04 Feb 2005

Posted at 16:47h in The Friday Brief by
The U.S. economy forges on, adding jobs and improving standards of living.  It was reported today that the unemployment rate fell from 5.4% in December to 5.2% in January, a three-year low.  According to Bloomberg News, the latest revisions show that the level of U.S.jobs now exceeds those of February 2001, a month before the world’s largest economy fell into an eight month recession. 

14 Jan 2005

Posted at 16:00h in The Friday Brief by
Earnings season customarily brings stock market volatility and this one is certainly no exception.  As oil prices rise creeping toward their record highs and as several major U.S.industrials warn of earnings shortfalls, the good news has largely fallen on deaf ears.  The Dow Jones Industrial Index declined nine of the last twelve trading days for a 3.2% drop from year-end highs.  The NASDAQ is down 5.5% during a similar period.  Investors seem more cynical in January than they did in December when they chased the Dow up 11% for the month.     

07 Jan 2005

Posted at 16:05h in The Friday Brief by
The professional future-tellers, the highly respected economists and analysts who have been glamorized in recent years by CNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg News all fall in a pretty tight range saying that markets should grow about 8-10% this year, the economy should grow about 3.5% and corporate earnings, about 10%.