Coal, an Export Story
Over the past year U.S. exports of metallurgical coal (met-coal) have nearly doubled in dollar terms. Increased trade of metallurgical coal, used in the...
A Compulsive Liar
Meet the stock market: he’s a valuable economic indicator, but he also has a tendency to lie—even compulsively. The stock market misdirects, misleads, and...
Jobless Claims Surge to 8 Month High
Weekly jobless claims rose to an 8 month high this week. The Labor Department attributed the increase to a number of transitory factors. Even...
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Your financial freedom is at the mercy of a politicized Federal Reserve seemingly more interested in recapitalizing big Wall Street banks than helping you...
Bottom Fishing the Stock Market
Markets are bullish, as new highs on the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ outpaced news lows by 8 to 1 last week. A total of...
The Bernanke Show
The Federal Reserve made history this week by holding its first-ever post-meeting news conference. Not surprisingly, it was an anticlimactic event. Chairman Bernanke was...
Dow in Dollars and Gold
This week the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to 12,700, about where it was three years ago. You’re back to even, right? Not really....
Home Prices Back at Recession Lows
The February Case-Shiller home price indices were released today. The 20-city composite fell 1.1% for the month and is down 3.3% over the last...
Low Fliers
The airline industry has predictably been hit hard by recently elevated oil prices. AMR and Delta Air, along with jet leasing company Air Lease...
Fun with Charts
Fun with Charts: Fed Chairman Bernanke’s approval rating or just an inverted silver chart?