While above-average companies continued to outperform this week, average ones went nowhere – and I guess that’s good news considering the ugly Market environment that surrounds us. The stock market selloff that began in April got some more juice this week: Best Buy’s profit fell again, this time 25%; and consumer staple cereal maker General...Read More

Facebook fell flat on the first day if its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The stock opened at $42 per share and then quickly rose to $45 – before dropping like a hot rock to a dismal first day close of $38.23. That was Friday, May 18th. On Monday, day two, facebook closed at...Read More

Further to my blog: Stay Ready, Be Patient, I have a few more points to make about credit risk, interest rates, bonds, and high yield mutual funds – but first, some irony. On May 28, 2012 the aforementioned blog asked rhetorically, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if they [Greece and Spain] struck a new deal with [the IMF]?...Read More

The ugliness at JP Morgan Chase continues to top headline news. Even though it’s a really bad situation there, it is just one bad apple in what has become a truly spoiled bunch. Banks are in terrible shape all over the world. Greece and Spain have experienced significant cash runs on their banking systems because,...Read More

There is an old saying that criminals serving long-term prison sentences can become “institutionalized,” meaning they become so  reliant on the jail system to provide their basic necessities of life – food, water and shelter – that they can’t live without it, or outside of it. They become institutionalized when the very thought of maintaining...Read More

I would love to blog today about the competition between Spain and Greece – which country will steal the headlines, and who is in worse shape.  But today I don’t care about them, or their problems. Today I care most about those being screwed the most with the current U.S. financial condition. U.S. senior citizens –...Read More

Spain, not Greece, continues to headline news from across the pond. There is real trouble in Europe. Here is a sample of recent Wall Street Journal headlines in the past several days: Spain’s Unemployment Jumps, Deepening Crisis (4.27.2012) Data Deepen Spanish Gloom (4.30.2012) Hollande, Sarkozy Square Off in France in key Vote for Euro Zone...Read More

May 02, 2012 Those who have read my book know that I grew up in the inner city.  It was there I learned that a seasoned con-artist could be more sincere and convincing than Mother Teresa. Daunting economic conditions can easily make you question yourself, the conventional approach, and your options going forward. Let me...Read More