October 2008

As we move beyond the market panic, we can zero in on the data that define the economy. Employment is one of four key areas that define the economy -- the others being production, earnings growth and consumer spending.So, jobless claims…

Jon Stewart had another very funny take on the political scene last night. He sees John McCain as a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein whose creation (an angry Republican base) has taken on a life of its own. Watch McCain's reactions to angry…

My last post's title "The panic is over" was a bit cheeky given the Dow was down an astounding 700-some points today. The crux of the matter is continued economic weakness due to slowing consumer spending. And that means more writedowns…

In 1999, Edward Chancellor wrote a wonderful book called "Devil Take The Hindmost," which I recommend to anyone who is interested in the history of bubbles, financial speculation, and market panics. In it, Chancellor traces the origins of…

Just moments ago Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech in which he said the following about Lehman Brother: "there was not enough collateral to support the lending." This was Bernanke's response to a question about whether…

Yesterday, I laid out some of my general thinking on the business cycle and the economy. Obviously, understanding the business cycle is important to economic forecasting and is, therefore, central to personal financial planning, general…

Yesterday, I said that investors would begin to focus on the real economy now that the financial crisis has eased somewhat due to massive government intervention. Today, retail sales figures for September 2008 were released by the United…

SourceTom Toles Cartoons - Washington Post

Conservative U.S. Columnist Kathleen Parker was a guest on Stephen Colbert's show last night. She gained notoriety for her criticism of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. Below is a clip of her on Colbert giving her two cents on…

Now that policy makers worldwide have finally stepped in to stop the bleeding, we have had a relief rally of monumental proportions. Most global indices were deep into oversold territory, meaning that there was lots of pent-up demand for a…