30 Oct 2015

Posted at 12:00h in The Friday Brief by
[caption id="attachment_7450" align="alignleft" width="300"]Fed Chair, Janet Yellen Fed Chair, Janet Yellen[/caption] The financial news is dominated by speculation of when the Fed will increase interest rates. It matters because the Fed is the only economic policy maker with any potential or apparent willingness to stimulate our economy. The Administration continues to pile on regulations and complicate the tax structure, while the Congress, through its brokenness, allows sequestration to continue cutting more deeply into the areas of government spending (defense and social) that are actually stimulative to economic growth.

24 Jul 2015

Posted at 13:34h in The Friday Brief by
Yesterday's report that the number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance was the lowest since the early 70's provides more evidence that the US economy is becoming stronger. Investors are becoming convinced that the Federal Reserve will soon begin raising interest rates back to levels reflective of a healthy economy.

12 Jul 2013

Posted at 13:12h in The Friday Brief by
The US economy continues to plow persistently ahead despite the strong headwinds of high unemployment and restrictive fiscal (government spending) policy. The economy added 195,000 jobs in June and has added an average of more than 200,000 each month this year. But the improvement in jobs, while steady, is not so robust that the Fed is going to soon reduce its generous stimulus measures of quantitative easing (QE3) or very low interest rates.

21 Jun 2013

Posted at 10:10h in The Friday Brief by
How we hate the idea of removing a bandage. It so nicely covers the damage and the pain underneath that we soon prefer the façade to the reality. We especially fear its removal as we know the adhesive will only reluctantly and painfully give up its sticky hold on our very sensitive skin. Knowing the quick yank is best, we often resort to the painfully slow tugging approach.