The former chief U.S. economist for UBS, Maury Harris, wrote an article “When Will More Economists Forecast Recession?” Harris pointed out that “an April poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal put the probability of [...]
Elon Musk, no stranger to controversy, has drawn media attention with his takeover of Twitter. Musk says he has secured $46.5 billion in financing to acquire Twitter. Musk listed three sources: The first two would be [...]
The Labor Department released two disturbing reports relating to inflation. The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the prices paid by wholesalers, rose 11.2% from a year ago. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which [...]
In addition to the suffering and humanitarian crisis from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the global economy will feel the impact of slower growth, higher inflation and a recalibration of energy policies. Because Russia and Ukraine are major [...]
The Biden Administration has introduced legislation to limit corporate buybacks, a fundamental practice in corporate America. Stock buybacks refer to share repurchases. A buyback occurs when the issuing company reabsorbs that portion of its ownership that was previously [...]
On March 16, the Federal Reserve approved a 0.25% rate hike, the first increase since December 2018. Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, stated that our Central Bank will raise rates aggressively over the next year [...]
Similar to the effects of the Vietnam War, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shifted the geopolitical and economic forces toward higher inflation. The sudden isolation of the Russian economy reflects the West’s condemnation of this [...]
On March 4, the Labor Department reported very strong employment numbers. In brief, the U.S. has benefitted from robust job growth for months. Specifically, 678,000 workers joined the workforce in February. This brings employment to levels [...]
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted the world economy and financial markets. For more than a decade, Russian President Vladimir Putin has assailed the post-Cold War security order. While Putin’s ambitions remain unclear, this [...]
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has triggered the greatest security crisis on the European continent since the Cold War. On Feb. 18, President Biden said, “We have reason to believe that Russian forces [...]
“The inflation number is a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched in ways that create real stress at the kitchen table." --President Biden U.S. 10-year Treasury yields rose on Feb. 10 above 2% for [...]
We are living in an era of Big Tech dominance. On top of the mountain are Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook (Meta), Amazon and Microsoft. We rely on these companies to live, work, study and secure essential services. Over time, Big Tech has built a [...]
“Is our growth rate too good to be true?” The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at a 6.9% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2021. This represents the fastest growth in almost 35 years. Unfortunately, [...]
KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms, reported in late December that merger and acquisition activity in 2021 easily surpassed the pre-pandemic level. Moreover, KPMG reported that a survey of 350 business leaders reported M&A is [...]
Omicron, the newest and most contagious COVID variant, has not only cast a pall over the holiday season but also raises questions about the future. That is, will we continue to see the emergence [...]
There is a growing consensus that the United States will enjoy solid economic growth in 2022 despite concerns about inflation, supply chain disruptions, COVID-19, and Federal Reserve tightening. The Conference Board, a research group [...]
On Friday, the Labor Department revealed that the consumer price index (CPI) has climbed 6.8% over the past 12 months. This represents the fastest annual pace in almost 40 years. Inflation of this magnitude is eroding [...]
“Longer, more frequent outages afflict the U.S. power grid as states fail to prepare for climate change.” – The Washington Post The demand for coal, natural gas and oil now exceeds pre-COVID 19 levels. Government stimulus [...]
The magazine, The Economist, wrote in its October edition that, “The world is on the brink of a real-time revolution in economics, as the quality and timeliness of information are transformed. This state-of-the-art innovation [...]
Boyar Research, a premier equity research firm, recently provided an overview of the wide-ranging business changes that the pandemic has turbocharged. Specifically, it accelerated e-commerce evolutions to satisfy consumer demand. As consumers moved online, [...]
Last week, George Roberts and Henry Kravis gave up their positions as co-chief executive officers of KKR & Co. In 1976, Messrs. Kravis and Roberts, who are first cousins, founded KKR along with Jerome [...]
The demand for natural gas, coal and oil has created price increases not seen for years, pushing electricity costs in Europe to all-time highs. The supply shortage has several causes, including supply-chain bottlenecks and [...]
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced that they will begin reducing the $120 billion monthly asset purchases soon. Economists and market participants welcomed their cautious approach for two reasons: (1) America’s growth [...]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, chairperson of the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy, has recommended that the 12 Federal Reserve Bank regional presidents stop stock trading by them and their staff. Her letter followed reports [...]
U.S. natural gas futures have soared to a seven-year high, almost doubling since the beginning of the year. Gas for October delivery recently reached $5.03 per million British thermal units, a level not reached since [...]
On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported the core consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate rose 5.4% over the past year to the highest 12-month rate since 2008. Core inflation is a measure of the [...]
This April, the S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index posted the biggest annual percentage increase in 30 years of 16.6%. Housing prices have risen for 12 straight months, with the advances accelerating in all [...]
Unfortunately, America’s economic recovery is not indicative of the world economy. Federal Reserve officials will discuss measures to scale back our easy money policies because the U.S economy is doing so well and concerns [...]
In response to U.S. consumer prices (CPI) increasing the most in 13 years (4.5% year-on year), far beyond the Fed’s 2% guideline, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers that he has concerns about [...]
The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce awarded Team Tony Cancer Foundation the Small Business of the Year Award. For many years, I have been actively involved with Team Tony, CTAC (Coming Together Against Cancer) [...]
On June 21st, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified that while the U.S. will experience some inflation post Covid-19, he does not anticipate prices to increase similar to our experience in the late 1970’s [...]
A recent Harvard-CAPS-Harris Poll reveals that Americans have concerns about inflation but are increasingly bullish about the economy. Fifty-six percent of respondents believe the economy is strong and their personal finances are improving. Americans [...]
The Dow Jones Industrial Index made its debut 125 years ago. The index of 12 smokestack companies opened at 40.94 on the first day. Over its life, the Dow has risen on average 7.69% [...]
Americans are confronting a new challenge of having to wait and pay more for products. Supply chain woes have negatively impacted makers of everything from cars and clothing to home siding and medical needle containers. Fed [...]
Colonial Pipeline paid DarkSide, who specialize in digital extortion, 75 Bitcoins or approximately $5 million dollars, to recover its stolen data. Hackers encrypt its victims’ records and threaten to release it publicly unless paid [...]
We need to remember the lamentation of President Harry Truman. Harry wanted a ‘one-handed economist’. Truman once complained, “All my economists say, ‘on the one hand, but on the other’.” On the one hand [...]
