A primer on TARP and some political commentary: With all the brightest minds in finance and politics focused on this one problem, why could they not find a better name? TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, is not exactly a bailout nor is it a plan to fix the U.S. economy. It is a program […]
The speed at which the financial markets have gone from one crisis to the next is simply stunning. Rather than try to lump all the events into a single update, we’re going to split them into multiple updates spread out over several days. There are just too many things going on to wrap into one […]
It has been our practice to send out quarterly market updates, but given the anxiety about the economy, we are breaking practice and sending out more regular updates. As a quick aside, our portfolios in July remained relatively neutral showing us that the global economy still has strength even in the midst of a bear […]
There is nothing pretty about the past three months. While the positives regarding the global economy remain, such as growing populations, growing demand and a phenomenal explosion around international trade, the US has entered the witching hour. Namely, our economy here has been battered by three concurrent forces that are creating what may prove to […]
As you have read, heard, and seen in hundreds of headlines and news clips, it has been a troubling year in the markets thus far. From the viewpoint of the general stock market, it was a tough quarter. The S&P500 lost nearly 10%, and down much more earlier in the quarter – a bad downturn, […]
The following is a brief overview of the events leading up to the collapse of Bear Stearns on the weekend of March 15, 2008: Last week, the financial trading firm, Bear Stearns came to a near collapse and was subsequently purchased over the weekend by JP Morgan. The speed at which Bear reached this point […]