Source: Brokerage China Author: Qu Hongyan Recently, China Yangtze Power hit a historical high and once again showed the slow bull stock trend of "tripling in ten years". The slow bull market has left behind many passers-by and brought good returns to the steadfast investors. It is "rare for those who triple in one year to be like carp jumping over the dragon gate, while those who double in three years are few and far between." On the other end of the investment world, however, violent collapses are also deafening, with many financial products suspected of "Ponzi schemes" ceasing payments, leaving investors with no hope of recovering their investments. Both positive and negative cases illustrate the importance of forming a suitable mentality towards money in one's lifetime; otherwise, sooner or later, you will divorce yourself from your money. "I call this the money mind, a person's IQ can reach 120, 140, or even higher levels, and perhaps some people's minds are good at doing one thing, while others are good at doing another. They can do things that most ordinary people can't do. But I know some very smart people who make very foolish decisions because they lack the money mind." Buffett once said so. The so-called money mind refers to believing in common sense, believing in compound interest, being cautious and rational, thinking independently, prioritizing security over return, not dealing with people with questionable character, not easily guaranteeing for others, not believing in windfall profits, and not trying to cross legal norms for extra benefits. In today's world of ubiquitous information, everyone's wealth may become the "prey" of those with ulterior motives. Only with the money mind, can one form good behavior habits and shield oneself from separating from one's wealth. Do not entrust your wealth easily. Wealth is easy to lose but hard to accumulate, and trust is a vital reason leading to the rapid loss of wealth. "Do not allow anyone else to manage your business unless you can watch their every move closely and understand their behavior; or you have strong reasons to believe in their character and ability. For investors, this criterion determines when you can let someone else make investment decisions for you." Graham's criterion written eighty years ago is so clear. Almost all the investors who lost their wealth in the financial products have violated the above two criteria. They did not have the ability to closely supervise the whereabouts of their funds, nor did they have sufficient reasons to believe in the character of the product issuers. They easily invested their own wealth solely based on others' glib tongue and a piece of commitment paper. They did not act as gatekeepers of their own wealth and ended up with nothing left even if the government punished the wrongdoers. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is a phrase Munger often says. Destiny must be in one's own hands, and investors with a suitable money mind will try their best to find suspicious points in their investments to protect the safety of their principal. For example, whether the manager is trustworthy, whether the underlying assets are profitable, whether oneself can timely monitor the risks in the investment process, and whether the sales staff is obtaining large commissions. As long as any unreliable signs are found, these investors firmly will not invest their money. Do not desire to get rich quick. As in the capital market and anywhere else, making money is not easy, and desiring to get rich quick will lead to quick loss of wealth. In the capital market, the desire to get rich quickly often leads to investors over-allocating specific stocks, industries, or assets at the worst time. For example, buying high-risk stocks that can gain huge returns once an adventure succeeds, but the chance of success is very small, also known as "whispering stocks" by legendary fund manager Peter Lynch. "They often tell investors a story with explosive effects. These 'whispering stocks' have a hypnotic effect on people, and it is easy for you to believe that the story the company tells has an emotional appeal that can easily confuse you." This is like hearing a very tempting "sizzling" sound, making you salivate, but you did not notice that there is no steak on the grill. In the eyes of investors who lack the money mind, stable yield provided by blue chips such as China Yangtze Power cannot meet their demands. However, historical experience clearly shows that buying stocks lacking in safety solely based on imagined high yields is unwise. The long-term average investment return of general stocks is 9%-10%, which is also the average investment return of stock indexes in history, a benchmark to measure one's investment performance and the benchmark to measure fund investment performance.
Author: Chen Ming

On December 21 local time, Trump nominated several diplomats through Social Media. Among them, Tilman J. Fertitta, owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets and an Entertainment and Real Estate businessman, was nominated as the US Ambassador to Italy. Trump also announced several new nominations, including the head of the Federal Railroad Administration.

On the same day, Trump’s daughter-in-law, Laura Trump, suddenly announced that she would not consider taking over the position of the soon-to-retire Senator Marco Rubio.

According to foreign media reports, Trump’s team has informed European officials that NATO member countries are requested to significantly increase their defense spending from the current 2% of GDP to 5%. It is reported that during his previous presidential term, Trump repeatedly criticized NATO member countries for their ‘substandard’ defense expenditures and threatened a US withdrawal from NATO.

Trump's latest nominations

According to CCTV News, on December 21 local time, President-elect Trump announced through Social Media that he has nominated David Fink to serve as the next head of the Federal Railroad Administration, decided to nominate former DHS General Counsel and Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle as the next Chief of Staff for the Department of Justice, and nominated Aaron Reitz as the next head of the Office of Legal Policy in the Department of Justice.

On the same day, Trump nominated several diplomats. Trump announced through Social Media that he has nominated Tilman J. Fertitta, owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets and an Entertainment and Real Estate businessman, to serve as the US Ambassador to Italy.

Trump also stated the appointment of reality show producer and former Director of MGM Television Mark Burnett as a Special Envoy for United Kingdom affairs. Reportedly, Burnett produced Trump's reality show "The Apprentice," making Trump's name widely recognized.

However, on December 21 local time, Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump announced that after careful consideration, she decided not to pursue the position of outgoing Senator Marco Rubio.

As the Vice Chair of the Republican National Committee ahead of the 2024 election, Lara Trump was once considered a strong candidate to replace Rubio. Previously, Rubio had been nominated as Secretary of State and is expected to resign from the Senate after Trump is officially inaugurated on January 20.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated that there are currently several candidates showing strong interest, and the appointment for the Senate position is expected to be completed in early January next year.

Request NATO to significantly increase military spending.

On December 20 local time, the Financial Times of the United Kingdom quoted sources familiar with the matter stating that President-elect Trump’s team has informed European officials that they will request NATO member countries to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP and plans to continue military aid to Ukraine.

It was reported that this month, Trump's foreign policy advisers shared this intention during discussions with senior European officials. A source revealed that, to their knowledge, Trump would be satisfied with a target of 3.5% and is planning to link higher defense spending to more favorable trade terms.

NATO member countries had committed to spending at least 2% of GDP on defense, but currently, only 23 of the 32 NATO member countries have met this target.

During his last presidential term, Trump repeatedly criticized NATO member countries for not meeting defense spending standards, using the threat of the USA withdrawing from NATO.

It has been reported that NATO member countries are currently discussing raising the defense spending target to 3% at the NATO leaders' summit scheduled for June next year. However, many member countries are concerned that this would require them to make difficult fiscal decisions.

According to the Global News Broadcasting Network of the Central Broadcasting - TV, Professor Cui Hongjian from the Institute of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University analyzed in an interview that Trump's new demand for NATO member countries to spend 5% of GDP on defense has multiple reasons.

In the last two years, under the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, some European countries have started to increase military spending due to changing circumstances, and the number of countries with defense spending reaching 2% of GDP has significantly increased. NATO has also used this as a so-called achievement.

However, Trump still believes that NATO has not contributed to the so-called strategic needs of the USA, and Europe and NATO are burdens on US finances and military spending. Therefore, Trump's team proposed a new requirement of 5%, needing European countries to take on more responsibility.

On the other hand, Trump also believes that his previous unilateral pressure on NATO has been effective, and to ensure the USA's continued presence in NATO, other NATO member countries must contribute more, and this contribution should be reflected in measurable standards.

Cui Hongjian analyzed that under the current situation where many European countries are experiencing weak economic growth and tight fiscal conditions, a series of games between European countries and the USA regarding military spending issues will continue to unfold.

The European Union responded to Trump's tariff threats.

On the 20th local time, US President-elect Donald Trump stated via Social Media that the EU should narrow the "huge" trade surplus with the US by making large-scale purchases of American Crude Oil Product and Henry Hub Natural Gas, or face tariffs from the EU.

In response to US President-elect Trump's threat to impose tariffs on the EU, EU spokesman Olov Gile stated on the 20th that the US "also enjoys a considerable service trade surplus with the EU," and the EU is open to negotiations with the US.

Previously, Trump had complained on several occasions about the US trade deficit with the EU, stating that the EU "buys nothing." Data shows that in 2022, the US trade deficit in goods and services with the EU totaled over 130 billion dollars. In 2023, the US became the EU's primary export destination, accounting for 19.7% of the EU's total exports. The EU had previously stated that it expects to purchase more US Energy in the coming years.

After being elected in November, Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on US trading partners. US Treasury Secretary Yellen had warned that Trump's plan to broadly impose high tariffs on imported goods would increase costs for American families and businesses, undermine progress in curbing inflation, and have adverse effects on economic growth.

编辑/jayden