Why All the Major Mergers?
It has Nothing to do with the Stars "Since the crisis, one by one, the stars came into alignment, and it was only a matter of time before you had a week like we [...]
Investing for the Dividends Makes More Sense Than Ever
"Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It's to see my dividends coming in." - John D. Rockefeller While I like to think my life is not as narrowly focused as [...]
Why British Vote on Eurozone Membership is Ill-Advised
"Our destiny is Europe." - Then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, 1988 On Jan. 23, British Prime Minister David Cameron laid out a road map for a more independent Britain. Cameron wants Britain to [...]
Most Hedge Funds’ Returns Torpedoed by Their Success
In a December article entitled "Going Nowhere Fast," The Economist reported that the S&P 500 has outperformed its hedge-fund rivals for 10 straight years, with the exception of 2008, when both suffered grievously. "A [...]
Stock Buybacks Are Becoming Popular And For Good Reasons
Whatever the outcome of the upcoming political machinations regarding the looming fiscal cliff, one thing is certain: The tax code will change. One of the changes being debated is the tax rate on dividends, [...]
To Boost Economy, a Holiday on Taxing Overseas Profits
A Dec. 4 Wall Street Journal article, "Top U.S. Firms are Cash-Rich Abroad, Cash-Poor at Home," discussed the liquidity problem confronting many of our major corporations. At a time when U.S. companies hold near-record [...]
Rise in U.S. Energy Production Having Far-Reaching Effects
On Nov. 19, the Paris-based International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization, predicted that the United States will become the world's biggest oil producer by 2017. Other forecasters, such as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting [...]
Tax Breaks’ Sunset a Threat to Citizens and the Economy
Unless something is done between now and then, taxes are slated to go up across the board beginning early next year. Altogether, higher taxes -- the result of the dreaded "fiscal cliff" -- will [...]
Bashing China Will Not Revive Global Growth; Cooperation Will
"The last thing the world economy needs right now is the threat of rising protectionism" - World Trade Organization Director-General Paul Lamy Trade has fueled economic growth over the centuries, from the gold trade [...]
J.P. Morgan Sued on Mortgage Bonds
I believe that the decision by New York’s top prosecutor to sue J.P. Morgan for $ billions for widespread fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities is reprehensible. The case is the first to [...]
Can Japan Make Costly Switch Away From Nuclear Power?
On Sept. 14, in response to protests by thousands of Japan's people, the country's national policy minister, Motoshisa Furukawa, announced: "We will introduce policies to bring down nuclear power generation to zero within the [...]
Why the Fed has Disappointed and May Continue to do so
Economists debate whether the Federal Reserve has the tools to fix today's unemployment problems. They express frustration that, after four years of super-low interest rates and the Fed's extraordinary money-pumping, we still suffer from [...]
Why Stock Markets Might Go Over The Impending ‘Fiscal Cliff’
In August 2011, after months of wrangling over the deficit ceiling, political leaders from both parties decided to postpone solving our fiscal problems until January 2013. To resolve the impasse over the budget ceiling, [...]
Looking For Ways to Avoid Acting Like a Fiscal Lemming
"We are facing a fiscal train wreck at the end of this year. It is time to move off of fixed positions." - Sen. Kent Conrad, Democratic chairman of the Senate Budget Committee Congress [...]
Low Interest Rates Hurt Savers – and Endanger Economies
On June 28, the Bank for International Settlements, an intergovernmental organization of central banks, in its annual report warned central banks against keeping interest rates low for too long. BIS, a kind of central [...]
Fed’s Action on Small Lenders Shocks Banking Community
"During the 2008 financial crisis, the bulk of the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program went to aid larger institutions, leaving many smaller banks vulnerable." - Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, speaking to [...]
Cost of Prekindergarten Special Education Is Exorbitant
“Certainly these children are deserving of services, but it’s a question of whether all this money is actually benefiting them or is being wasted on the contractors.” - Raymond J. Domanico, director of education [...]
Pipeline Delay Pushes Canada to Develop Its Ties With China
Many Americans think of Canada as our 51st state. But recent events highlight Canada's desire to avoid a satellite status and, instead, to expand its commercial relationships with China. Canadians, led by Prime Minister [...]
The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro
The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson By Robert A. Caro President Bill Clinton wrote the following in his review of Caro’s book, the Passage of Power. “After all the years of striving [...]
Fixing Europe’s Debt Crisis: What’s Needed is Some Sugar
In prescribing a cure for Europe's economic woes, we might remember the lyrics of the song "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down." Bob Sherman, the lyricist for "Mary Poppins," said he [...]
Why Putting All Your Money in Stocks is Right Thing To Do
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently provided a strong rationale for going all-in on stocks. Buffett wrote in his 2012 annual letter that he believed equities would, over time, provide [...]
Japan’s Sputtering Exports Will Have Broad Consequences
Japan has lost its exporting magic. Japan's Ministry of Finance reported its first annual trade deficit since 1980: approximately $32 billion. A trade deficit occurs when a country consumes more (imports) than it produces [...]
Ron Paul’s Stance on the Fed Causes Problems for the GOP
"I don't agree with him on everything, but he is right about the out-of- control and unaccountable Federal Reserve." - Sen. Jim DeMint R-SC, referring to Rep. Ron Paul The Republican Party has a [...]
Billionaire Must Start Spending on Sears and Kmart Stores
When I initially considered joining the board of directors of a publicly traded company, my first thoughts were the images conveyed by the film industry. I pictured myself sitting with nicely dressed people around [...]
Normandy Invasion
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade…. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march [...]
Medical Experiments of the Holocaust and Nazi Medicine
Foreword People must remember the Holocaust as a insult to humanity. The lives lost were not only great in number, but offered so much to mankind. How the world would have been different if the [...]
Winston Churchill, Wilderness Years (1929 – 1939)
I recently watched a wonderful series that portrayed Churchill during his wilderness years. From 1929-1939 Churchill was not a member of the cabinet. He even lost two elections for Parliament. William Manchester in his book [...]
Keynes Was Right
“The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury.” -John Maynard Keynes, 1937 In a New York Times editorial Keynes Was Right Paul Krugman agreed with Keynes. Krugman endorsed [...]
European Central Bank Should Take Drastic Steps on Definition
"We will do what is needed to maintain price stability." - Mario Draghi, president, European Central Bank, March 13, Vienna The European Central Bank recently indicated its willingness to take dramatic actions at its [...]
Pipeline Battle Could Create Huge Economic Consequences
"The U.S. decision to delay approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is a catastrophic cop-out by the Obama administration." -- David Wilkins, former U.S. ambassador to Canada under President George W. Bush On Oct. [...]
MF Global Provides Lessons; The Question is: Will We Learn?
MF Global Holdings' bankruptcy underscores just how easily Europe's problems can reverberate throughout the financial system. MF Global is the biggest failure by a securities firm since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter [...]
What the Heck’s an iCloud and Why It’s Crucial for Apple
"Keeping these devices in sync is driving us crazy. We are going to demote the PC to just be a device. We are going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital [...]
Why is a Family Office Worth a Hedge Fund Returning Money?
"We put our clients' interests first." - Michael Cozene, senior vice president, GenSpring Family Office, Sarasota This summer, Soros Fund Management, the investment operation of hedge-fund billionaire George Soros, decided to return the money [...]
Call It Hogwash or Headwinds, Biggest Banks Face Tough Times
"The top U.S. financial institutions have become zombie banks that will need a decade to adjust their businesses to the new realities in the industry." - Meredith Whitney, CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, [...]
Antidote to Market-Induced Motion Sickness
For those of us who own equities, the last five weeks have been devastating. Market losses have put us into red territory for 2011 and even wiped out much of our profits in 2010. [...]
United States Seeing Large and Growing Wealth Gap
On July 26, the Pew Research Center released a study, "Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics." Pew reported that the wealth of different racial groups in the United States [...]