Welcome to Blog
Newsletter for November 6, 2016
Weekly Report November 6, 2017 The Markets “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s statement is engraved on the front of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C. Some people agree with the sentiment. Others believe it to be a logical fallacy. It’s likely the […]
Newsletter for October 30, 2017
Weekly Report October 30, 2017 The Markets The last full week of October was a box full of surprises. First, U.S. economic growth exceeded expectations. The devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria was widely expected to stifle U.S. quarterly growth, according to NPR. The Atlanta Federal Reserve predicted 2.5 percent gross domestic product […]
Newsletter for October 23, 2017
Weekly Report October 23, 2017 The Markets And the hits just keep on coming. Last week was the anniversary of Black Monday. On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) lost 508 points, or more than 20 percent of its value, as it fell from the previous trading day’s closing value of 2,247 […]
Newsletter for October 17, 2017
Weekly Report October 16, 2017 The Markets There’s a new kid in town: narrative economics. Last week, Richard Thaler was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. His work in behavioral economics and finance recognizes not all economic and financial decisions are made after rational reflection. In Nudge, he wrote: “The workings of the human brain […]
Newsletter for October 9, 2017
Weekly Report October 9, 2017 The Markets Slow and steady… It has been 332 days since the Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) Index experienced a 5 percent drop, reported Barron’s. If there isn’t a selloff on Monday or Tuesday, this will become the longest rally without such a drop. During this period, the Index […]
Newsletter for October 3, 2017
Weekly Report October 2, 2017 The Markets A lot happened during the third quarter of 2017, but not much changed. The bull market in U.S. stocks continued to charge ahead. Traditional measures of valuation continued to suggest the market is overvalued, but some analysts argued it’s different this time. The Economist explained: “The current [cyclically-adjusted […]
Newsletter for September 25, 2017
Weekly Report September 25, 2017 The Markets Geopolitics, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin’! In January, Robert Kahn of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote in Global Economics Monthly: “Markets showed impressive resilience in the face of a range of geopolitical shocks in 2016, but recent market moves suggest this year could be different…It […]
Newsletter for September 11, 2017
Weekly Report September 11, 2017 The Markets Last week, the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and potency of Hurricane Irma dominated hearts and minds, but there were some diversions and some welcome news, too. The NFL kicked off its 2017 season with the Chiefs’ win over the Patriots. The men’s U.S. soccer team tied Honduras to […]
Newsletter for September 5, 2017
Weekly Report September 5, 2017 The Markets When it comes to economic growth, the government doesn’t measure twice. It measures three times. Last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis revised its initial estimate that the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the value of all goods and services produced by a country or region, grew […]
Newsletter for October 28, 2017
Weekly Report August 28, 2017 The Markets Hope floats. Optimism about possible pro-growth economic policies, including tax reform and deregulation, helped U.S. stock indices finish higher last week, reported Barron’s. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. Stocks bobbed up and down as investors’ optimism was weighted by concerns about a possible debt-ceiling battle and government […]