Insights

At the end of 2012 the economy slowed to roughly 1% growth and came in about the same for the 1Q of 2013. The forecast for 2Q was about the same. Instead US GDP growth came in at 1.7% as reported today, which is a pleasant surprise. That's still pretty slow growth but...

While I was out West last week to see clients in NM, CO, and WY, (I love that part of the country) I was asked if contributions to a SIMPLE retirement plan reduce the amount one can contribute to either a traditional IRA or Roth IRA. The answer is that it does not....

Someone recently asked me the difference between working with a traditional stockbroker and a fee-only RIA (registered investment adviser). Well, I do have a web page at left devoted to this but let me cover it here a little differently. 1) Independence - An RIA is...

You will hear on the news that the economy continues to add jobs and the unemployment rate was unchanged in June. Sounds OK. It is true, strictly speaking. But, the check engine light is on. The most widely followed unemployed rate stayed the same at 7.6% and almost...

Yesterday, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi announced that interest rates would stay low in Europe for "an extended period." That stands to reason - Europe is still mired in recession, Greek and Spanish unemployment are a whopping 25%, and 18% in Portugal,...

Stocks are up again today, the 3rd day in a row after US stocks they fell roughly 5% in response to the Fed announcement last week. So far they have gained back half of the drop. Bonds are also up again today, though their selloff began in late April. They had also...

If you are a trustee of a retirement plan, whether profit sharing or pension, it's time to really pay attention. After a 31-year almost unbroken bull market, bond prices have begun to head down. Most bond funds are likely to be money losers in 2013 and 2014, and...

Over the last month the talk in the markets has been about Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's answer to a question at a Congressional hearing. That answer was that the Fed "could" start tapering off their huge bond-buying programs that have kept interest at record...

Never before in history have central banks printed so much money and taken interest rates so low. Never before have banks given savers almost no interest and still had takers. Mortgage rates are as low as we are ever likely to see in our lifetimes. The balance at the...

The Wall St. Journal, one of the world’s great newspapers and very much worth either a paper or online subscription, even for people who don’t work in finance, had a fascinating special section called Unleashing Innovation in Tuesday’s paper. Find it online here....