When I was in college, I loved listening to a local college radio station (WFUV, Fordham) that had a sports-talk show on Sunday nights. The show featured something new: phone calls from listeners! This was more than 25 years ago, before WFAN in New York, ESPN Radio...
The driver behind the whole economy is you, the consumer. And everywhere you look, the media will remind you that we are "supposed" to be in a depression. So let me share some things with you. Have you ever heard of the CPI, also known as the Consumer Price Index? ...
Here is WHY so many think the stock market is bad. And, why is the economy so bad? As many of you know, I use charts to help me manage the risk in your investments. Not just any chart...but point and figure charts. Why? Because, in my experience, these charts clearly...
Economic recessions and economic depressions Since 1854, the United States has been through 32 economic cycles, one cycle lasting (average) nearly 5 years. That's not the length of a recession, that's an entire economic cycle. This includes some...
This is not a buy-and-hold market. As we roll into 2009, I'm sticking with the same overall theme as I have in years past: this is not for the buy-and-hold crowd. Individuals looking to follow the "buy for the long haul" recipe will get destroyed. The media may call...
Steve Forbes wrote an article back in October for his magazine. And you should read it. I speak to so many people each week who tell me "I don't understand what/how this all happened!" Forbes does an excellent job explaining how (and why) the economy ground to a halt...
Is the SIPC responsible for helping Madoff clients? The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (also known as SIPC) maintains a special reserve fund -- authorized by Congress -- to help investors who had accounts and brokerage firms that failed. Technically, when...
The federal, state and local governments are co--losers with Madoff investors. Lots of questions are starting to surface regarding Bernard Madoff, and the scam that he's been running -- apparently, for years. I'm starting to read questions like "not charging an...
It was reported this week that the Treasury Department sold $32 billion in T-bills at a yield of 0%. Yes, that's NOT a misprint: zero percent yield. These are treasury bills which mature in four weeks. Yields on these kind of investments have dropped from 1.75% this...
Former NASDAQ chairman Bernard Madoff disclosed this week that the investment advisory firm he has run (aside from his market making business) was, in fact a fraud. It's unknown exactly how much money has been lost, but it appears to be somewhere between $17 billion...
