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…
Mission Not-Quite Accomplished
Remember when the announced goal of quantitative easing (QE) was to reduce the unemployment rate to 6.5%? It’s now 6.6% and heading down. So can we expect QE to finally…
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. …
No Records This Month
Markets go up and markets go down, so maybe it’s not surprising that January’s stock market performance has less exuberance to it than the performance to which we’ve become accustomed.…
Some Recovery
The government’s stimulus programs are not working and neither are a growing number of Americans. In October, we noted that the number of Americans not working exceeded 101 million, setting…
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. …
Getting Your Bond Portfolio in Shape for 2014
It’s time to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. It’s an American tradition to resolve to lose weight, exercise regularly, be nicer, work harder and give up everything you enjoy.…
When Common Sense Is Senseless
What was I thinking? Over the past couple of years, I’ve preached caution. Corporate profits were down and unemployment was up. The economy wasn’t growing, but the federal debt was. …
Taperphobia Hits Wall Street
A taperphobia epidemic has Wall Street in a panic yet again. “Taperphobia” is an irrational fear of common sense. Symptoms include a falling stock market, soaring bond yields and ongoing…
Define “Forever”
In May, when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that quantitative easing could not continue forever, the stock market tanked and the word “tapering” became the most feared word on Wall…