My longtime Rotarian friend, Dick Puhr, late sportswriter par excellence for this newspaper, used to write an occasional column he called Dissa and Datta, if I remember correctly. Today I am following his lead with some information and opinion on a variety of topics, but all related to economics and [...]
Mr. Market is often fickle in the short term. I have already complained about the roller coaster rhythms of 2014 leading many (including me) to be too cautious, as it turned out. Last weekend, a Kansas RIA colleague and I were consoling each other about being judged by the exact [...]
First let me say that nothing in life, not even life, is guaranteed to any of us. And of course, let’s all say it together: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Period. End of story. But then tell me, What is a better predictor of the future than [...]
Regular readers of this column know I often discuss the four year presidential cycles and their effect upon stock market performance. Although I knew intellectually that 2014 had every statistical right to be difficult and negative—the worst of each cycle—that does not seem to help much if one is perfectionistic. [...]
Years ago, comedienne Gilda Radner wrote a book about her life and fight against ovarian cancer called, It’s Always Something! These days, one could say the same about reasons for predictions that the stock market must fall down. As a friend in the building said this morning, a couple of [...]
I had a conversation yesterday with a reader, whom I’ll call John, of this column and apparently many other newspapers. I often get nice comments, but those are usually from friends and acquaintances. John and I had some trouble connecting over the past couple of weeks, but I wanted to [...]
As millions of baby boomers are in or close to retirement, we should know more about social security benefits than we do. In one national survey, over 70 percent said that they knew the basics of the program, but less than 30 percent actually did. I was glad to have [...]
President Obama made a fine decision when he nominated Robert A. McDonald as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs in July. McDonald, a West Point Military Academy graduate and Army Captain serving with the 82nd Airborne Division, has spent his civilian career with Procter & Gamble. He rose quickly from [...]
Everyone except media companies selling advertising will be pleased that today marks the end of the frenzied cycle of campaigning for a few days. True behind-the-scenes strategists might even take off a day before launching the 2016 presidential election campaign. It is back to work, onward and upward, for the [...]
Last week I gave some reasons why I am still bullish about the stock market. Let’s look at some other good news for these United States you probably won’t see anywhere else. Great changes are occurring in our global competitiveness. Boston Consulting Group reports from its survey of senior manufacturing [...]
