Common Cents Blog
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released yet another confusing report about the health of the U.S. labor markets. According to its “The Employment Situation – November 2022” data, it seems the economy created…
Is it just me, or are the headlines relentlessly bad? If you want to get out of your good mood, just go to any media outlet to turn that smile upside down. Another day, another shooting…
About this time last year, cryptocurrencies were all the rage. Stories about teenaged crypto millionaires flooded cocktail party and tailgate conversations. You were decidedly behind the times, let alone extremely uncool, if you weren’t in on…
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the “Consumer Price Index – October 2022,” better known as the CPI. This is the most widely used definition of inflation in the United States. Given the…
Next week, Americans go to the polls. In my opinion, this has been the most contentious midterm election campaign in recent memory. By recent memory, I mean my adult life. Not surprisingly, both parties are attacking…
Although I have been gray for years, I have been telling people I had chestnut brown hair at the start of 2022. That is how bizarre this year has been in the both the markets and…
There is simply no way to sugar coat the first 293 days of 2022 for investors. The S&P 500 is currently down just over 23% year-to-date. The major international stock index, the MSCI EAFE, is down…
Perhaps surprisingly, this week’s Common Cents isn’t about the awful behavior in the markets over the last couple of days. Frankly, it has been so bizarre as to make a simple explanation virtually impossible. Let’s just…
Many are probably familiar with the following riddle: “When is a door not a door? When it is ajar.” That is some tired stuff, isn’t it? So, let me give you a new one: “When is…
This past week was another one for the books, that is if your book is the “Doomsday Book.” Before anyone corrects me, I know what the purpose of the latter was. However, the name is just…