Weekly Commentary

On a global macroeconomic level, two things are occurring simultaneously at opposite ends of the world: President Trump is in the process of selecting someone to chair the Federal Reserve, whereas, in China, the Communist Party is selecting a chair to lead China forward. (Note: There are 90 million Communist Party members trying to control […]

  Let’s start this week’s post with a quote from the University of Michigan Consumer Surveys’ chief economist, Richard Curtin: “Consumer sentiment surged in early October, reaching its highest level since the start of 2004. The October gain was broadly shared, occurring among all age and income subgroups and across all partisan viewpoints. The data […]

  As we wrap up a stellar third-quarter investment period, it’s time for our look ahead into Q4. For an audio narration of our Q4 2017 Look Ahead, click here. For a PDF of our Q4 2017 Look Ahead, click here. Q2 earnings, which were reported from mid-July through mid-August, grew by 10.3 percent [i].   […]

  Welcome to the first trading day of the fourth quarter, which means the race for third-quarter earnings has concluded. The third quarter marked another quarter of strong returns in the equity markets.  The Dow Jones Index led all major indices during the quarter with a 6.07 percent return.  At this point, all major U.S. […]

  Despite my deep appreciation for the convenience of online shopping, I happened to find myself at two malls this past weekend.  This weekend also happened to be the launch of the new Apple iPhone 8 and the Watch Series 3, so my timing, choosing this weekend of all weekends, to venture out into the […]

  I’m hard-pressed to find anyone who is not aware of the latest data breach of one of the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax.  As you know, on Thursday, September 7, Equifax announced that hackers had gained access to company data, potentially compromising sensitive information on roughly 143 million people, mostly American’s [i].  According […]

  In the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the U.S. economy is likely to incur substantial costs, beyond the costs to those experiencing the immediate effects of these terrible storms.  In terms of macroeconomics, direct costs follow any natural disaster.  In fact, records demonstrate that hurricanes are the most expensive types of natural disasters […]

  In the wake of the flooding in Houston and its surroundings, we watched with pride as people of all walks of life came together to support each other.  However, at the same time, we saw the world order slip a little closer to chaos.  This last week, North Korea continued its destabilization efforts by […]

  With only ten companies left to report earnings in the S&P 500, it’s safe to say that it has been a productive earnings season for S&P 500 companies.  Thus far, companies in the index have reported an average increase in earnings of 9.43 percent. [i] This surely harmonizes with the improvements in macroeconomic data […]

  Over the past eighteen months I have used Uber, the ride-sharing company, over 150 times.  For those of you who aren’t familiar, Uber drivers can choose when they work and how long they work while using their own vehicles to make money.  Over the past several months I have informally surveyed who these drivers […]