Week Ending 09.25.04
You have understand Mr. Kerry, everything from here on until the last vote is approved, is about politics. It would be very difficult for a writer such as myself to look at the economy and not comment on the long reach of the federal government. More specifically, the subtle manipulations of the White House are done for the best of spin. Don't let it bother you.
Week Ending 09.18.04
Mr. Kerry is faced with the unenviable challenge of fixing a budget that has become outsized and unwieldy.. The federal debt will continue to soar even as the President claims he will halve it ten years. That debt by the way, is now estimated at $4.7 trillion and climbing.
Week Ending 09.11.04
It would be very easy to say that I was right, although some among you would be quick to point out that the generality of a statement like "far below expectations" is not exactly a prediction in the numerical sense. Many learned scholars of the economic condition use a wide variety of measures to arrive at their often missed predictions.
Week Ending 09.04.04
The household survey is conducted among 60,000 or so Americans who are asked, many by proxy, such generalities as "who is working in the house". A look at the popular economic surveys.
Week Ending 08.28
The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank disagrees with these low estimates suggesting that the real effect of the changes will be felt by over six million workers. The workers in question are low-level salaried managers who could not easily be categorized as managers or workers.
Week Ending 08.21
For those that spend a good deal of your time strategizing your investments, these are trying times indeed. On one hand, there are rumors that this is a stock pickers market, a place of that is littered with as many discarded hopes as it is lit by glorified successes.
Week Ending 08.14
Hard to imagine a more interesting scenario for all parties concerned. In one corner, the President is stumping a positive - and erroneous - spin on his success with the economy. In the other corner is Mr. Kerry who unveiled a workable plan that, provided the administration doesn't muck the economy even more in these last eighty days, has a long term solution to a short term disaster. And in the other corners stand Mr. Greenspan, a worthy tag-team partner for the President.
Week Ending 08.07
Guest columnist Larry Swedroe offers his take on emerging markets - the risks and the rewards as well as a look at their place in your portfolio.
Week Ending 07.31
But that changed recently as United Airlines decided to take advantage of their employees once again, asking them to forgo their pension for the sake of reorganization of their company. This isn't the first time United, an employee owned company, has asked for concessions from their workforce.
Week Ending 07.24
Hedge funds are the backbone investment choice for wealthy investors that contain large sums of money expertly directed by industry renowned managers. Many of these managers have been lured from the much stricter (read lower earnings incentives) and better regulated (read scandals, Spitzer and Donaldson, oh my!) mutual funds for the wide open ranges of the hedge. But far too many have kept a long toe in the previous door, many by way of conflicts of interest.
Week Ending 07.17
Vacation
Week Ending 07.10
We are entering into a phase called a "stock picker's market". This is basic terminology for "look out - dangerous curves ahead" and those warnings, if heeded, should not attract the inner gambler in you. Stock picker's markets require research and due diligence, something far too many investors have abandoned recently in
favor of guessing.
Week Ending 07.03
In the case of IDS investments or Income Deposit Securities, the risk is not always as clear as the probabilities seem. These quaint inventions are not new at all for the large institutional investor but offering these - and there is really no other good word for it - junk to the average investor is why
the S.E.C. is hesitating.
Week Ending 06.26
The Russell Indexes re-shuffled this past week and we took a look at this investment style. Also, as pensions continue to disappear, the retirement landcape is the worse for it. Unions are still the best hope to keep this vital institution of the working class alive.
But can they do better?
Week Ending 06.19
Protection of your accumulated principal is not, as we discussed in Part One, an easy task. The long term effects of inflation and the inevitable effect of taxes will shrink your nest egg even as you become more dependent on it - especially if you live for much longer than you may have previously anticipated.
The Last, Best Hope for Retirement, Part Two
Week Ending 06.05
For years, I have been suggesting that people find some sort of second career about mid-way through the one they have. The premise for such a suggestion resided quite comfortably in the fact that I believed that the economic cards continue to be stacked against us. That the working man and woman, no matter what they did, would need to find another job at the very time in their lives that they thought about stopping. The Last, Best Hope for Retirement, Part One
Week Ending 05.29
A good deal of us remember the gasoline shortages of 1970's but for those that don't, skyrocketing prices with news of diminishing supplies had many American held hostage in long lines waiting to fill our tanks. It's amazing how quickly we forget.
Week Ending 05.22
Mr. Greenspan and company, with their cryptic mumblings and behind the curve reactions have shaken those with an appetite for cheap money. These insatiable beasts will not react kindly to the current round of measured hikes.
Week Ending 05.15
Granted, there are numerous things that are affecting the equity markets, some more grievous and maybe on any other occasion, might even usurp the nation's debt in terms of newsworthiness. But that debt, even in a higher interest rate environment, is still manageable to a point That point has been reached.
Week Ending 05.08
Several guest columns appear this week from Larry Swedroe. In them he discusses the investor's ability to take risk, willingness to take risk, and need to take risk to achieve the greater expected return. He also asks the question: Are Stock Analyst Recommendations Worth Anything?
Week Ending 05.01
So much is being written and spoken about the not-so-far-in-the-future rate hike, which will be lovingly engineered to perfect effect by the Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, that one might let the reasons why he only talks about them without having yet acted slip past unnoticed.
Week Ending 04.24
Using mutual funds for your retirement plan have become de rigueur for investors. They not only allow broad participation in the markets but they allow the investor some peace-of-mind that their money is safe in the hands of money managers who have their best interest at heart. Or perhaps not.
Week Ending 04.10
Princeton economist, New York Times columnist, and vocal critic of the current administration Paul Krugman was taken to task by noted economist and current administration supporter - at least when it comes to economic direction and policy - Gene Epstein this past weekend in Barron's. The subject was the fuzzy and furry numbers published about jobs this past Friday.
Week Ending 04.02
The President's record on the economy has divided this country evenly for or against. He has provided all of the fiscal stimulus that he could have provided and wants to provide more. making the tax cuts permanent has caused great debate in the Congress as the effort to try to reign in spending.
The problem according to the current administration is not the reaction to it but who is to blame for it.
Past Columns
Week Ending 03.27
Soft money is not easily understood. So be patient as we take a look at something might be both as necessary to a successful return on your investment and at the same time, something you might find loathsome as well.
Week Ending 03.20
While the Fed is suggesting that patience is required in order to allow the economy to recover, the low interest environment has caused a higher amount of mortgage refinancing. This has caused prepayments which will raise prices which, as bond investors know, lowers yields.
Week Ending 03.13
The Bulls may be on the run. With very little prodding, investors have stepped back from the markets taking a look at both positions and the future of those decisions - even in the short term. Will the upcoming triple witching have any effect on how they view the markets?
Week Ending 03.06
Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's long term loans at low interest rates pose a risk reminiscent of the savings and loan debacle of the late eighties. This has Greenspan worried and his worrying can be contagious. How much has yet to be determined. Also, a look at Social Security as part of a three legged stool.
Week Ending 02.28
This isn't new news. Greenspan has been on this one for two decades. What it is however is something that brings the deficit into a harsher light and the problematic future of an important promise made by our government. Social Security, the political third rail.
Week Ending 02.28
This isn't new news. Greenspan has been on this one for two decades. What it is however is something that brings the deficit into a harsher light and the problematic future of an important promise made by our government. Social Security, the political third rail.
Week Ending 02.21
The Securities and Exchange Commission is turning its attention along with the vigilant New York Attorneys Generals Office to a practice that is costing those enrolled in smaller company sponsored plans more than the average investor. A look at the hidden fees as well as part two of Larry Swedroe's work about diversification.
Week Ending 02.14
Contributing Columnist Larry Swedroe offers this series, broken down into two parts, on the risks of investing without diversification. Part One can be found here.
Week Ending 02.07
A member of Congress, a Fund Manager, and an Employer were driving down a steep mountain road. The brakes failed and the car careened down the road out of control. Half way down, the driver managed to stop the car by running it against the embankment narrowly avoiding careening off the cliff. They all got out, shaken by their narrow escape from death, but otherwise unharmed.
Week Ending 01.31
Pointing at the attractiveness of TIPS in this environment is truly the work of a worried fore-thinker. But the argument follows the logic. And a look at the State of the Union Address.
Week Ending 01.24
Before bankers in Berlin on Tuesday, the chairman reaffirmed his stance that weak job data has no bearing on the economic recovery because productivity was so good.
Week Ending 01.10
Folks who favor medical savings accounts, henceforth referred to as MSA will take great offense to the notion that there are any cons or perhaps a better word would be downside at all to an idea whose time they feel has come.
Week Ending 01.03
Our outlook for the new year is not so cheery as many others have suggested. We have good reason. Bow if you must to what they may call a bargain but when it comes to adopting the business model of Wal-Mart as the way to run this country, we will face the same outcome as investors: buying less and being told it is cheap.
Last year
Archived articles and commentary reaching back to March 2002
Straight talk on mutual funds, bonds, real estate, and annuities
Techniques for avoiding financial disasters
Tools to help readers track their debt and create a plan for staying out of it
Road maps to buying a home and saving for college and retirement
Order your copy today!
The Blue Money Report
Financial Commentary covering a wide range of topics concerning money, investing, and how it effects the average investor and their financial health.
It is the World of Money and Investing Explained.
Our Publication
If you are interested in providing your readers with our syndicated column, you can request it here
COPYRIGHT 2002 - 2004 THE BLUE MONEY REPORT - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
