I’m sure you’ve noticed, as I have, the dramatic increase in scams of all types. Scammers try to contact you by phone, text, online chats and many social media platforms. They always have the same goal – to get your personal information or money. And the scammers are using sophisticated technology like Artificial Intelligence to enhance their tried-and-true methods.

Experian reports that over $1 trillion was lost to scammers in 2024. To put that amount into perspective, that’s roughly the value of these three corporate titans: Tesla, Berkshire Hathaway and Meta (Facebook).

Personally, I know several folks who have fallen for scams. Their personal information was used to open phony credit cards which ran up thousands of dollars in charges. Some have lost tens of thousands of dollars through bank fraud or by sending scammers multiple gift cards thinking they were helping a relative.

We thought it would be good to start the new year with some solid education to help you avoid getting ripped off by these fraudulent schemes.

I have been a baseball fan since I was a kid in California. During the baseball season I would snag my grandfather’s copy of the Oakland Tribune to read the box scores from the night before. And as the season waned toward the playoffs, it was doubly important to check the standings. I needed to see if my team was in first place or how hard they had to fight to get there.

Baseball fans have probably guessed that my team is the “Swingin’ A’s” – or better known as the Oakland Athletics.

I waited a little longer this week to send out our usual Tuesday E-Letter until now so I could report whether the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. We know now that they have.

So let’s take a “box score” look today at where the economy stands and what Jerome Powell and the Fed think 2025 holds in store.

This is the latest installment in our series on alternative investments. You can find the original overview here and our last article on real estate investing here.

In something of a surprise move, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Scott Bessent, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Key Square Capital Management, as U.S. Treasury Secretary. Part of the surprise lies in Bessent’s time spent with billionaire George Soros at Soros Fund Management, a large contributor to the Democratic Party. In recent years, Bessent has been a vocal supporter of the former president’s policies, including tariffs and deep spending cuts.

Bessent has urged President-elect Trump to adopt what he calls a “3-3-3” policy. Today we’ll take a look at this policy and whether it is feasible in this economy. It is a bold, hawkish move that some observers believe will reshape the U.S. economy.