In 2014, all the major benchmarks posted solid gains banking on an overall positive economic scenario in the U.S. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 7.5%, 11.4% and 13.4%, respectively in 2014. The S&P 500 has gained 64% in the last three years. The gains in 2014 came despite international concerns, which were weathered…
In Harrison County, Ohio, drilling company worker Rick Lucente sums up all that is wrong with the mainstream media’s narrative(puppeting even The Fed’s great thinkers) about what great news low oil prices are… while his monthly gas bill for his Chevy pickup truck has dropped, he admonishes, “That’s not going to replace a paycheck… and I don’t…
What is a bane for energy stocks might just be a boon for the travel sector. Drop in Gasoline Prices According to the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration), average gasoline prices per gallon declined to around $2.78 in the beginning of Dec 2014. This reflects the lowest level for gasoline prices since Feb 2010. A…
Spanish bank Banco Santander was halted on Thursday, followed by an announcement it would raise capital. When the bank reopened its shares plummeted as much as 14%, with the Spanish stock market down about 4%. Banco Santander (SAN) passed the last “stress test” so allegedly it had no need to raise capital. With that thought…
<< Read Part 1: A Year Of Speedy Recovery For U.S. Insurers? Life insurers managed to increase net income in the last few quarters by trimming underwriting expenses and with the help of a modest increase in premiums. While variable annuity portfolios and other fee-driven businesses will act in favor with equity markets improving, downward…
The US Daily Deficit for Thursday 1/8/2015 was $4.5B bringing the January 2015 deficit through 8 days to $27B. As is standard practice, I have attempted to sync up the current year with the prior year based on day of the week, which drives many, but not all of the revenue and payment cycles. So…
By Barkley Rosser at Econospeak Has the oil price drop come to an end? Very likely. Reports from NovembeReports from Novembe report that the Saudi government has been preparing its budget for the price of oil to be between $45 and $50 per barrel. The price rose during the last two days and fell slightly today, with Brent crude…
By now it is common knowledge that America’s biggest landlord, following a Fed-subsidized scramble for distressed and multi-famility proprties over the past 3 years, is none other than Wall Street in general, and Blackstone in particular. Why did the smartest (and soon to be bailed out) people in the room rush to build an army of…
Photo Credit: BlueSkyImage / Creative Commons By Christoph Janz @ Point Nine Capital We’re fully aware that we don’t always live up to the ideal of the “good VC”, but as Stefan Smalla once said, “Nobody is exactly like that, but it’s good to move towards that ambition. Inch by inch.” Inspired by Ben…
By Roger Kemp, The Conversation Our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter.– Lewis L Strauss, chair of the US Atomic Energy Commission, 1954. When Strauss first coined the phrase above he was thinking of hydrogen fusion, a technology that always seems to be a tantalising 30 years away. However even without futuristic…
