Maybe it is Political?
In an era where politicization is rampant, the Federal Reserve was expected to maintain its neutrality. However, Friday’s unemployment numbers suggest that Chairman Powell and other members at the Fed may have struggled to uphold this impartiality. (Have Trumps’s jibes gotten to Jerome?)For a deeper understanding of what these unemployment figures signify and their potential future impact, you might find the Monday Morning Outlook by Brian Wesbury at First Trust Advisors insightful.Link to the a
Thank God it’s Friday
Today is Friday for the US stock market due to the exchanges being closed for Good Friday tomorrow. Honestly, a long weekend is much needed after the challenges of the past few weeks. For investors and those of us in the advisory business, it’s been reminiscent of the relentless gloom of 2008-09.It’s not that we lack faith in eventual recovery, but the constant noise—often driven by political leanings—has been unsettling. Markets have been swinging wildly, with movements like down 5%, up 8%, dow
Inflation and DODGE
Brian S. Wesbury, Chief Economist Robert Stein, Deputy Chief Economist Date: 2/24/2025From our friends at First Trust Advisors:We have called inflation “political kryptonite” because it is so damaging to politicians. Clearly, inflation played a role in the 2024 election. So now that President Trump sits in the Oval Office, his opponents have been trying hard to link anything and everything in his agenda to inflation.The first two theories involved (1) higher tariffs and (2) deportations of illeg
Tariffs!
You cannot turn on the TV these days without hearing the liberal media (and some conservative) hand wringing over the incoming president’s comments about global trade. There are absolutely ZERO in the media that know anything that will happen but that doesn’t stop them from talking about how Trumps polies may end the world,,,or at best, end free trade. But what are tariffs? And why are we hearing that they are so bad? I thought an overview of what a tariff is was worth exploring and I also thin
When you are in debt stop spending money.
Most sane people get the above statement, we dutifully bring in income and thoughtfully spend on what we can. Housing, health, food and if we have a little extra, we buy things that we would call discretionary items. We borrow only what we feel we can pay back in a short period of time, and we try to be responsible. If we spend a little extra one month, we cut back the next. Unfortunately, our government is run by lifelong politicians who in general have never worked a day of their lives in the
If it doesn’t work…why keep doing it?
It has been said that the definition of ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different outcome.’ Anyone who has faced a problem in business knows this…or they are out of business. Yet in Washington our elected officials just seem to believe that more of the same will magically lead to a better outcome. One might question why we continue to mostly elect officials that fit the definition for insanity, but that’s probably not for LinkedIn. Yet, believe it or not
So, you say Government Policies don’t impact you…
In 2007 the real estate market was in a bubble. Prices were high, speculation was rampant (remember the story from the movie the Big Short about exotic dancers using cash to make down payments on multiple homes with almost no credit) and the government was enacting new rules about ‘affordable’ housing.Here we are, 17 years later, and prices are higher than ever. BUT…we are not in a bubble.The question is why?Read on to understand why government policies combined with the reality that we all ne
What’s old is New Again!
Wall Street is returning to where it began. Back in the old days, that’s way before the internet and before most people had telephones, Wall Street made people pay for their stock buys when they made them. You wanted to buy 100 shares of GM? Well, you needed to pay then. Over the years, as market activity grew, it was decided that in order to correctly settle all the new transactions that the settlement period for buying and selling securities would extend out to 5 business days. As technolog
Did the bible have it right?
No… this is not a religious post. This is simply a reposting of Brain Wesbury’s comments about the ridiculous idea that socialism works. So… give a man a fish and he eats for a day…teach him to fish and he will eat for life…and if you don’t tax the heck out of him for taking the risk to develop a company that brings in fish for an entire community then all people win. BUT…you have to want to participate. Not just suck from those who are productive. Maybe we need people who work in Wa
If I borrowed $1 trillion dollars…..
and offered to pay you back $1 dollar a second when would the principal be paid back???I’ll answer that, but first, I’m calling the game. The game is over. The game I’m calling is this ridiculous increase in interest rates as the fed looks backwards to predict where the economy is going…and keeps pushing rates up up up. I’m calling the top in rates and baring some black swan event, that interest rates will be under 3% in 2 years. It takes a little bit of chutzpah to make this claim. Everyone i