One question surrounding the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest is “Why now?” In part, the “corruption” is complex and hard to articulate. Here’s one valiant attempt:
This was a real sign seen recently at the OWS protests…
Government Bailouts By Design
October 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
One Business that Doesn’t Need a Bailout
September 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sign of the Times, Part 1: Federal bailout spending now exceeds the inflation-adjusted cost of World War II, according to our friends at the Independent Institute.
Senior Fellow William Shugart says World War II cost $3.6 trillion, but the bailouts now top $4 trillion. That's actual money out of the taxpayer's pocket, as opposed to the $12.8 trillion “lent, spent or guaranteed? figure you run across from time to time, a chunk of which might eventually be repaid.
[Read more...]Small Business Owners Speak Out
September 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Just two business days after our post titled “The War on Small Business,? The Washington Post publishes an article headlined, “Small Businesses Feel Squeezed by Obama Policies.?
[Read more...]The American Retirement Crisis
August 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Just when it looked as if the baby boomer retirement picture couldn't get any worse, it did. The number of workers making “hardship withdrawals? from their 401(k) plans hit a record during the second quarter, according to Fidelity.
A hardship withdrawal is something you take when you're still working and still on the company plan… provided you can prove to the IRS you're having a genuine “hardship.? 62,000 Fidelity 401(k) account holders took that step during Q2…compared to 45,000 in the same period a year ago. Ouch.
[Read more...]“Fixing? the Housing Market
August 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sometime early next year, the Obama administration will propose how to revamp the US mortgage market. Next Tuesday, the White House will hold a “summit? on the issue.
It's safe to guess that none of the invitees will suggest the government should simply get the heck out of the mortgage market…so this morning, we're left to speculate which options are more likely to be tried, and to tease out the resulting investment implications.
[Read more...]Why Municipal Bonds Aren’t the Answer
June 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
US households are piling into municipal bonds. The household sector accounts for 80% of all flows into munis over the last three quarters, according to the Federal Reserve's flow of funds report.
Of the $2.8 trillion in municipal debt currently outstanding, households hold $1 trillion. And that doesn't count what they hold indirectly through banks, insurance companies, mutual funds and so on.
[Read more...]Who Will Prop Up Housing Next?
March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
For weeks, the question has lingered: Now that the Fed is following through on its promise to stop buying up shaky mortgage-backed securities, what will the powers that be do to prop up the housing market next?
This morning, we have our answer, direct from the White House. And rest assured, youre on the hook for some of it. The details in a moment… First, lets step back and take stock of the governments efforts to date.
[Read more...]
Could Gold Rise on One Country’s Meltdown?
Gold is ending the week doing a little more backing and filling. After yesterday’s run-up, the spot price has pulled back to $1,665.
$2,000 looks far off in the distance. To say nothing of last September’s $1,900 high.
Then again, it could happen with the snap of a finger.
“A push on toward $2,000 is definitely on the cards before the year is out,” says Philip Klapwijk, “although a clear breach of that mark is arguably a more likely event for the first half of next year.”
[Read more...]