“Millionaires” V. Opportunity

by Laura Ehrenberg-Chesler on April 12, 2012 in deficit spending

Yesterday on CNBC, Rick Santelli asked what was a most interesting and important question in the midst of all the rhetoric about the “Buffett Rule”, which Larry Lindsey, former Federal Reserve Governor referred to as “substance free”. The question he asked was “How are my kids’ opportunities affected by the number of millionaires” there are in [...]

Read the full article →

Warren Buffett Lives in a Glass House

by Marilou Long on April 10, 2012 in Fiscal Policy

The administration has swung into full on election mode. The talking points today revolve around the “Buffett Rule“.  This tax rule would tax the wealthiest Americans at 30% on the income over $1.0 million.  I don’t see though where the rule takes into account rates on dividend income, capital gains, and charitable deductions. These are [...]

Read the full article →

All the fuss over the End of QE

by Laura Ehrenberg-Chesler on April 5, 2012 in Economic Indicators

A few days ago Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke implied that the domestic economy is doing well enough that it may be unnecessary to implement another round of Quantitative Easing.  This has caused the equity markets, which had a very strong first quarter, to take a breather. We think the end of Quantitative Easing may [...]

Read the full article →

Follow up to February 16 Blog Post

by Laura Ehrenberg-Chesler on March 29, 2012 in blog

On February 16th I posted a blog suggesting that individual citizens needed to read the “Simpson-Bowles Plan” which is a deficit reduction plan.  It was written by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.  It has largely been ignored by the Administration. This morning economist Ed Yardeni expresses his positive view on the Simpson-Bowles [...]

Read the full article →

Texas vs. Florida in Job Creation

by Marilou Long on March 27, 2012 in Economic Indicators
Read the full article →

Some “clouds have cleared” per our friend at Sandler O’neill

by Laura Ehrenberg-Chesler on March 21, 2012 in Banks

About a week ago, our friend at Sandler O’Neill, Marc Flaster, listed some of the reasons that a “great weight has been lifted from the shoulders of the bond market”.  We think this list applies to the equity market as well, and compliments our blog post from December 29, 2011. Marc lists issues that have [...]

Read the full article →

Bank Stress Tests Show Increased Capital Levels

by Marilou Long on March 14, 2012 in Banks

Only four out of nineteen banks didn’t pass the latest round of stress tests.  Even the banks that didn’t pass still had excess capital.  The yield on the 10 year Treasury has risen to 2.18% this morning from 1.82% at the beginning of February.  I think that this is an indication that the market does [...]

Read the full article →

Another Study suggests Global Manufacturing comes Stateside

by Laura Ehrenberg-Chesler on March 8, 2012 in Employment

I was pleased and surprised to read that about one year ago The Boston Consulting Group published a study entitled “The return of U.S. Manufacturing”.  The study predicts that “reinvesting in the U.S. will accelerate as it becomes one of the cheapest locations for manufacturing in the developed world”.  Our wages have not been rising [...]

Read the full article →

Lehman Emerges from Bankruptcy

by Marilou Long on March 6, 2012 in Banks

Lehman has finally emerged from its bankruptcy declared 9/15/08.  The possibility of Bear Stearns going under was the early warning sign of the financial crisis, but it was the Lehman bankruptcy that sent the global financial system into free fall.  From the linked Reuters article: Reuters) – Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc emerged from its record [...]

Read the full article →

Why the Housing Market may finally be Coming Back

by Laura Ehrenberg-Chesler on March 1, 2012 in Employment

One of the biggest factors contributing to the lackluster recovery is the still depressed housing market.  There is too much unsold inventory, and it is still difficult for some qualified buyers to get a loan.  In addition, the most recent Case-Shiller data was disappointing. However, there is some evidence that housing may be making a [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →