Common Cents Blog

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…

Anyone holding their breath in anticipation of the Fed cutting the overnight rate anytime soon exhale. It isn’t going to happen prior to September, if it happens at all in 2024. The inflation and overall economic…

Another week, another missive about inflation. My apologies. Unfortunately, it is the most important issue facing the markets, economy and even politics. How much longer will prices remain elevated? Better put, how long will it take…

Compared to last week’s excitement, these past 5 trading sessions have almost felt like sleepwalking. It has been decidedly slower in terms of meaningful earnings announcements, economic reports and news from the Federal Reserve. So much…

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released “The Employment Situation – April 2024.” To say it was a mediocre report would be a disservice to mediocrity in general. I won’t bore you with the…

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) informed the world the U.S. economy grew at a 1.6% annualized rate during the 1st quarter of 2024. This was considerably less than the median estimate in the…

This week, I spoke at two different conferences in Nashville, one on Tuesday morning and the other on Thursday. It was essentially the same presentation. I told the same jokes and spewed the same data. The…