QE3 on its Way As Fed Prepares Phillips Trial

From the Financial Times and Scott Minerd When Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, emerges from his meetings with the Federal Open Market Committee, he addresses the media in that most Delphic of dialects – “Fedspeak.” Like any good central banker, he is careful to preach the piety of price stability. Even if he …

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Did You Hear the One About the Bankers?

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN CITIGROUP is lucky that Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed when he was. The Libyan leader’s death diverted attention from a lethal article involving Citigroup that deserved more attention because it helps to explain why many average Americans have expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. The news was that Citigroup had …

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Is a Housing Market Turnaround at Hand?

By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne October 24, 2011 After years of housing market decline that has weakened the economy and depressed consumer sentiment, a number of analyses are strongly suggesting that a turnaround in the beaten sector may finally be at hand. Indeed, the market seems to be adding its endorsement to these analyses, with the …

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Capital Market Insights – OCTOBER 31, 2011

Here is your Weekly Insights update from Curian’s Asset Management Group. This informative capital market update is designed to help those of you who want to manage your own money. Stay informed about important developments in economics and the markets… CONTINUE READING…

A Look Ahead at the Geography of Global Security

As readers of this blog know already, I’m fascinated by the thinking and writing of Thomas P.M.Barnett. He is a strategic thinker with an ability to express complex ideas and to synthesize those ideas in a way that is understandable to those of us not so blessed. Here is a recent article by Barnett that …

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The Haves and the Have-Nots

Some time ago I posted an article called Cognitive Dissonance. It put me in mind of something that frustrates me. I’m where I am in life and perhaps you are where you are as a result of forces in this country that created what we think of as the ‘great middle class’. You know these …

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Capital Market Insights – OCTOBER 24, 2011

Here is your Weekly Insights update from Curian’s Asset Management Group. This informative capital market update is designed to help those of you who want to manage your own money. Stay informed about important developments in economics and the markets… CONTINUE READING…

America Must Manage its Decline

From the Financial Times and Gideon Rachman Recently I met a retired British diplomat who claimed with some pride that he was the man who had invented the phrase, “the management of decline”, to describe the central task of British foreign policy after 1945. “I got criticised,” he said, “but I think it was an …

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Bonds Show 60% Odds Of Recession

The bond market indicator that has predicted every U.S. recession since 1970 shows that the economy has about a 60 percent chance of contracting within 12 months. The so-called Treasury yield curve, adjusted for distortions caused by the Federal Reserve’s record low zero to 0.25 percent target interest rate for overnight loans between banks, shows …

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“When Should I File for Social Security Benefits?”

It's the question every Boomer needs to answer. Rich or poor. Whether you'll need Social Security to make ends meet or whether you intend to use it to fund an investment program for yourself or, say, your grandkids' education. Or anything else in between. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is complicated. The accumulation phase …

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