After hitting an all-time high in 1989, Japan’s Nikkei stock index plummeted 80% over the 13 or so years that followed. Dubbed “The Lost Decade,” Japan witnessed not only a precipitous decline in stocks prices, but in property values, employment and interest rates as the nation entered a… Read More

The water crisis in Flint, Mich., started nearly two years ago but recently reached a boiling point with massive protests and national media coverage. Corrosion in underground lead service pipes and poor water quality have been blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that killed at least 10 people. The… Read More

The price of oil has jumped more than 50% since hitting a 12-year low in February, on hopes of production freezes that could reduce the global supply glut. But there is good reason to believe the market is getting ahead of itself. Little has changed in the oil… Read More

Just 10 months ago, good news was bad news for the stock market.   It seemed every positive housing or jobs report, manufacturing data point or consumer confidence number was enough to send investors running for the exits. That’s because the strengthening economic picture increased the prospect of… Read More

In addition to huge daily swings, 2016 has been characterized by a flight to safety as the markets sharply corrected in the first few weeks of the new year.  Even though stocks have regained some of those losses in the past few weeks, the only sectors to show… Read More

In addition to huge daily swings, 2016 has been characterized by a flight to safety as the markets sharply corrected in the first few weeks of the new year.  Even though stocks have regained some of those losses in the past few weeks, the only sectors to show… Read More

The S&P 500 is close to 10% off its 52-week high, while all of its sectors are in the red for the year. Meanwhile, the small-cap Russell 2000 is teetering on the edge of a bear market. Stocks are at a critical point. They could rebound as they… Read More

Many investors are relieved 2015 is over. It was a year of volatile swings, but when all was said and done, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial average lost 2.2% and the S&P 500 was down 0.7%. Even factoring in dividends, the broader market index was up just 1.4%.  In such… Read More

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to its highest close in two weeks Friday when a surprise rate cut by China’s central bank boosted markets and eased demand for safe haven assets. The People’s Bank of China cut its one-year lending and deposit rates by 0.25… Read More

Shares of my favorite foreign telecom giant, Grupo Televisa (NYSE: TV), have plunged more than 30% since mid-July.  The selling was sparked by a weak second-quarter earnings report in which the largest media company in Latin America said net income declined 34% year over year and earnings missed… Read More

Shares of my favorite foreign telecom giant, Grupo Televisa (NYSE: TV), have plunged more than 30% since mid-July.  The selling was sparked by a weak second-quarter earnings report in which the largest media company in Latin America said net income declined 34% year over year and earnings missed… Read More

As a former economist for the government, I’m quite familiar with the data models that often put the markets on edge. I spent years developing economic projections of the labor market and predicting what growth meant for the economy.  #-ad_banner-# Since all of these models are limited to prior data,… Read More

As a former economist for the government, I’m quite familiar with the data models that often put the markets on edge. I spent years developing economic projections of the labor market and predicting what growth meant for the economy.  #-ad_banner-# Since all of these models are limited to prior data,… Read More