Capitalist Pigs

We received a plethora of data on our economy and most of it was good.  Of course, it was all seasonally adjusted to be good.  And that may not reflect reality when in the warmest winter in a decade.  We look at Jobless Claims, G

We had a slew of economic data released last week.  Some of it good, some of it bad, and some of it looked better than it was.  We will deconstruct the Non Farm Payrolls and Unemployment Rate, among other things, and talk about whethe

A couple  of economic releases this week bring the over-excited analysts back to earth.  Ben Bernanke hates retirees.  His FOMC meeting Q&A session should be upsetting to anyone living on a fixed income.  He wants to kee

S&P downgraded just about every European country's debt rating.  Except Germany, of course.  However, nobody outside of Rome seems to care much.  The US decoupling from Europe continued this week.  Debt decoupling fr

For 3 weeks the old (and rational) relationships between various markets have broken down.  Why?  We'll offer some explanations.  Chris explains how to interpret the lastest leading economic indicators.  Also, European b

It was a strange week.  We had contradictory data coming from volatility levels, manufacturing data, and jobless claims.  What does it all mean?  Oddly, it means Christmas is coming.

The Dow surged 490 points on Wednesday!  The S&P 500 had its best week since March of 2009!  Surely Europe must have cured itself of its debt disease, right?  Well, no, not really.  We'll talk about this week's E

With the S&P 500 down almost 5% this week, it is the worst Thanksgiving week for stocks since Donna Summer and the Bee Gees ruled the Top 40.  Europe as a whole is almost assuredly already in a recession.  Will they drag the US do

Europe is Saved!  Europe is Saved!  Really?  Well, no, not really.  What Europe did do this week is settle a couple of political questions.  Nothing was done to eliminate debt or increase European economic growth.