Stock markets tipped into the red last week. Major indices in the United States and elsewhere dipped lower as U.S. economic growth came in below expectations. The Commerce Department reported gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.2 percent annualized during the first quarter. Growth was hindered by the strength of the U.S. dollar, which made […]

Remember the dot-com bubble? If so, you’ll appreciate this week’s notable event: The NASDAQ Composite Index, which includes a fair number of technology stocks, transcended its previous high (set in March 2000). Share values in the tech sector gained 4 percent last week, according to Barron’s, as major players in the space delivered better-than-expected earnings […]

It’s a topsy-turvy world. In the United States, during the last quarter of 2014, about seven million (13 percent) of all mortgaged residential properties were underwater, meaning the mortgage loan amount was at least 25 percent higher than the estimated market value of the property, according to RealtyTrac.com. That’s a significantly lower number than the […]

How much is one trillion? • If you waited one trillion seconds, it would take 31,688 years. • If you had a trillion dollars, and spent $10 million a day, it would take 273 years to go broke. • If you taped $100 bills end-to-end, you could wrap the earth 41 times with $1 trillion […]

The global economy performed a bit like a Rube Goldberg contraption during the first quarter of 2015, although it’s doubtful many countries found humor as economic, financial, and political events triggered other economic, financial, and political events across the world. Europe heads into deflation “The whiff of deflation is everywhere,” reported The Economist early in […]

So, when is the Federal Reserve going to increase the rate for overnight borrowing? It’s a question that has plagued bond investors throughout the first quarter of 2015. In January, 10-year Treasury yields fell as low as 1.6 percent. Early in March, they rose to about 2.2 percent before falling back below 2.0 percent. The […]

Financial markets gave the Federal Reserve a standing ovation last week. At least, that was Barron’s interpretation. What did the Fed do to deserve it? “…the Fed did what everyone expected, signaling that it could raise interest rates at any meeting starting in June. Yet, Yellen and team still found a way to assure the […]

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address was delivered in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. He said, “This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – […]

If you looked at last week from the perspective of the children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, it might have gone like this: If you give the United States a positive employment report, Investors are going to ask whether interest rates will move higher. When they conclude the Federal Reserve may increase […]