Common Cents Blog

The U.S. stock markets opened sharply in negative territory this morning, August 5, 2024. This after two consecutive down days to end last week. After such a strong July, some sort of pullback wasn’t surprising. However,…

This past Monday afternoon, I attended a memorial service in Charlotte for a fraternity brother of mine. Given the relatively short lead to time to make arrangements and the overall quality of airline service out of…

Despite all that has gone on in the markets and economic data this week, I would be remiss if I didn’t address what is really on everyone’s mind: What does Joe Biden’s dropping out of the…

This past week, I had a number of people ask me how much longer the stock market can continue to climb. From the outside looking in, this year’s rally must seem pretty curious. I have news…

This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June 2024 fell 0.1%. This negative number was better than the analysts we were expecting, and pretty much guaranteed the Federal…

Yesterday, as Americans were celebrating Independence Day and broiling in the heat, the United Kingdom (UK) held elections. That the unpopular, ruling Conservative and Unionist Party (Tories) would take a beating was a given. The only…

At around 11:45 CDT this past Monday (6/24), I was a mixture of resigned, frustrated and annoyed. I had just walked out of an open-air restaurant in Acadia National Park in Maine. This, after waiting for…

This past Wednesday, a friend of mine sent me an article from CNBC about the Federal Reserve. Knowing his personal take on our central bank, I knew it was not going to be a favorable one.…

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released “The Employment Situation – May 2024.” Investors had been anxiously awaiting the report in hopes it would give the Federal Reserve a clearer path to cut the…