Twitter, Obamacare and JFK

I love Twitter. One of the coolest things ever created, Twitter is a worldwide digital forum where anyone can express a thought, an opinion or give directions about anything anytime. As a social media website that has gathered a tremendous amount of traction, Twitter provides a means of quick and efficient communication between people who…

R.I.P. Joe Granville

Last month, one of the more memorable characters in the investment industry passed away. In the 1970s and 1980s, Joe Granville was one of the most, if not THE most, famous stock market prognosticators in America. I didn't say he was the BEST prognosticator, just one of the most famous. According to the Hulbert Financial…

Syrian Angst Short-Lived

For the first time in a long time, investors are experiencing global economic and geo-political headline risk. Since late last year I have been saying that in the absence of significant “uncertainty,” stock markets might trend upward. Stock markets like quiet and certainty and they LOVED the first half of 2013. Until August, the most…

More Easy Money from the Fed

Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, announced that the Federal Reserve Bank would continue its monthly purchases of Treasury securities ($45 billion) and mortgage-backed securities ($40 billion). He didn't say specifically for how long, but stated the Fed may start scaling back later this year and halt them entirely in mid-2014. Don’t hold your breath. Reasons…

Doomsday Investing is Always Premature

The first stock market downturn arrived in June after seven consecutive months of positive returns. The U.S. markets declined only a little more than 1% and foreign markets (the EAFE Index) declined about 3.5%. After yearly gains of over 20%, it is surprising how rattled some investors get after a tiny bit of profit taking.…