Wall Street economists pay close attention to the growth rate of our Gross Domestic Product. For the first quarter (Q1) of this year, GDP growth was estimated at a negative 1.2%, which was the first quarter to shrink since the pandemic collapse two years ago. On the second reading, we found GDP shrank 1.5% instead. Yesterday’s final reading was a negative 1.6%. The commonplace definition…
One of the most important books I’ve ever read was the iconic “On Death and Dying” by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in 1997. She demonstrated that there are normal emotional stages after hearing a terminal diagnosis. It is a useful exercise. Naturally, Dr. Kubler-Ross’s perspective on predictable emotions related to death is useful for other life events. Mark Hulbert of MarketWatch has written the very useful “Five…
Ross Perot was a HIGHLY-opinionated Naval Academy graduate and Dallas billionaire when he ran for President in 1962 and has been credited with the election of Bill Clinton, by draining Republican votes from the incumbent President George Bush. I watched one evening as he was arriving for a political rally and could see that he was visibly annoyed by the swarm of noisy reporters, pelting…
A recession and a bear-market are not the same thing, although they are friends and have often been seen together. A recession is to economics what a bear-market is to investing – bad news. A recession is loosely regarded as two consecutive quarters of decreasing GDP, and bear-market is loosely regarded as a 20% decrease in the stock market. Right now, it is not certain…
Last month, I was hoping the Fed would increase interest rates by 75 basis points or three-quarters of one percent. Unfortunately, they only raised it by 50 bps or one-half of one percent. This week, the Fed is likely to raise interest costs another 50 bps, which will disappoint me again. I hope they increase rates by 100 bps or a full percentage point. So,…
I SALUTE the ten Republican senators who had the courage to stand up to the NRA and reject the stupid “slippery-slope” argument that ANY, trivial restriction on guns would certainly lead to the confiscation of all 400 million guns in America.
The most powerful industry in America has long been the advertising business. Who else can “influence” you buy a particular deodorant or automobile or how to vote? It took many years for me get interested in sports. For me, sports is just another subsidiary of the advertising business. Take the PGA or Professional Golf Association as an example. Their apparent job is to promote golf,…
Life is nothing more than a series of binary choices . . . you know . . . “either-or” There’s “good or bad” — there’s “eat or exercise” ? Mothers . . . and other expert psychologists . . . warn us that “all work & no play” makes us dull, boring and unhealthy. Most cardiologists would agree. But, what is “work” and what is…