Acha Etiendem

Sometimes, my mind drifts from one topic to the next like someone aimlessly scrolling on social media. I think there's a lot I can conjure up, and the best way I kind of make sense of it all is to write. Oh! Sorry, I didn't welcome you. So you came to check what nonsense I have to say? Well, I hope to have been worth your time by the end of this.  You see, I have lived in Africa, Europe, and North America. This is not me bragging, but an attempt to show you that I'm writing from my lived experience and not some made-up stuff. Anywhere I have gone, there's been inequality. I have seen people live in affluence and others live in abject poverty. This is true for all societies, regardless of who they are. The fascinating thing about this is that, all through history, the same inequality has existed. We've always had the haves and have-nots. It doesn't matter which ancient empire, socialist, communist, or capitalist society you're looking at. The same damm inequa...

Hi there! Welcome to one of those my boring write-ups. In this episode, I want to convey what I think will be immediate signs that show the dollar monetary system is about to end. I'm not one of those pessimists out there, but I can be rational and recognize a problem when I sense and see one.  As much as I love the dollar system, I have to acknowledge its downsides. We've generally enjoyed no major wars like the First and Second World Wars, thanks partially to the dollar system, which has enabled some bad actors to be kept in check. This has meant the dollar has been weaponized to get some tyrants to behave. Of course, this came at a cost, as countries gradually sought ways to reduce their dependence on the dollar for trade over time. Take a look at Figure 1                                                  Figure 1. Dollar Decline When I began studying money...

Hi, and welcome. This is just a note to myself, or a record of what seems unclear in my mind. It has nothing to do with my previous post or markets at all. So if you want to stick around, you're more than welcome to waste your time haha!                                                        Find your life's purpose so you can start living When the year began, I made my speech about the year 2025, and given the tensions between the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve on the topic of Interest rates, it appears I had the foresight and accuracy of an ancient-day Israeli prophet. I feel proud that I could have made such an accurate forecast and, honestly, benefited from it financially. It's not about the benefits, but the fact that I was able to independently come up with my own conclusions and act on the recommendations.  However, what ap...

I don't know what brought you to my blog, but where I come from, it is a sign of respect to welcome/greet every stranger you encounter. In that spirit, I say thank you for checking out my tiny blog and spending your precious time entertaining whatever nonsense I have to say, haha! You'll probably have noticed from my previous posts that I greatly monitor interest rates and quite actually love them. You may have wondered how I use them to make money or guide my investments. Before we get into the nitty gritty of this episode, I want to clarify that I don't know anything and I'm just literally taking on risk based on my research on market behavior around interest changes and/or perceived future of interest rate changes. Look, you don't need to be an expert and you certainly don't really need an expert to invest successfully. The chart below will tell you why. If you just buy assets and hold them for at least 4-5 years during times of high interest rates, you'l...

I welcome you once more to my corner. I have not posted since January for the right reasons. Now that quarter one (Q1) is almost over, I know it's necessary to give a follow-up of my New Year's speech. Let's get to it. It's all about interest rates and the message hasn't changed.  What a show Trump has put on in DC. Trump came in threatening that Jerome Powell resign because Powell and co have kept rates high, despite Trump seeking lower rates.  He quickly realized or was cautioned that such an approach would not work. On 01/01/2025, I wrote that our focus should be on the US Federal Reserve (FED). This bank (if you choose to call it a bank) is the most powerful institution in the world and I want to add now that another department we need to quickly update ourselves about is the US treasury, championed by its secretary, Scott Bessent. Collectively, these guys all want lower interest rates. The FED will not drop rates until the incoming data suggests it is appropria...

 Happy New Year!!! Due to my geographical location, I was among one of the last regions to enter 2025. By the time midnight came around for me, most people had already celebrated the New Year. Well, we're all in 2025 now, and it's that time of year when I engage you again about the year ahead and what I thought of the previous year.  You know me by now to some extent that I'm mostly writing about finance and money since 2021. It's a personal task I decided to embark on to learn by doing and not follow the normal education route required for such disciplines. This has meant more of my time is spent studying economies, how inflation and central banks work their way around money, what roles politics plays in all of it, and the most important part of it all; personal finance. Famous motivational speaker Les Brown once said and I paraphrase " If you regularly read a lot of books about any particular subject for at least 5 years, in that time, you'll become one of th...