News

Years ago, when Bill Gates was the world’s wealthiest person by a significant margin, he visited Israel.  Gates held a wide-ranging news conference, and as one would expect, one of the questions was about money and particularly suited to him. The question: Does money create happiness?  Gates answered without blinking an eye. “Absolutely not,” he said.

We haven’t heard much about this – yet.  But a growing number of countries and high-tech companies are actively preparing to get involved in this exotic new industry.  Based on the talent and money they are pouring into it, clearly they see great potential.  And, no pun intended, this industry could get off the ground in the very near future.  And while no one can say that a traffic jam is building in space, a surprising number of countries are definitely heading to the Moon.  

Over the last few weeks, a rumor going around the Internet said that something shocking would happen on the first night of Rosh HaShanah.  Rumors usually are nonsense, but this one proved to be all too accurate.  

Saudi Arabia is an energy and financial powerhouse, blessed with incredible reserves of oil and gas, a tremendous amount of cash, and access to even more. The combination of these assets gives the Saudis great political power in the Middle East and regions far beyond. 

The year between last Rosh HaShanah and this one will likely be remembered as a difficult one, with rising global tensions, division at home and painful losses in markets. Among the prayers millions of people will have in mind this year is that Hashem bless the world and resolve these challenges very quickly.  All of us are desperately in need of these blessings.

Investors with a long-term horizon don’t worry about the day-to-day market moves; only the long-term matters to them.  Day traders, on the other hand, hang on every twist and turn in stock prices.  They try to make a quick profit and move on to the next trade.  They love volatility and, fortunately for them, there’s been plenty of that lately.