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.

27 Feb 2015

Posted at 16:50h in The Friday Brief by
Last week during her Congressional testimony before the House, Fed Chair Janet Yellen did a good job of expressing the Central Bank's view that interest rates needed to rise eventually and she did so without jarring the markets. Since the financial crisis of 2008 and 09 the Federal Reserve has pulled out all the stops to keep the US economy moving ahead. The last and most controversial phases of their policy were labeled QE1, 2, and 3, short for Quantitative Easing.

20 Feb 2015

Posted at 11:35h in The Friday Brief by
Two years ago, when Michael Jordan turned 50, Wright Thompson wrote a captivating piece on the man from Wilmington. Thompson documents the struggles Jordan has faced as he grows older,Jordan becomes further and further removed from his younger genius. To read it is to be confronted with a man who is flailing wildly for a sense of identity, struggling to understand what purpose he could possibly have now that he can no longer do what he feels he was made to do.

01 Aug 2014

Posted at 12:44h in The Friday Brief by
For the past several months the subject of an impending market correction has moved to the fore of media attention and investor concern. With yesterday's stock market pull-back, more have joined the discussion.