1 March 2019
Question: According to MSN: Lifestyle, what are eleven (11) ways to tell if a wine is actually really good?
Cohen decides it’s open season against old boss – Pg. 3
– Mr Cohen provided documents to back his claims, pointed to possible corroborating witnesses and hinted about a hitherto unknown investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan (Prof Note: My comments are apolitical…the larger issue here, for me, is attorney/client privilege. Cohen taped conversations; is providing documents; etc. I fear the greater issue is the breakdown of attorney/client privilege.)
US growth begins to weaken in fourth quarter – Pg. 3
– The US economic rebound lost some of its vigour in the final months of 2018 after consumers reined in spending growth and residential investment shrank for the fourth quarter in a row
– GDP rose at an annualized pace of 2.6% in the fourth quarter – a solid reading but slower than the 3.4% and 4.2% clocked in the previous two. The full-year growth rate of 2.9% undershot the 3% target touted…
– Consumer spending, accounting for about two-thirds of the economy, grew at an annual rate of 2.8% in the fourth quarter, compared with 3.5% in the third and the 3% analyst had forecast
– Residential investment shrank at a 3.5% pace in the final quarter of 2018
– The housing market..was held being held back by affordability problems and the impact of past interest rate increases
Leveraged loan managers cut fees to pep up business – Pg. 19
– Managers of leveraged loan vehicles are cutting fees in an attempt to get new deals over the line, as the market struggles to rebound from a sharp selloff at the end of last year
– Some of the largest managers of so-called collateralized loan obligations, which bundle leveraged loans together that are backed by slices of debt and equity, said they had found raising investor capital more challenging, even if they had not had to offer discounts
– The market for leveraged loans – issued to low-rated or heavily indebted companies across the US – has struggled to regain its footing after a downturn in prices in December when investors began to fret about the outlook for the global economy
– CLOs work by passing repayment on risky loans through to bond and equity investors. Equity investors, who stand first in line to take losses if the underlying loans default, receive any cash left over after paying bondholders. They are also responsible for paying management fees to CLO structurers such as Barings
Answer: (1) What does the bottle look like?; (2) Where does the wine come from?; (3) How does the cork smell?; (4) How does the wine look in the glass?; (5) Does it smell bad?; (6) Does it smell good?; (7) How’s the mouthfeel?; (8) How does it taste?; (9) Is it well balanced?; (10) How much does it cost?; (11) Do you like it? (Prof Note: I cannot stand being given a wine “book” at a restaurant. I do not know what is good, I can barely tell the differences between the different types AND I prefer to spend my $$$ on other things, e.g. travel, than understanding wine. If that is your thing, great, but I am so thankful for age now and the ability to say, “I will have Scotch. Gets me where I want to go more quickly and efficiently and effectively!” Also, Scotch does not change from year-to-year…)