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18 Feb 2005 What do you think Mr. Greenspan?

Posted at 16:40h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan appeared before the House Financial Services Committee. His prepared remarks were identical to those he gave the Senate Finance Committee the day before, but his responses to members’ questions were particularly candid and enlightening. Here are some of the highlights of his remarks on topics that most directly affect long-term investors.

11 Feb 2005 Long-Term and Short-Term Issues Moving the Markets

Posted at 16:45h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

President Bush was in town yesterday conducting a town-hall-styled meeting to further explain his plans for a Social Security overhaul. His aim is to provide workers with better growth than the current system’s performance, thereby generating more income at retirement. A further advantage is the potential to pass any remainder along to heirs. His plan obviously faces huge hurdles as many in Congress don’t believe there is a significant problem and others feel it can be fixed with less dramatic changes. It is the President’s hope that he can remove much of the political fire from the discussion to have an honest and open discussion of options to improve this mammoth government program.

04 Feb 2005 Will 2005 Be As Dreary as January?

Posted at 16:51h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

There’s a stock market axiom that says, as January goes, so goes the year. According to Bloomberg, since 1950, the S&P 500 has moved in the same direction during the year as it did in the first week 73% of the time. The S&P 500's drop so far this year marks its worst start since 1990, when it fell 4% in the period through Jan. 20^th. The index lost 6.6% that year.

04 Feb 2005 No Longer a “Jobless Recovery”

Posted at 16:47h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

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.