Tis the season….
We are celebrating the end of another year. With Christmas upon us and New Year’s around the corner, looking back for the complete year there are s0 many events to view. It has been a year of denial, slow progress and many upsets over health issues.
For those who do not remember Polio, Small Pox and Measles, you have to be included in the non believer column. Yet it was because your older generation’s belief in those cures… Read more
So, keeping it simple, Valentine’s Day is the beginning of Lent this year. Just a small factoid. The markets are not caring either way. The interest is in rising interest rates and burgeoning debt limits. The combination raises inflation fears, and there goes the markets. It is a little more complex than that. But you have to admit, since we raised interest rates recently and Congress pumped $1.5 trillion debt into the market place, things have moved.
So, here is… Read more
So….
It begins. Worldwide economy. Actually, the economies of several countries have been affecting our local economy for decades. But now pundits are finally admitting that places like the Federal Reserve and Washington are not the only factors in how things work.
Interest rates are going up. Count the number of times that phrase has been repeated in the past several years. It has taken on an “OJ in the white Bronco” flavor. The fact is that rates will go up…. Read more
The numbers are looking rocky. Federal Reserve numbers are due out next month on interest rates. Geopolitical battles are still happening. The 2016 political campaigns are starting.
Our review of account performances for the first quarter showed that indexed accounts stayed close the respective index. Long term holdings did the same. The higher percentage of returns versus the respective index showed up in accounts with activity in ETFs and dividend paying stocks. Cash must have been a good thing to have… Read more
A good month for color. Flowers, grass, rabbits, etc.
Also a good month to finalize that annual event, tax date. I call it an annual reunion, since the person(s) only come around once a year. Very interesting the events that happen in one’s life in just one year.
So, remember to send in extensions by April 15th, if you are not ready to file. It cuts down the amount of penalty and interest that may occur. Efile if… Read more
Brace yourself. The U.S. economy looks like it went on a roller-coaster ride at the start of the year.
Revised numbers released Thursday show the economy shrank in the first quarter, marking the first downturn since early 2011. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic growth, fell at a 1% annual pace, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
A slump was entirely expected, and economists aren’t too worried. They forecast… Read more
So…
Simply put, it is spring somewhere in the U S.
We are overdue on that topic. The markets are slowing down, the Fed Reserve is cutting back its activity in the
market, and Congress is out campaigning for money.
The past month was bumpy and ended like this…
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of America’s biggest bank, says it’s time to stop worrying about the Fed. After all, he’s not worried.
In his annual letter to… Read more
January did not turn out to be such a “Sweetheart” month. Winter was all over the Midwest and East Coast. Markets lost over 5%.
Last year was painful for emerging markets and 2014 is shaping up to be even worse.
Among the hardest hit are Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and South Africa — dubbed the ‘Fragile Five’ by Morgan Stanley last August.
Those countries have seen their currencies tumble 15% to 20% over the past year. And that plunge has continued this month,… Read more
Lately the news has been focused on when the Federal Reserve will begin the “Taper” (Buying less bonds from the market) Sprinkled in the mix has been good reports on the overall economy. Granted there have been pockets of bad company reports, but generally the trends have been up.
The latest reports indicate that the economy has finally found its footing. Overall employment increases, actual unemployment drops and positive earnings all look up going forward. Even the end of the Federal… Read more