Trade Tensions Increasing Again
September 9, 2019
The evening news would not be complete without a story about the U.S.-China trade dispute or the “trade tensions” between the two countries. Despite the sensationalism, the U.S. remains the world’s biggest economy. U.S. exports to China are only 0.5 percent of GDP. For the world’s third-largest economy by nominal GDP, Japan’s exports to China… View Article
Large Cap Stocks have Outpaced Small Caps
August 12, 2019
It is common to hear the advice that you should diversify a portfolio and have many investments, representing several asset classes, to take advantage of an optimal portfolio. Two groups of assets that can be included in a diversified portfolio are small cap and large cap stocks. The reason for including both asset types is… View Article
Stocks Reward in First Half of Year
July 29, 2019
There was a day or two last December when many people thought the bottom had finally fallen out of the stock market. The long hard-charging bull market, that had only had some minor set-backs, seemed to have finally fallen apart. That dismal notion was short-lived though, as the market recouped and realigned on its former… View Article
U.S. Negotiates Free Trade Agreement with Neighbors
June 17, 2019
There has always been a good argument for the effectiveness of democracy for producing harmonious neighbors. The question goes like this: can you imagine Canada and the U.S. or Mexico and the U.S. going to war with each other? The answer is an easy one and the point is to compare the sense of peace… View Article
U.S. First Quarter GDP of 3.2% Surprises Economists
May 8, 2019
The U.S. economy continues to charge ahead, thanks to tax cuts and deregulation, U.S. exports and state spending. The gross domestic product (GDP) number for the first quarter of 2019 surprised the very best analysts’ prognostications. A consensus of analysts polled pointed towards a growth rate of 2.3 percent, which in itself would have been… View Article
Fed Backs Off on Rate Hikes
April 22, 2019
Picture a juggler with four or five balls in the air, attempting to watch each one and time their movements precisely to keep each in motion. That visual may be a good representation of what the Federal Reserve does as it closely monitors the economy and makes decisions about interest rates. The balls represent all… View Article