Today the August jobs report came out and was quite disappointing.  The U.S. only added 235,000 jobs, which was well short of expectations that were for over 700,000 new jobs.  Fears regarding the Delta variant likely had a role in this big miss.  Many businesses I’ve talked to have expressed immense frustration about a lack...Read More

I hope everyone is healthy and making the best of this summer in this tumultuous year.  Today we got U.S. 2nd quarter GDP data, which was down by roughly a third, which is something we haven’t seen since the 1940’s.  This is a lagging indicator and was expected as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic...Read More

Volatility is picking up once again, which we should expect given the extreme conditions the world is seeing.  Yesterday, the Federal Reserve chair said that interest rates were likely to stay near zero through at least the next year or so.  I don’t see that as surprising whatsoever, given the focus will be on reducing...Read More

As the economy reopens, cyclical value stocks are starting to perform a lot better. Remember, that what we experienced was something that has never happened before, with the major economies across the globe shutting down due to a virus.  I’d suggest the lock-down was more like the black swan rather than the pandemic, which are...Read More

April 16th, 2020 is a big day for our country.  There is now a plan to begin reopening the country.  The decision will ultimately fall to the Governors of the states.  The pace of reopening will be determined by the situation impacting each state, as opposed to one process for the whole country.  Reopening in...Read More

After a month and a half of low volatility, where stock indexes failed to move by more than 1%, volatility has rushed back onto the scene over the last several days. Frankly, this is very normal market behavior, as periods of calm usually presage periods of volatility. One shouldn’t get complacent when things are quiet,...Read More

For anybody that doubts how dire our current employment situation is, this article should add some perspective.  When laws are made by people that have no experience hiring, or growing an actual business, one shouldn’t be surprised that bureaucratic and divisive policies fail to stimulate growth.  It doesn’t have to be this way. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443493304578038381598741460.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories INVESTING IN THE...Read More

Rapidly rising education costs combined with diminishing expected incomes are likely to create significant problems for a generation of young workers.  With unemployment still greater than 8% many recent college graduates have elected to get their secondary education instead of seeking immediate employment.  This is a sound strategy in some cases, but it is important...Read More