United States

So the past year has been the year of earnings decline. Yet, the US stock market keeps powering to new highs. What's going on? It's called multiple expansion and it is the hallmark of all bull markets, cyclical or secular. The question is…

Long-term interest rates are largely a reflection of expected future short-term future interest rates plus a term premium. So when you see yields move up, it reflects either an increase in term premiums from uncertainty or a change in the…

By Sober Look The US Congress is nearing a compromise on the issue of student loan interest rates. Apparently loan rates will be changed from fixed to floating with an overall cap (see story). While rates are important, there is a much…

With many observers expecting the Fed to taper in September, disappointment that there was nothing in the statement to support such ideas has seen the dollar fall and the stocks and bonds traded higher.

Economists and the markets have been cheering the jump in housing prices and improving construction statistics. But for many Americans rising demand and higher house prices bring more bad news.

I thought this chart was a good one. It shows how quickly house prices have recovered in a number of markets. WHile DC and LA are the areas where the Case-Shiller index is at its highest, over the last year, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and…

Janet Yellen is imminently qualified for the Fed Chair position. I think it makes no tactical or strategic political sense to pass her over for a male candidate - because it would rightly be considered a 'passing over' and need serious…

Within the next few months the Obama administration is expected to announce a nominee for Ben Bernanke's replacement. Two names have been bounced around recently: Janet Yellen and Larry Summers. According to Google Trends, here is what…

The Fed will be stuck at zero for a very long time, perhaps forever. Investors who are anticipating the Fed's tightening are premature in their assessment of when rate hikes can reasonably occur. Ben Bernanke and other Fed members have made…