JBL: Fearless Forecasts

New Year's is a great time for all kinds of so-called experts to make predictions.

I am not an expert, but don't believe you have to be one to make certain predictions. It is the same as waking up in the morning, not seeing a cloud in the sky, and realizing time would be better spent that day on the golf course than at work. It doesn't take an expert to see the obvious.

For instance:

Real estate has reached its peak. Money will not go where it is not rewarded, money will not be rewarded in real estate like it has in the past.

The inverted yield curve will not bring a recession. The inversion is not a "conundrum" but rather a simple matter of supply and demand, specifically foreign demand. Take out the foreign buying, according to a recent Fed study, and you add 75 basis points to the yield of long-term bonds. You are not comparing apples to apples by comparing this yield inversion to the last four.

There is a record amount of dividends being paid by companies in the S&P 500. There is a record amount of cash on corporate balance sheets. Mergers and acquisitions are happening in virtually every sector. Money goes where it is rewarded and it will be rewarded in equities. Put your money in equities this coming year.

The Eyes of Texas

Want a prediction from the heart for the new year? My Texas Longhorns beat a great USC team in the Rose Bowl tonight.

Want a prediction that is more of a certainty? The litigation against Big Tobacco will continue to go in favor of the tobacco companies. Want a long shot? The Master Settlement Agreement will be ruled unconstitutional and overturned.

I don't smoke, except for the occasional cigar, and I believe that if cigarettes were introduced today they would not be legal. However, they are legal and I believe in making money off of legal products.

To view John Layfield's video take of this celebrity investor column, click here.