Republicans Trumped

I watched the “Republican Candidates Debate” last Thursday evening. This early in the campaign, watching the event is something you typically do when you have no other plans. However, the first Republican debate was some of the better prime time programming shown on television in a while.  Donald Trump was a total wild card and…

Greece Needs to Switch Conferences

In the Trains, Cranes and Demographics Investment Commentary, I noted the impressive number of construction cranes I saw throughout Switzerland in April. Cranes are a sign of economic activity and optimism about the future. Although Switzerland was the only place I noticed a plethora of cranes, recent numbers reveal that economic growth has been slowly…

Trains, Cranes & Demographics

Last month, I attended the annual conference of the CFA Institute, a gathering of Chartered Financial Analysts from all over the world. This year’s conference was held in Frankfurt, Germany, attracting more attendees from Europe and Asia than usual. My wife and I arrived a week early to take advantage of the opportunity to travel…

Sibling Rivalries & Dick-tatorships

I will be in Frankfurt, Germany next week where the 68th annual conference for Chartered Financial Analysts is being held. Once a year, nerds from all over the globe gather to talk about the current state of the economic world. Usually, host cities alternate between the U.S. and a foreign destination (last year was Seattle…

Fed Up

Janet Yellen, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, spoke last week after the Board’s two-day meeting. Her speech was an attempt to clarify the Fed’s stance on raising interest rates someday. We all know they will eventually raise interest rates, but many economic “know-it-alls” keep playing a cat and mouse…