Like most promises made before an election, the promise of an economic recovery is beginning to look like a false promise. Last fall, the housing market was showing signs of…
The Yin-Yang Economy
Last week, with sequestration pending, President Obama and others warned of airplanes falling from the sky, tainted meat being served and schools being closed because of teacher layoffs. The budget…
Flow Reversal
In another reversal of fortune, equity funds reported an outflow of more than $4 billion this week, the largest this year. Commodity funds, meanwhile, saw an outflow of $3.2 billion,…
The End of the Road
The problem with kicking the can down the road is that sooner or later, the road ends. Evidence of this can be found in recent stock market performance. Quantitative easing…
I Think I Can’t. I Think I Can’t.
The U.S. economy is becoming the little engine that couldn’t. You, of course, remember the children’s story in which self-confidence and determination pull the little engine up and over a…
Healthcare For All – Like it Or Not
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Constitutionality of Obamacare by a 5-4 vote will mean different things to different people. Even its impact on healthcare companies will vary. …
Compared To What?
The U.S. dollar is the strongest it’s been in a year-and-a-half. Is this renewed strength a sign of American economic strength? In a way – but it’s all relative. The…
The High Price of High-Frequency Trading
Whatever its perceived benefits, HFT is changing the way the stock market operates. It used to be that companies went public to raise capital; investors took risks by buying company stock,…
High-Frequency Trading Accounts For Three Out of Four Trades
With graphs of stock market prices looking like the Alps recently, people are hearing a great deal about high-frequency trading (HFT) and its impact on the market. Except for hearing…