The Economic Expansion Continues
August 8, 2017 The long road back from the Great Recession began in mid-2009 and July marks the 96th month of recovery. This makes it the third longest expansion on record, and if we continue at the present pace, this recovery will become the second longest expansion in history in the middle of next year. […]
Read MoreJobs and the Fed
August 1, 2017 Last week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee was not so much about what they would do when they met. It was more about what they would say about the future. The two topics of interest were future interest rate hikes and selling off their stockpile of assets, which […]
Read MoreAnother Balancing Act
July 25, 2017 The Federal Reserve Board meets this week to decide what to do with short-term interest rates. With Chairperson Yellen having testified before Congress recently, the tone of her remarks has led the markets to believe that there is little chance of a rate hike this time around. However, analysts will be watching […]
Read MoreThe Brexit Adjustment
July 18, 2017 Sometimes it is hard to explain why certain things happen in the markets. Much of the time the markets seem to have a mind of their own, and market analysts are reaching for explanations as to what happened after the markets moved in one direction or another. Of course, usually there are several […]
Read MoreJobs and The Cost of Housing
July 11, 2017 Last week we counted our blessings with regard to the shape of the economy. This week we will talk about the release of the June jobs numbers which give us another reading regarding the health of the economy. Overall this reading was stronger than forecasts. Thus far this year, job growth has […]
Read MoreCounting Our Blessings
July 4, 2017 Today is July 4th. Our country is almost 250 years old. If you read the headlines, you would think that our country is in more trouble than it has ever has been. True, our country is not perfect, and certainly the fighting emanating from our Nation’s Capital does not make us the […]
Read MoreHalf-Way There
June 27, 2017 We are approaching the half-way point of 2017. We can make an observation that it has been a very strange year. And we are not just talking about the political turmoil. For example, despite the fact that the Federal Reserve Board has raised short-term interest rates for the third consecutive quarter, we […]
Read MoreThe Deed is Done
June 20, 2017 The Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee met last week to consider raising short-term interest rates. As we approached the meeting, the consensus was that the Fed would move their Discount and Federal Funds Rate higher by one-quarter of one percent. The weaker than expected jobs report put a bit of doubt […]
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