Why CNN’s investing advice is laughable
The headline of a CNN article published (here) on Friday, June 14, 2024, a day when stock indexes sank a little more after sinking for the last month, reads:
“Here’s how to invest in stocks when interest rates are higher for longer”
“Higher for longer” is a media catch-phrase which means the Federal Reserve hasn’t cut interest rates and won’t anytime soon. It’s best to push the “Ignore” button, because nobody should take investing advice from the mass media, but I want to have fun with this. The CNN article opines,
“At least one interest rate cut is still on the table for 2024,”
No.
“but in the short term, higher US borrowing costs are here to stay.”
Duh.
“The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held rates steady”
Duh again.
“for the seventh consecutive time and penciled in just one cut this year, down from the three it first projected last December.”
Yeah, maybe December, but inflation probably will still be too high then.
“Still, traders are widely expecting the central bank to keep rates where they are again in July. If the Fed does indeed hold off on changes, interest rates will stay at their current 23-year high until at least September.”
There’s zero chance of a rate cut next month, and nobody expects one. How can there be with inflation still 3.5%, and not moving down? And there won’t be a September rate cut, no matter what inflation does, because that’s too close to the election and would be seen as the Fed trying to help Biden win. The CNN article then suggests what stocks to buy; at this point, you definitely should push the “Ignore” button.
Why Wells Fargo Bank is laughable
Also on Friday, June 14, 2024, CNN reported (here),
“Wells Fargo this week disclosed that it had fired more than a dozen employees for ‘simulation of keyboard activity’ … multiple people were let go after a review of allegations that they created an ‘impression of active work.’ In other words, they were faking work, perhaps with the kind of mouse jiggler that you can buy online for $20.”
That’s not the funny part, which I’ll get to, but I’ll say this: Only stupid employers are obsessed with key strokes, instead of caring whether employees are getting their work done. They’re bean-counters who can’t see the forest for the trees. Yes, I get that you don’t want dishonest people working at a bank, and that appears to have played a role in these firings, but here’s where things get laughable:
“A bank spokesperson declined to offer more details about the firings, saying only that ‘Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior.’”
Why is this funny? Because Wells Fargo Bank has been rocked by scandal after scandal, and absolutely nobody except aliens just arriving on Earth associates “Wells Fargo Bank” with “high standards” or “ethical behavior” (read sordid details here). They don’t learn and keep getting caught in more scandals (see story here).
I’ll close by segueing back to the “mouse jiggler” dustup. Setting aside that calling out employees for trivial keyboard cheating is super-chippy given the bank’s cosmic-scale dishonesty, it’s likely the bosses asked for it. As Market Watch points out here,
“Are employees lazy, or overworked? … ‘Managers and leaders want to believe this narrative that people aren’t productive and are always looking for ways to get out of work, when in reality, people work towards what they’re expected to do,’ said Ashley Herd, founder of the training company Manager Method, and a former lawyer and human resources manager. Those who are the most productive are often just given more work, often without overtime pay, Herd said. ‘Employers have this mindset of, ‘I’m going to pay them a set amount and get as many hours out of them as I can,’ she said.”
And,
Focusing on activity instead of outcomes. … Companies should be focusing on results — like a worker’s sales numbers or lines of code — instead of combing through keystroke counts and mouse moves, said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economist who has studied the rise of remote work. ‘When people work from home you absolutely can’t watch them like you can in the office, which is why you need to focus on outcomes,’ he said.”
Which they should do anyway, because isn’t “outcomes” what employers hire and pay people for? In theory, yes, but who hasn’t encountered supervisors who over-manage to look like they’re doing something and are worth their paychecks?
Too many bosses think like Army sergeants. They can’t stomach idle troops, so they hand them shovels and make them dig useless holes. Below is a photo I took of a soldier cutting grass with a scissors and comb in a U.S. Army headquarters compound in Long Binh, Vietnam. This guy was taken from his home and family, and shipped halfway around the world, to do this? We lost that war. Is that how to run a bank, too?
