Don’t Panic
As of the close of business yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,136 points, or 6.8%, since the end of 2013. The venerable average was down 5.3% in January, which lead many seers to warn that the market would therefore be down for the full year. I’m here to disagree with that sentiment. I believe that this is simply a long overdue correction in a bull market that began in...
Read MoreWhen Good News Is Really Good News
The Department of Labor today announced that the unemployment rate in October dropped to 7.0% as 203,000 new jobs were added in the month. Almost 300,000 fewer people were counted as unemployed while the labor force participation rate increased, both of which are good things. In addition, the average work week increased a bit, as did average wages. To sum it all up, this was probably the best...
Read MoreThe Market Still Doesn’t Care That The Government Is Closed
We are now in the third week of the government shutdown and we’re careening towards the first “deadline” of October 17 with no deal in sight. By that day the Treasury will reportedly have about $30 billion with which to pay its bills. That will leave less than two weeks to scrimp and scrounge before the next big deadline of November 1, at which time the government will no longer...
Read MoreWill the Republicans Actually Close the Government?
At midnight on Monday we will find out if the hard-liners within the Republican party (read: the Tea Party) will follow through on their threat to close the government as they refuse to negotiate in good faith on a deal to expand the debt ceiling. Whether one agrees with ObamaCare or not, I think it’s reprehensible that the right-wing members of the Republican party led by Congressman Ted...
Read MoreThe Cliff, The Deficit and What It Means To You
A few weeks ago (the December 8th entry) I told you that the world wasn’t coming to an end because of the Fiscal Cliff. I said that “it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that every tax increase and spending cut will, in fact, come to pass. Some compromises will certainly be made by our leaders in Washington, despite the radical bleatings of the far right and far left. Whether the deal is brokered...
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