Part two of a two-part series. There were big price shifts up and down in August, making it difficult to pick up a clear signal about inflation. However, if consumers…
Taper Tantrum Two
Call it Taper Tantrum Two. Two of the 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee suggested on Thursday that it’s time to raise interest rates, causing the Dow Jones…
Bad News – The Economy May be Recovering
“This is what it sounds like when doves cry.” …
The QE Apocalypse
The end is near. The Federal Reserve Board has now put a date on the quantitative easing apocalypse, letting us know that bond buying will end in October – unless…
The Market’s Missing Mojo
Easy money policy has its share of side effects. The stock market continues to hit new highs, thanks to the Fed, but the level of risk that investors and taxpayers…
Polar Vortex or Recession Redux?
The recovery that wasn’t a recovery may have come to an end, as the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that gross domestic product dropped by 1% during the first quarter…
The Fed Goes Long
Few investors today would consider investing in long-term Treasury bonds. The yield curve, which measures the spread between interest rates for short-term and long-term bonds, is not as flat as…
Fundamentally Flawed
Imagine if the outcome of a football game depended more on the weather than on the talent of the players. Weather, indeed, can have an impact and should, but its…
The Neverending Story
Why change? It’s been more than five years since The Federal Reserve Board began its quantitative easing program. We’ve had QE, QE 2, Operation Twist and the never-ending QE 3. …
Paper Taper
So the taper begins in January. Big deal. That was the market’s initial reaction anyway. In fact, the market viewed this week’s announcement as a positive, setting yet another record. …