Currencies in Crisis, Oil Spiking: Time to Buy?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 have staged impressive rallies to begin 2012. As of this morning, the Dow was up more than 6% YTD. Improving economic data and a flood of global central bank liquidity have helped levitate stock prices. Volatility has also declined markedly in recent weeks... Read the full story
We Are All Subprime Now
Over the last 10 years (since year-end 2002), profligate spending in Washington has resulted in a staggering $6.9-trillion increase in debt held by the public. That’s $22,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. A family of four is looking at an $88,000 increase in their debt burden. How generous... Read the full story
Don’t Let This Mutual Fund Mistake Cost You Thousands
What mutual fund mistake am I talking about? This mistake is so common, chances are you have committed it yourself—before you became a savvy, successful investor, of course. If you have ever purchased a mutual fund solely on the basis of past performance, you have made this mistake. Buying yesterday’s... Read the full story
A Recovery in Housing
Has the long anticipated recovery in housing finally arrived? The latest round of economic data on the housing market points toward improvement. On Wednesday, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released their monthly home builder confidence index. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index... Read the full story
The 2012 Stock-Market Outlook
Barron’s released its 2012 stock-market outlook this weekend. In the issue, Barron’s surveyed 10 Wall Street strategists on the outlook for the U.S. stock market. Most of the strategists are the heads of equity departments at Wall Street’s biggest banks. What are the Street’s equity strategists... Read the full story
Balance Sheets Deteriorate: Economy to Suffer
The Federal Reserve released its quarterly flow of funds report last week. The Fed’s flow of funds report is one of the most valuable economic data sets kept by the government. It is a treasure trove of financial information on the household, corporate, and government sectors of the economy. The most... Read the full story
The Quiet Bull Market in Oil
While the world’s attention has been focused on Europe, the price of oil has risen more than 33% from its October low. West Texas Intermediate Crude is now trading above $100 per barrel. Much of the rally in West Texas crude is due to technical factors as Brent crude, which is more of a global benchmark... Read the full story
Eurocrats Cry Wolf
It seems as though the half-life of euro-zone bailouts is getting shorter. It was only a month ago that policy makers announced a bailout plan that was supposed to put an end to the region’s debt crisis once and for all. Admittedly, the details of the plan were vague and it lacked credibility, but... Read the full story
Are Stocks the Best Long-Term Investment?
The two-decade bull market in stocks that ended in 2000 convinced a generation of investors that stocks are the best long-term investment. Dow 36,000 and Stocks for the Long Run became cocktail-party fodder. There is no questioning that stocks put up some impressive numbers in the 1980s and 1990s. From... Read the full story
Not Your Father’s Stock Market
This is not your father’s stock market. Over the last 10 years, the structure of the U.S. equity market has changed drastically. Gone are the days when the NYSE and its specialists dominated stock market trading. Today, as many as 50 different venues in the U.S. trade equities. Now, almost all stock... Read the full story
