Monthly Archives: September 2012

A Closer Look: Market Cap

By |2012-09-30T18:45:42-04:00September 30th, 2012|Markets|

The S&P 500 Cap-Weighted Index has performed markedly through three quarters, despite a recession-esque economic environment. The index stands close to 52-week highs and currently sits atop support at the 1430 level. It sits above both moving averages with both trending higher. While the mood is somber, the charts look good, but proceed with caution. The index is up 16.33% [...]

Brother, Can You Spare A Euro?

By |2012-09-30T16:59:39-04:00September 30th, 2012|Currencies, Economy|

By Brian Cronin: I am old enough to remember the horrendous conflict in the Congo in the 1960s. The players: Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Kasavubu, Dag Hammarskjold and Moise Tschombe of the breakaway province of Katanga are all still clear memories. What is also clear, unfortunately, is the question asked by a particularly insensitive British TV reporter of Belgian nuns in [...]

How Much Of The Future Can We Borrow For Today?

By |2012-09-30T22:16:32-04:00September 30th, 2012|Economy, Markets|

Ben Bernanke wants you to borrow and spend today. He also wants you to stop buying safe investments like Treasuries, CDs and anything else with a guarantee attached. He wants you to buy corporate bonds, junk bonds and stocks. He really, really wants you to buy a house. What he doesn't want you to do is save or pay down [...]

Tactical Update

By |2012-09-30T11:35:58-04:00September 30th, 2012|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Taxes/Fiscal Policy|

The Fed has indicated the willingness to buy securities from savers and investors until we get job growth.  But what does this really mean?  Can the Fed induce hiring from further quantitative easing? Bernanke to investors of capital: “take risks today, lend money to entrepreneurs so they can hire.  Act now, because we are buying bonds and you should expect [...]

Einstein, Bernanke and Shampoo

By |2012-09-24T16:04:53-04:00September 24th, 2012|Markets|

Mandates are tricky enough when it comes to interpretation of how to best and most efficiently achieve them. This is especially true when the act of fostering a mandate or moving a system toward the desired outcome is disruptive. The evaluation process of the mandate and the policies meant to push toward it inevitably descends into some kind of cost/benefit [...]

The Joyless Street

By |2012-09-23T14:53:47-04:00September 23rd, 2012|Commodities, Currencies, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy|

By Brian Cronin In striking a blow for democracy, it looks like the preliminary decision of the German Constitutional Court has had an effect on other nations signing on for the permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism. You will recall the court said that any change to the upper limit of Germany’s commitment (€190 billion) had to be OK’d [...]

Secular Trends: Monetary and Fiscal Policy

By |2012-09-17T14:13:05-04:00September 17th, 2012|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Taxes/Fiscal Policy|

We are often very vocal about our concerns regarding the poor policies in this country.  Here is a tidy little opinion piece from the Fellows at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. It is a good summary of the existing headwinds coming out of our political class. WSJ.com - Opinion: The Magnitude of the Mess We're In And for a little laugh [...]

Secular Trends: Trade Wars

By |2012-09-17T20:33:28-04:00September 17th, 2012|Economy, Taxes/Fiscal Policy|

When times get tough, there is a tendency to get territorial and nationalistic.  This finger pointing and these attempts to stir up emotion in one's constituency are mostly detrimental to everyone.  More politics in the form of economic warfare  is a trend we don't want to see emerge. WSJ.com - Opinion: Importing Jobs From China WSJ.com - White House Files [...]

Black Wednesday

By |2012-09-16T20:00:54-04:00September 16th, 2012|Currencies|

By Brian Cronin This week sees the 20th anniversary of a traumatic event for the British government. Wednesday, September 16th 1992 was the day that Britain exited the Exchange Rate Mechanism in rather ignominious fashion. It would forever after be known as Black Wednesday. It is also a good lesson for today’s investors in that trying to defend something that [...]

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