Common Cents Blog

Common Cents Blog

The Odds Are You Will Lose Money

This past Thursday night, I watched the Steelers vs. Bengals game on television. It was an exciting game — and surprising one, at least for me — that the Bengals won. After all, according to ESPN.com,…

Common Cents Blog

We Are Living in a Golden Age

This past Wednesday, the “spot” price for gold closed above $4,000/troy ounce for the first time ever. By this measure alone, the shiny stuff is as expensive as it has ever been. At the end of…

Common Cents Blog

Government Shutdown? Meh.

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) did NOT release “The Employment Situation – September 2025” as it was supposed to do. So, the markets will have to wait a little while longer to ascertain…

Common Cents Blog

Now What?

As everyone who reads economic newsletters should know by now, the Federal Reserve cut the target overnight lending rate by 0.25% last week. This move should not have come as a surprise to anyone. It was…

Common Cents Blog

Time to Start Getting the Data Right

This past week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued a revision to the previously announced, and previously revised, change in nonfarm payroll numbers from April 2024 through March 2025. It seems, there were actually 911K…