Common Cents Blog
Most people reading this will know the stock market fell apart this past Monday (8/5/19). At one point, it looked as though the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) would close down in excess of 1,000 points.…
About 20 years ago, I was a groomsman in the wedding of one of my miscreant friends. A few years prior, he could have said the same about me. For the guys’ weekend, as I hesitate…
This past Sunday, I watched every point of the men’s finals at Wimbledon between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, every point. This took some conviction and playing hooky from church, but I couldn’t peel my eyes away…
Long years ago, when I was four, my sister and I found a quarter outside a grocery/delicatessen named Browdy’s here in town. More appropriately, I saw said quarter on the ground, and my nine-year old sister…
Not surprisingly, a fair number of people took a vacation day today in order to turn the 4th of July into a 4-day weekend. So, I thought it would be nice to provide lunch for the…
Yesterday, a few headlines reported the Administration was/is mulling a somewhat convoluted way of reducing the capital gains tax by indexing said gains to inflation, skirting a dubious Congress in the process. Nefarious stuff, that. The…
This week, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the monetary policy making arm of the Federal Reserve, met and left the overnight lending target unchanged at 2.50%. This was as expected, and Average Joe’s kneejerk reaction…
This past Wednesday afternoon, I had a conversation with a client who commented on the declining economic fortunes of Selma, Alabama, and I will spare you how we got there. They specifically mentioned the shuttered storefronts,…
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced the US economy created 75K net new jobs during May 2019. ‘Wall Street’ had been anticipating a number closer to 175K. By this measure, and perhaps this…
This morning, we woke up with the news the President had announced new tariffs against Mexico for failing to curb the tide of migration through that country and up to our southern border. Perhaps interestingly, or…