Investing Blog

Consumer debt on credit cards is in freefall, plunging to levels we haven’t seen in more than eight years. There’s no news better than this news. Read more…

Economy

Many say that a college degree is an investment. You invest your time, energy, and perhaps most notably, your money, to obtain a virtual certification for any job you please. And that may be very well true. But the fact of the matter is that you have to make sure that you’re getting the best bang for your buck. Read more…

Economy

Big businesses love economic recession. Recessions allow big business to borrow cheaper, price out smaller businesses, and use the power of government through regulations to squash upcoming competitors. Read more…

Economy

After a dismal start to an “economic recovery,” rumors are swirling that the Federal Reserve will relaunch its quantitative easing programs to up the Fed’s balance sheet as much as $2.5 trillion. Previously, according to insiders at the Fed, Bernanke had the ability to expand the balance sheet to as large as $5 trillion. Read more…

Economy

I’ve been on a roll lately with economics posts (see Time Preference) so I thought I might as well follow up with another on capital structure. Read more…

Economy

Though the economy may add hundreds of thousands of jobs in the next few months, expect the unemployment rate, as a percentage, to rise, not fall. Thanks to the methods used to calculated the number of unemployed Americans, the unemployment rate will rise as job seekers return to the job market. Read more…

Economy

Irony alert! The Federal Reserve, which has long been the source of most bubbles, is going to complete its own internal investigation as to why speculative bubbles form. Unfortunately, the early answer from the FED is that regulations can end bubbles. They couldn’t be more incorrect. Read more…

Bonds, Economy

While Congress looks ready to act on health care reform, another bill of near equal magnitude is making its rounds through the Congress. Financial reform could ruin health care reform, though, if government force crushes the derivatives market. Read more…

Economy

Looking into the prospects of 2010 we have to begin understanding exactly how much influence governments and central banks had in 2009. Of the most importance to American investors should be the Federal Reserve, which invested a full $1.5 Trillion in mortgage backed securities and Treasuries. Read more…

Economy

Consumers are still pushing the panic button on the amount of debt they’re willing to take on, a sure sign that the economy has yet to recover. At an annual rate of 8.5%, it is now evident that debt is the new pandemic to be shed, however it creates some huge microeconomic consequences. Read more…

Economy

Last year I wrote about an interesting correlation between the strength of movie attendance and the economy. In 2008, movie attendance was slumping-off more than 7% from 2007. However, as 2009 comes to a close, movie attendance indicate that we as a collective are feeling much better about the economic future. Read more…

Economy

After November’s employment report, gold dove nearly 5% on better than expected employment numbers. With only 11,000 jobs lost and the unemployment rate dipping from 10.2% to 10%, investors figured that an improving economy would force the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates, fighting off inflation. Read more…

ETF, Economy

The Great Recession has had such an impact on people’s lives that since 2007 the American savings rate has now doubled, and some analysts predict that they could nearly triple again, setting the stage for a full blown capital-fueled recovery. Read more…

Economy

The first central bank has given its own stamp of approval to the current economic environment. The Reserve Bank of Australia upped its overnight rate 25 basis points to 3.25%. Though its a small step, it certainly demonstrates RBS’s view of the world economy. Read more…

Economy

In what might be the best taxpayer investment in history a congressional commission will seek to find answers regarding the 2008 financial collapse. The 10 person commission will examine the financial crisis to see what we as a country might be able to learn. I’m hoping it turns out to be a valuable lesson. Read more…

Economy

Hot dogs, hamburgers, and apple pie. Oh its great to be a working American on Labor Day. Unless of course, you’re under 19 with a 25.7% chance of being unemployed. Read more…

Economy

Its July 20 and there are just a few days until your Chase minimum payment skyrockets 250%. After calling the customer service representatives you realize they’re not going to do anything about it, and you’re going broke quickly. But there is one phone number you haven’t tried, because if you had, you’d actually get approved for a lower rate! Read more…

Economy

The Federal Reserve began its quantitative easing scheme just a few months ago, but today nearly all of its allocated reserves have been spent. The goal is to weigh down interest rates to get the economy moving, and while interest rates have fallen, the economy continues to grind to a standstill. Read more…

Economy

In macroeconomics, no global meetings are as powerful as G8 summits. The eight largest economic countries come together to decide economic policy, both for themselves and the world. Usually the G8 meetings come and go, with very little of anything other than pictures coming out of the world-wide talks. Read more…

Economy, Forex

The new climate change bill threatens virtually every business, consumer and citizen with higher prices for virtually every product. The new legislation could send energy prices skyrocketing and big business out of the United States. To put it simply, the new climate change bill is a tax on productivity, one we don’t need considering the current state of affairs in the US economy. Read more…

Economy

First time home buyers are out in force. Once recent study concluded that 20% of all home shoppers were motivated by the credit, adding a significant number of people to a near deserted real estate market. But all may not be well, the home buyer tax credit has long withstanding implications on the future of the US economy. Read more…

Economy

The stock market may have improved, but that is simply the value of companies, not the value of the economy. The vital signs of the US economy may as well be running flat, the automakers are going into bankruptcy, banks can legally “cook the books” and there are some very scary things happening in the market as we speak. Here’s just four signs the economy isn’t getting better… Read more…

Economy

Aha! The missing link in the employment report has been found. After Wall Street celebrated relative success with last month’s employment report, you would have expected that traders found gold. Instead its fools gold, all the gains in employment that we have been seeing are merely the result of the once-a-decade census report. Read more…

Economy

I enjoy writing for investingblog.org as a way to communicate with investors and those interested in financial news. I like discussing ideology and thinktanks and dissecting what is really going on. After a comment on the carbon tax credit post, I had to continue the discussion. I think with an open ended conversation we can all better understand what’s going on around us. Here it is, right here, on why I dislike any carbon tax. A bit of a rant, if you will… Read more…

Economy