I am used to taking irrational and mean-spirited barbs from crooked stock brokers and other thieves that happen to find their way into my crosshairs. However, the poisoned-tipped arrows that everyone and anyone involved with the April 15th TEA Parties (Taxed enough Already) have taken are borderline insane. A quick example of the unhinged would […]
President Barack Obama’s former Commerce Secretary nominee and United States Senator Judd Gregg made this amazing point… “We won’t even be able to get into the EU, if we wanted to, because our government is so large and so huge. We’ve been lectured by France on the fact that we’re not fiscally responsible right now.” […]
In the aftermath of the credit crunch, widely publicized ponzi-schemes, and regulatory failures, there is a battle taking place that will hopefully put in motion some important steps in providing investors with unbiased advice they need. The power struggle taking place right now in Washington is between stockbrokers and insurance agents that work for the […]
These extraordinarily difficult markets have brought out from underneath the rocks, a bevy of unscrupulous insurance/annuity salesmen selling products that are nothing more than Trojan horses. I spend a large amount of time in my car and listen to hefty doses of AM radio; and I am very concerned with the volume of advertisements from […]
Conventional wisdom states that one would never want to know what goes in to making a hot dog or sausage, and if one did know they would never consume its mystery meat goodness. Unfortunately it is also conventional to not discuss the inner workings of legislation proposed by the sausage makers in Washington D.C. The […]
All sorts of gloom and doom. Everywhere you turn, whether it is print, television or radio the words, unprecedented, depression, unparalleled, are being used without any concern for context or accuracy. Almost 30 years ago Business Week magazine put out a cover piece entitled the Death of Equities. At that time the Dow was 875 […]
The following is a letter making the rounds around the internet. Is a great example of the plight and struggles that are emblematic of our clients, readers, and listeners. To All My Valued Employees, There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you […]
Various tax changes take effect on January 1, 2009; the following are a few important law changes to keep in mind. If you are 70 ½ or older, you may skip payouts from qualified plans such as IRA’s without penalty. Heirs also need not to take withdrawals in 2009 from inherited plans and IRA’s. The […]
Investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission rushing to uncover Bernard Madoff’s alleged fraud last week found records from what appear to be thousands of clients. Federal authorities have been combing the offices and books of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC for days trying to unravel the extent of the investment fraud and trace […]
A little perspective by the numbers…As of December 15, 2008… BEAR MARKET – 100 days ago the S&P 500 was down 14.1% YTD (total return). As of last Friday, the S&P 500 is down 38.7%YTD. Thus the S&P 500 has fallen 28.6% in the last 100 days, a performance that would rank as the 6th […]