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. …
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…
The Economy Is Booming – Unless You’re A Consumer
At least it sounds like good news. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the economy grew at a rate of 2.84% during the third quarter. That’s up significantly…
Another Record Smashed: More Than 100,000,000 Americans Not Working
The Labor Force Participation Rate has fallen and it can’t get up. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported this week that 90,609,000 Americans who are 16 or older…
No, We Can’t
Someone had blunder’d: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. …
Spending Our Way to Prosperity
Focusing on the government shutdown is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while drawing closer to the iceberg. The iceberg in this case is the massive government debt…
The Beat Goes On
From a future article in The New York Times: Janet Yellen, retiring chair of the Federal Reserve Board, announced that The Fed’s quantitative easing program, aka QE12, is close to…