The United States is experiencing a period of rapid growth in electricity demand, which is expected to continue for at least the next decade. This growth is driven by economic development and expanded electric use in various sectors. Electric vehicles, tech manufacturing and the expansion of data centers to power AI applications are major factors in the growth of electricity demand.

To support this, the US electricity grid is undergoing significant upgrades and modernization efforts. This is driven by factors like aging infrastructure, increasing demand, the need to integrate more renewable energy sources, and the desire to enhance resilience against extreme weather events. The Biden Administration allocated $1.5 billion towards four major transmission upgrades, and another $5 billion loan guarantee for a massive Midwestern power line project.

But as we survey the energy landscape in early 2025, a compelling case for nuclear expansion is emerging. With electricity demand projected to surge 9% by 2028 and potentially triple in the coming decades, we're facing a critical decision point for America's energy future.

This installment is the last in my series on alternative investments. While this series has been nowhere near exhaustive on the subject, it has highlighted a few of the more common investment types in the alternatives arena. You can read the previous issue on private credit funds here and the original overview on alternative investments here.

A few months ago I stumbled on a briefing by the Cato Institute that proposed a mammoth move by the Federal government that at the time I thought could never happen. No, it has nothing to do with Greenland becoming the 51st state. (Although I can agree with some of the arguments made to purchase it!)

It has to do with what Bloomberg calls a “stodgy 87-year-old company” – Fannie Mae and its corporate relative Freddie Mac. These two companies guarantee roughly 70% of US home mortgages.

The report proposed that these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) be privatized by sending the corporations into receivership. The sale out of receivership would require Congressional approval, but it would effectively remove $8 trillion of liabilities from the government’s balance sheet. This plan was originally proposed by the Trump administration during his first term. Now that plan has resurfaced after some of his top allies have renewed the call to privatize the two mortgage backers.

Private credit funds are debt-like, non-publicly traded instruments provided by non-bank entities, such as private credit funds or business development companies (BDCs) to fund private businesses. These funds typically engage in direct lending to private companies at above market rates.

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.

This letter is the second installment in our series on alternative investments. You can find the first in the series here and an overview of alternative investments in a previous letter here.

Real estate is a very big sector and probably the best known of the alternative investment group to retail investors. How big is the real estate sector? Well like many things, that depends from which angle you are viewing it. The real estate sector is generally broken down into three segments: residential, commercial and industrial.

In a recent edition of Forecasts & Trends, I mentioned a report by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that projected Trump economic proposals would increase the national debt by as much as $8 trillion over four years. Today we’ll look at a different analysis, this time by the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model gives us a different view of Donald Trump’s proposed economic policies. Read on to see what the major components of the policies are and the Wharton School’s analysis of how they could affect the economy and your pocketbook.