You have probably heard the term ‘planned obsolescence.’ It’s also known as ‘shortening the replacement cycle.’  No matter what you call it, the strategy was developed by manufacturers to ensure consumers would buy products more than once. Rather than inspiring repeat purchases with the strength of their brands and the quality of their products, companies […]

We have all had the phone tree experience. You know you need some help with something, let’s say a Doctor’s appointment, and so you call the office. You get a recorded voice, sometimes not even human, and a list of five to ten options with associated numbers to press. Then someone comes into the room […]

Romantics welcome Valentine’s Day and having the opportunity to lavish loved ones with attention. Economists appreciate Valentine’s Day, too. Sure, the $13 billion spent on Valentine’s Day is just a drop in the $17 trillion bucket of goods and services produced in the United States, but love is powerful and has value beyond the candy, […]

AMJ Financial Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary December 15, 2014 It was no fun to be an investor last week. The week prior, a commentary in The Wall Street Journal’s blog, MoneyBeat, offered this insight: “Falling oil prices are thought to be good for stocks because they stimulate consumer spending and hold down inflation. The lower costs […]

I always know when it’s time to write a blog on the markets when my husband asks me at night, “So, is the market crashing?”  To be fair, the change in the equity markets from 2013 to 2014 has been dramatic.  So what happened when the calendar changed from December 2013 to January 2014?  That […]

  To borrow a word from the legendary Gomer Pyle: G-o-l-l-y!   In 1955, just five years before The Andy Griffith Show became a big hit, William McChesney Martin, Jr., then Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, made an often-quoted speech in which he said, “The Federal Reserve, as one writer […]