Insights

I hope there is something going on behind closed doors on the Fiscal Cliff negotiations because there is no meaningful progress being reported publicly. Republicans are very frustrated with the idea the president seems to have of what balance means. Apparently, it...

A quick look at a chart of the US stock market compared to Europe and emerging markets will tell you that the foreign markets have continued on an upward path this 4th quarter while the U.S. has been down. Now, the U.S. market hit its low for this quarter exactly at...

Hallelujah! The unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% and the economy added another 146,000 jobs. Way to go - we're on our way, now! But wait; there's more. 1) A whopping 346,000 people dropped out of the labor force, shrinking the labor pool, making the unemployment rate...

Sorry, this time of year I take a little time off to look for Bambi, so I have not posted much lately. I thought you might appreciate this little cartoon Barron's published a little while back. It pretty much sums up the current negotiation, er, standoff...stalemate...

The revised report for US economic growth in the 3rd quarter of 2012, referred to as Gross Domestic Product (GDP for short) came in at 2.7% growth, up from the first estimate of 2%. But, the report was a mixed bag. For starters, all of the 0.7% increase from the first...

CNBC has a fascinating article on using 3D printing to make human organs. Apparently, some have already printed kidney cells or laid down new cells on a wound.The CNBC article is at How 3D Printers Are Reshaping Medicine But, you really, really need to check out this...

Markets across the world are down today, including the US, which is down 0.67%. The main issue is the hardening of lawmaker positions on the fiscal cliff. Since the US has been the strongest and largest economy in the world lately, investors worry that if the US slows...

The "fiscal cliff" drama continues with more drama than markets would like. As a reminder, the so-called fiscal cliff is the result of last summer's largely failed debt ceiling negotiations in which a package of spending cuts and tax increases would automatically go...

I made some predictions here early last week. 1) The conflict in Israel vs. Gaza would be short-lived - A cease-fire was declared Wednesday 2) The market would be up for Thankgiving week - the S&P 500 gained 3.6%. 3) The market would be up down on the following Monday...

I will be taking Wednesday through Sunday off the Thanksgiving holiday so I will probably not post anything unless something really catches my eye. Enjoy the holidays. My advice: let the week be more about what you are thankful for than what you want to buy on this...