Cryptic remarks by Fed Chair Janet Yellen this week regarding future rate hikes caused the stock market to dither, but lit a fire under the bond market. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped from more than 2.75% last Friday to less than 2.50% when Yellen admitted during congressional… Read More

One of my favorite war stories is “The Man Who Never Was,” about a British scheme to deceive the Nazis during World War II by planting misinformation about an upcoming invasion on a corpse made to appear to be a drowned naval officer, the non-existent Royal Marine Major William Martin. Read More

Several measures say much lower, but not for all stocks.  Read More

This week’s snowstorm across much of the eastern half of the country has been accompanied by the usual clips of cars sliding backwards down icy roads. Those are sickening sights, but not as sickening as watching global stock markets sliding backwards, pushed by China’s slowing economy and plummeting commodity prices. Read More

Like a bad movie sequel, this week’s China-inspired stock market swoon may turn out to be worse than the original 2015 summer blockbuster. In August the U.S. stock market dropped more than 10% after China’s initial foray into letting its currency float in an attempt to shore up its flagging… Read More

Signs are everywhere that Americans have tired of playing the “long game” in dealing with the global financial crisis that erupted seven years ago. One way to judge how satisfied (or not) society is with the current condition is by the choices it makes. And right now, those choices are… Read More

Some heartland U.S. cities’ economies are heating up, finally. Read More

A couple of weeks ago Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen said she was “looking forward” to the prospect of raising interest rates this month, since that would indicate of an improving economy. I’d like to believe she was sincere in that sentiment, but I can’t help but wonder if she was… Read More

Just when you thought it could go no lower, the price of oil slipped again this week. On Tuesday it fell below $37 a barrel and Big Oil stocks felt even more pain, as did the Dow generally, off 245 points.A host of bad economic news comes with oil’s plummet… Read More

Don’t panic, but a recession is inevitable. Read More