Folks, these are the times that try the souls of investors and traders. The nonsense taking place in Washington right now—playing with our credit rating at the 11th hour—is absolutely shameful. I’m on the side of the aisle that wants to see spending cuts without raising taxes, but right now I’m speaking as an American [...]

Folks, earlier this morning we got two lukewarm economic reports. On the jobs front: for the first time since April, the weekly unemployment claims fell below 400,000.  It wasn’t by much—the seasonally adjusted number of new claims came in at 398,000—but even that small downtick caused the markets to jump. As far as housing, the [...]

Folks, there are a number of situations that are creating chaos in the market right now, and it’s creating a very unique environment and experience for those of us who are exposed. What should investors and traders pay attention to when the market is in a chaotic condition like this? First, it’s important to remember [...]

Folks, every now and then I’ll get a call from somebody soliciting a certain stock or strategy. Usually, I’ll listen to the pitch, then I’ll ask the person why he’s making the recommendation. The answer is almost always the same: because it’s on the recommended list of the person’s firm. Likewise, my response is always [...]

Folks, back when I was studying at Loyola University, I had an economics professor ask me a question: In terms of capital preservation, what were the three safest treasury securities to invest in back in 1900? I lobbed a couple of educated guesses at him: England and France. He informed me that at the time, [...]

Last Monday, during his company’s quarterly earnings conference call, Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts, said what a lot of people in the business community have been thinking for the last two-plus years. “I’m afraid to do anything in the current political environment in the United States,” he said. “Those of us who have business [...]

Folks, the earnings reports keep coming in and corporations keep on beating the Street. GE, Chrysler, Xerox, Verizon and McDonalds are just a few of the companies that topped estimates, much to the delight of the market. Caterpillar missed by a just a little, but by and large, corporations are reporting very good profits. While [...]

Folks, we got another lackluster report on the employment front today. Applications for jobless benefits came in at 418,000 for the week ending July 16, up 10,000 from the week before. I’m an old supply-sider, and I’ve said many times that jobs and job creation are the best barometer of economic health. It looks like, [...]

Folks, if ever there were a statement made by a CEO of a major corporation that perfectly summarized the way those of us in the business community feel about my fellow Chicagoan’s irresponsibility over the last few years, it was Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts. During his company’s quarterly earnings conference call on Monday, Wynn—a [...]

Folks, this is a big time for earnings—130 of the S&P 500 companies report before the end of the week. These reports coincide with a debt-ceiling debate here at home and a situation where European banks are playing havoc with pricing. Let’s distill this, shall we? What’s happening in Europe right now all comes down [...]