April 22, 2023 | Remote Work, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, Value Stocks and Taxation of Social Security

Remote Work
Another sign that workers will be coming back to the office was a report that showed tech companies over-hired and that working from home did not prove to be that effective. Year to date, tech companies have laid off approximately 168,000 people and the layoffs are occurring for a couple reasons. First, they discovered that people were working only 4 to 5 hours a day logging in at 11 o’clock in the morning and wrapping up and logging off by 4:30 that same day. It was also discovered that some tech companies did become overzealous and looked at hiring more people as an ego boost and an indication that they felt business was going to grow rapidly in the future and they would need a lot of employees. Part of the hiring was done to keep talented employees from going to the competition, a hoarding of employee talent so to speak. No matter how you slice it, this is not a problem with the economy, but more with tech companies and people working from home.

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies
Another year has passed, and more data is in on what a bad investment Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, also known as SPACs, were. I hate to tell people I told you so but back when these blind investment pools were hot, we warned people. In 2022 the total write downs amounted to $11.6 billion a huge increase from $2.7 billion in 2021. The reason for the write downs is based on what is known as goodwill. This comes about when a business is acquired for more than the value of its assets. Accounting rules require the measurement of fair value to the assets annually. If that figure is less than the amount recorded in the books, the value of goodwill must be reduced. I have been in the investment world for 40 years, and I continue to see these hype investments that make Wall Street a lot of money. Unfortunately, in many cases the average investor loses money. This is why I continue to be a value investor and invest in a company when it’s on sale and sell it when it’s overpriced.

Value Stocks
I know people are fearful about investing now and when I tell them I expect to have a very good year come December 31st, I think they question my thoughts. Currently value stocks are very inexpensive compared to growth stocks. They are discounted more than they have been for four-fifths of the time in the history of the stock market. Another study also showed when inflation runs between 4% and 8% per year value stocks outperform growth stocks by 6 to 8%. People may be afraid of inflation, but it actually is a benefit to value stocks. I will keep investing!