Common Cents Blog

Each December, my crystal ball shows shadows of what is to come in the new year. Ordinarily, it simply displays an inverted image of my countenance. Unfortunately, the message is this: It won’t be as easy…

2023 has been one of the weirder years in my career, if not my life. While some of the data has been good, namely anything to do with the labor markets, the majority would have suggested…

After the deluge of red ink in September and October, we have told our clients to expect the stock market to rally to close the year. Of course, when you say such things, you have to…

Currently, there seems to be no shortage of bricks for our wall of worry. Higher interest rates, coupled with a negatively sloped yield curve, are troublesome. Our nation’s growing public debt is a problem. The lack…

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced the U.S. economy created 150K net, new payroll jobs during October 2023. Of these, only 99K were in the private sector. Both of these observations were less…

Yesterday, the Bureau of Economic Statistics (BEA) announced U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at a feverish 4.9% during the 3rd Quarter of 2023. If you had told me earlier in the year the economy would…

Recently, my wife has become almost obsessed with the evening news. While she has always been mostly on top of the passing scene, the current news cycle has both fascinated and scared her significantly. I doubt…

I am not an overly superstitious person. Black cats don’t faze me. Broken mirrors aren’t an issue. Horoscopes are a complete waste of time, as are fortune cookies. Walking under a ladder doesn’t give me pause,…

Last night, my wife asked me what I thought about the impending government shutdown. Would it ruin the economy? Is the government really out of money? You know Molly (a friend) has already been furloughed up…