Tag Archives: economy


Investment Strategy Turns More Cautious, Existing Home Sales, Record Auctions This Week, Galleon Grief

Stock Market Investing: The Equity markets were down across the board Friday as the week ended. Last week was a week of churning and distribution, two actions I hate to see during a market advance as they often mark the end of a rally. To make matters worse the churning has occurred at key areas of resistance on all three […]

Pulling the Unemployed off the Ropes and Into the Fight

           As markets continue to produce signs of stabilization over the next quarter, it is unlikely that unemployment figures will show much improvement. With figures the highest they have been in more than 25 years, unemployment appears to have neared its peak. Lowering the rate to levels our economy can adequately support will prove to be a daunting task. But, with […]

Too Big To Learn

            With a bad habit of ignoring profound systemic problems, Federal Treasury officials are now securing a system that encourages the same careless risk-taking that originally got us into this mess. With this week marking the one-year anniversary since Lehman Brothers imploded, it is only appropriate to discuss the faulty system that protects and rewards failing financial institutions.             The […]

Taking Control of the Things We Can

Earlier this week, after wrestling with the spate of painful economic news provided by major media, I recognized that I had no immediate control over any of the massive economic concerns. The stock market zigged when I hoped it would zag. Unemployment numbers, often reported differently, moved at different paces in the undesirable direction. Our federal deficit grew, which increased […]

Thomas J. Powell – Reasonable Regulation: That’s Allstate’s Stand

Reasonable Regulation: That’s Allstate’s Stand             Many companies involved in financial services cower when an official of any stature mentions the threat of national regulation, but Allstate has decided to embrace it. Since late April, Allstate has been pushing an advertising campaign that is rooted in support for creating a national regulation agency for all players in the financial industry, […]

Cash for Clunkers Part II: Dealers Have Clunkers, No Cash

Cash for Clunkers Part II: Dealers Have Clunkers, No Cash             In last week’s first Cash for Clunkers installment, Cash for Clunkers Part I: Good for Businesses?, I discussed the potential threat the program poses for small businesses. This week I am presenting Part II.             Auto dealers across the country have been accepting qualified jalopies from consumers in exchange […]

Q2 EPS, LIBOR-OIS Spreads Narrow, July Retail Sales, Initail Jobless Claims

Second quarter earnings can be best characterized as light on revenue but strong on cost cutting, leading to better than expected EPS. The more positive bottom line results have helped fuel the equity market rally over the last couple of months. Meanwhile, Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — The Libor–OIS spread narrowed to a level former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said […]

Learning To Trust Real Estate Again * Ally Bank * California’s Ongoing Challenges

Once Bitten: Learning to Trust Real Estate Again The housing bust burned real-estate investors. Even more frightening, many investors were blindsided by the bust because “credible” officials as high up as then -Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were convincing them housing was immune to speculative bubbling. At some point, however, investors will be wise to forgive the real-estate market and […]

There’s A Czar For That Too * Our Trade Deficit Answer * California’s Mortgage Protection Plan

Yeah, There’s a Czar for That It is beginning to appear that the job of high-up elected officials is simply to hire others to oversee the issues we elected them to solve. President Obama has appointed a czar for nearly every significant issue that faces his administration. According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, “Republican Sen. John McCain […]