most BREAKIN NEWS from the talk, was Kaplan saying the following…

“If there are not major changes in the Economy before our next meeting on September 22, 2021, I will suggest taper is announced and it begins in October of 2021!”

This was a big (so soon) enough statement that we were surprised not to see any public media discuss yesterday….

We will dig into Kaplan’s comments next week in a deeper fashion and the possible outcomes should this statement come to fruition.

Newsletter in the Works

The Newsletter is coming right along, we have found some greater details from our Expectations Post Earlier in the Quarter, along with our candid comments…

On a personal note, if you ever want to know how fast a Quarter can go, do an all original Newsletter every 90 days… All Great, but really seems like we just completed the last one…. Time is flying I guess!

Friday

Ahhhh, it is a VERY late summer Friday heading closer to fall… Sports is getting into full force…


Enjoy your Friday and Weekend – Talk Next Week!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

May 2021 Financial Planning and Capital Market Review – By John Kvale

Hello and Welcome to our May 2021 Financial Planning and Capital Market Update!

If you are too busy to read, feel free to listen as we describe our post and thoughts in friendly podcast audio format as well as Video!

Newbies –

We like to articulate our thoughts and review on a Monthly basis our Financial Planning Tips, Capital Markets and current events!

Hope you enjoy!

May 2021 Video

YouTube

Financial Planning Tips

Preparing to Hit the Sky Again

In this Break In Moment Post, an executive of the company Fligence reached out with regards to our fun TSA Posts through the closure of the country.

Their neatly designed website can be a very handy item for determining your possible time needs and delays as well as neatly follow our country to reopening at full speed.

Capital Market Comments

Inflation or No Inflation

In doing writings, I try to approach each article with a clear mind and head, especially if the post is heavy ….

Many times I try to completely forget the article or post from maybe just a week before….

Good News…. the Month of May was a success in clearing my mind as I accidentally pounded everyone over the head with Inflation stuff…..

My apologies, but it coming at us from so many directions made it top of mind….

At the Berkshire Hathaway meeting post, starring Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, Inflation was all the chatter and a huge concern for them.

Then Here in our Jolts – job opening Post we looked at how there are tons of jobs to be had –

Here in our Favorite Dallas Federal Reserve Chair post, Robert Kaplan – Sooner rather than later, worries inflation may be coming if we stay too low on interest rates…

Lastly in this verbal tug of war post between Jim Bianco and Lacy Hunt, they could not more disagree very emphatically.

Time will tell who is correct in their thinking!

Have a Great Day, Talk to You at the End of June!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Robert Kaplan Update – Round Table State of Economy – “Sooner Rather than Later!”

One of our favorite Federal Reserve Presidents Dallas’s own Robert Kaplan had another Round Table discussion the most recent Monday night….

Those with great memories may recall my fiasco when listening to his Round Table discussions and accidentally raising my hand for a live question…. good news, avoided that this time! haha

Elephant in the Room – Inflation or Not?

While leading with stats and updates, the review order has been changed due to the very end of the discussion and importance…

Recalling from the Mauldin SIC conference of the last two weeks and and once again here we are…. Elephant topic for Kaplan – Inflation or Not?

(Have you ever been on a call or virtual visit like this and wondered who else is on? – Am I wasting my time here? Or is this a good use of the late evening? – See callers below for answer!)

Live Callers

After about four or five live callers, the moderator announce, “Our next caller is Byron Wien!” – WHAT!

Wien is an 88 year old veteran of the Capital Markets and currently Vice Chair of Blackstone the largest money manager in the US!

What is he doing listening to a Dallas Reserve President at this time of the night – he is one hour later!

In a no nonsense, direct question, Wien asks or more insists “There is inflation and it is coming faster than officials think! What are you guys going to do?”

Kaplan answers directly that he thinks tapering monthly purchases along with increasing of rates should come “Sooner Than Later!”

This statement was repeated more than any other statement and even at one juncture, Kaplan stated “I said this in March and have seen nothing to change my view!” Sooner Rather than Later!

Kaplan goes on to say ” It is better to let off the accelerator and coast and possibly tap the brakes rather than staying on the accelerator and having to jam the brakes quickly!” We Agree!

Last up from the live call ins :

Robert Sakowitz – Concerns about shipping and port trouble- his personal example of $2600 pod now costing him $8000- (Has to be passed on somewhere? right?)

Based on our research and his question, most likely a multi generational retail magnate!

Both calls were concerning inflation, with several others concerned the FED has stayed to long and their mandate has been met!

Interesting Stats from Kaplan

2 million worker age 55 and over retired since Covid, dropping a valuable portion of the workforce

1.5 million women left workforce to care for children- Wow !

Texas and the surrounding Dallas Fed Area High School Superintendents on average graduate 85% of seniors and now only 60% – creating a shortage of skilled workers –

Taper and Policy – How can FED withdraw without market disruption? SLOOOOWLY

Learned from 07-09 – Telegraph in advance and give market time to absorb

What signals will use for taper – FOMC in Dec of 2020 agree that substantial further progress (Kaplan believes this statement is key and is very open to be used and interpreted many ways)

Input supply demand imbalances – metals, food, wages, PCE of April – June – elevated levels – uncertain of how long will persist

Believe inflation run at 2% and anchored there-

11 million barrels of Oil last year, thinks can only to to 11.25 million per day- fossil fuel here for decades longer, maybe not at the same level as prior but will not go away

Great Final Question from the Moderator

What Keeps Me Up at Night? (Recall same exact question of Buffet at annual meeting and the EXACT same answer)

“No textbook for this recovery, this is unlike any other recovery we have ever had- no prior example – We must manage the risk be nimble if possible !”

There you have it… Local Dallas Fed President echoing a lot of things we have been hearing, spoken of and discussed here!

Good News – Time will Tell and it will not be a long time (quarters, not decades)

Have a Great “Kaplan Update” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Musk Hosts SNL … Mauldin SIC Conference … Robert Kaplan Talks Taper

Being probably the least fan of SNL – Saturday Night Live – in our family, it is on the calendar to attempt to stay up this weekend and watch Elon Musk host SNL. Once announced there has been some grumblings among actors, a fiery Musk Tweet and fiery Tweet response that are likely no more than showmanship, but like many I can’t wait to see the show!

Ratings increase? Bet so!

John Maulden SIC conference

Last year the John Mauldin SIC – Strategic Investor Conference – was available virtually … and once again it is this year. This conference lasts for two weeks and started this week … has close to 50 high-powered guests, with complete replays and slide decks … we are excited to present the high points of some of these speakers just as we did earlier this week with the Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting and our Q 3 2020 Newsletter

Taper Talk – Floating the Balloon ?

Local favorite Dallas Federal Reserve chair Robert Kaplan who is not a voting member of the FOMC but still remains on the board this year was the first to mention the word Taper – Well he didn’t really mention taper but mentioned the slowing of asset purchases.

No more than a few days later Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also mentioned something with regards to asset prices and the possibility of slowing purchases.

With a rather yawning capital market response, it would not be beyond a reasonable belief that they are floating some of these out to see market responses.

Look for more comments from us on this and a very watchful eye for more speakers slowly adjusting the aircraft carrier.

Friday

Ahhhh… but today is a Friday heading into a wonderful spring weekend and a possibly very entertaining SNL skit tomorrow night!

Enjoy, Talk to you Next week!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Another Robert Kaplan Townhall Update – Some Breaking Comments … Slowing Purchases this Year

Back in the fall last year, here we commented on a terrific Robert Kaplan Townhall. Good news, this time we were able to listen to this Townhall which occurred Monday January 11, 2021 without accidentally becoming a participant!

Robert Kaplan is the Dallas Federal Reserve President and is a voting member of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) in 2020 – has a lot of eyes on him, especially during FOMC statements … but – see next

We like to listen to these “Quaint” discussions as more open comments and nuggets of information can be discovered and we are big fans of Kaplan as well…

Kaplan Latest Townhall Comments

Kaplan reiterated an expectation of US Economic growth – if all goes well – of 5% Wow. US Economic growth certainly has easy comparables due to a bad 2020, but a 5% growth rate is really strong and if occurs would help with our Capital Markets growing into their clothes thesis.

Biggest breaking comment, Kaplan believes the FED will at minimum speak of easing on asset purchases and again if all goes well is interested in higher rates later this year – Wow, another big news comment. Recall our concerns if rates get ahead of the Fed and they are forced to chase them down, could be strong headwinds… From our perch this is good news.

Oddly, most major Financial Firms are saying the likely stimulus coming soon will help, but when that runs out a slowing may occur …. someone is wrong !

We will be watching!

Kaplan firmly stated that continued stimulus through asset purchase AND low rates will do more harm than good if continued too long …. We agree, inflated asset prices and excessive risk taking does not work out well.

Best Question – What is Biggest Risk to Economy in 2021?

This question was by far the best and Kaplan’s comment that too slow of Vaccine rollout were both elegantly stated.

Kaplan expressed some concerns with the speed of the current rollout but expected/hoped for acceleration in short order, as we all do.

Kaplan, as a firm believer in higher education, our resident state of Texas is not at the top of the rung on this one, he mentioned several times improving the education system especially as it relates to technology will likely increase productivity in the decades to come.

There you have it, some Breaking News and some Good News!

Have a Great “Kaplan Townhall Update” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Kaplan Town Hall Review … Second Most Recent FOMC Update Meeting Last Week… Procrastination Leads to Lucky Update

As mentioned in our embarrassing post here recently The Dallas Federal Reserve had a Town Hall meeting with special guest speaker Dallas federal president reserve Robert Kaplan.

One of our favorite things to do is listen to people like Robert Kaplan in less public venues in order to try and get their candid or less guarded opinions.

This will make the 10th article talking about Kaplan and as such you may notice that we are pretty big fans.

Kaplan Town Hall Candid Comments

What was interesting about this town Hall meeting was that Kaplan for the first time since his tenure at the FOMC dissented about the federal reserves decision due the fact the the FOMC made a three pronged approach for their interest rate movement decisions.

What do we mean? In the released report from the FOMC chaired by Jerome Powell but with Robert Kaplan a voting member at the meeting they released the following unique statement

1. We intend on having interest rates lower for longer – In Kaplan’s opinion and ours, that was enough

2. We will keep interest rates lower even if inflation ticks up – this is the comment that Kaplan had an issue with and we do as well as we have written multiple times ( here here here and here ) that inflation may actually raise its head , Kaplan agreed!

3. Until a very lower rate of unemployment. is established we will also wait to raise rates

That’s just too many strings to attach to the FOMC and to especially hand over to future decisions makers!

Kaplan, during the Town Hall Event

Maybe the reason we like Kaplan so much is he seems to think very much like we do and have similar concerns. By attaching these three points together future Federal Reserve board members are being bound by a multi point limitation that could cause problems. What if one of these points gets dramatically above target but another is not thereby limiting the increase in interest rates?

Kaplan … like us, believes that there is a time in the not too distant future where interest rates will need to be raised and normalized not only for inflation limitations but also for industries that rely on higher interest rates.

Kaplan also mentioned that low interest rates for too long of a period of time may cause people to take greater risks than they otherwise would.

Lastly, Kaplan once again seeing eye to eye with our beliefs, said that low interest rates for too long of a period of time becomes not only helpful but a stimulus that is unneeded once the economy gets rolling.

Time will tell but once again we like Kaplan’s thoughts on higher interest rates potentially sooner rather than later but likely a year or so out!

Updated Thoughts From More Recent FOMC Statement

So time flew past us on getting this post to you, but in true making Lemonade out of Lemons fashion, something neat occurred….

Our Procrastination lead to a Lucky Update!

Last week, the FOMC released their latest statement here and guess what?

No strings like the prior meeting, just simple slow economy stuff and, Kaplan voted FOR the opinion… no dissenting this time.

Maybe the FOMC members have already backed down from their prior “Strings Attached” discussion!

Have a Great “Kaplan FOMC” Update!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Finally Taxes are Done … Rob Kaplan Federal Reserve Chair Town Hall Personal Embarrassment …

Whew…. that was easy…. NOT!

Finally we can say goodbye to 2019 taxes … Wednesday Marked the due day for personal Federal Income Tas Extensions.

Luckily (where work and opportunity cross – neat saying heard recently) in the fall of 2019 we went through EVERY taxable portfolio and confirmed tax basis – both reported and unreported to the IRS…. never knowing what this year would bring. This exercise effectively minimized tax documents to one report per account.

Glad we are done!

A Nerd Incident with Robert Kaplan and the Dallas Federal Reserve

On Wednesday of this week, yours truly attended a Virtual Town Hall chaired by Robert Kaplan (pretty big Fan, here is a link to nine articles we have written for those interested).

In true nerd multitasking form, the Zoom meeting started, on the Cell, why not listen while jogging? Cell inserted into runners band on arm and away we go!

Expect comments on the talk, it was very good and interesting…..

Post jog, cell back off runners arm band and onto the couch as the live question and answer session had commenced.

Then this:

Next Question is from John!

Quick glance to the cell and an Unmute flashing button was covering my entire screen! Yikes

“John you must Unmute your device

Twice from the moderator then twice from Robert Kaplan

With no question, the Unmute button was not going to be touched! Finally after what was likely 5 seconds, but felt like 5 awkward minutes, the moderator and Kaplan moved on!

Whew, embarrassing moment averted… or was it!

A question or two later and then this:

“Ok, that was our last question, let’s go back to John and see if we can get his question answered!

Oh No!!!!

This time the Zoom video was shut off before the Unmute logo hit the phone screen….

Can’t make this up!

Hope you enjoyed a nerds chance encounter with Robert Kaplan and maybe even got a chuckle.

Enjoy your Friday, and your weekend …. going to be chilly for the first time in our neck of the woods…. talk next week!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents