This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co – October 2, 2013
The way Congress goes about its business is maddening, counter-productive, and basically, a drag on the economy. This week we examine the partial government shutdown and its ramifications.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – September 25, 2013
As St. Augustine spoke of the need for restraint, so also the Fed has spoken of its need to begin restraining its large scale asset purchase program. Though the initial bond-buying program may have helped stimulate demand in 2010 and 2011, keeping it going is now doing very little to stimulate economic growth and employment. In its announcement September 18 the Fed showed that it was as reluctant as the great Saint to implement restraint by tapering the size of its asset purchases; its message was “not yet”. Critics of the Fed believe the Fed’s unconventional program creates economic imbalances, stokes inflation, and provides markets a short-term, unsustainable “sugar high”. The unconventional program will continue, at least for a while. Markets were positively surprised by the announcement.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – September 11, 2013
Is the Fed’s policy of quantitative easing effective? This question is particularly relevant as the Federal Reserve meets September 17-18 to discuss tapering of its large scale asset purchase program. That conversation has caused markets to convulse this summer.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – September 4,2013
Labor Day is behind us and fall—usually a volatile period-- is before us. The last weeks of August showed signs of optimism for the economy and as well as a rise in tensions in the Middle East.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – August 21, 2013
Sometimes good news is greeted poorly by the market. Last week the number of claims for jobless benefits dropped to the lowest level since October 2007. Consumer confidence also moved near a five-year high. However, the stock market dropped, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to prices, climbed. Concerns that the Federal Reserve will taper asset purchases beginning as early as September have stoked a selling spree.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – August 7, 2013
What are the prospects for investing in real estate in a potential rising interest rate environment? The first two articles this week address the return prospects for core real estate in a rising rate environment. The third article is an update on the phenomenon of private equity funds purchasing homes for long-term rental.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – July 31, 2013
Stock and bond markets are recovering from the spasms felt May 22 to June 24. This week we take a close look at what just happened; review a provocative article on why bond yields may drop further; and re-state the case for investing in Emerging Markets, which have not rallied at the same pace as
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – July 24,2013
Last Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke delivered testimony to Congress, taking great pains to clarify Fed policy. His comments were well received because stocks moved higher and interest rates retreated. Our first article examines what the Chairman said and what he really meant. Though the economy still may need Fed support to reach “escape velocity” (i.e., where it can grow by its own momentum), our next article by Liz Ann Sonders of Schwab takes a look at the plunging Federal budget deficit and what it means. Finally, we summarize a recent poll by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts about expectations over the next 12 months.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – July 17, 2013
This week we examine the topic of financial repression, the term to describe the deliberate action of government to hold down interest rates below inflation. It represents a tax on savers and transfers benefits to government and other borrowers that would otherwise be spent elsewhere.
This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. – July 10, 2013
Stocks are rebounding from a rough ride, but this is characteristic of many pullbacks since the bull market began in March 2009. According to the analysis of Liz Ann Sonders of Schwab, the stock market appears to be transitioning to a market driven more by traditional fundamentals, and less by Fed policy. On the bond side, Bill Gross of PIMCO believes the Fed is overly optimistic in its outlook for declining unemployment, and the recent spike in bond yields has been overdone