« Previous  |  Next »

U.S. Q3 GDP: Not Quite as Good as Originally Predicted

Meantime, corporate profits skyrocketed in Q3. As companies shed payrolls, the cost saving flowed to the corporate bottom line. Profits jumped 13.4% during the July-September 2009 period at an annualized rate. That's the biggest percentage gain since 20 ...

From JAMES PICERNO, Seeking Alpha,  24 Nov 2009

Inflation Expectations: Slowly Inching Higher

The good news is that deflation is no longer a clear and present danger, as it appeared to be late last year and into early 2009. Measured by the consumer price index (CPI), the official benchmark of inflation in the U.S., the last monthly decline in ...

From JAMES PICERNO, Seeking Alpha,  9 Nov 2009

Related Topics: Labor Department

The Market Portfolio as an Investing First Step

By market portfolio we're talking of all the major asset classes weighted passively. This boils down to a global mix of stocks, bonds, REITs and commodities. Those four constitute the "major" asset classes in the sense that all are readily available at ...

From JAMES PICERNO, Seeking Alpha,  19 Oct 2009

Settling for Relative Employment Gains

It's all about employment now. More of it would be better, although we may have to settle for losing it a slower pace for a bit longer. The U.S. Labor Department will dispatch the official update for September nonfarm payrolls on Friday. Meantime, ...

From JAMES PICERNO, Seeking Alpha,  30 Sep 2009

Related Topics: Labor Department,  BNP Paribas,  Bloomberg News

Durable Goods News: Heartening, But Just One Step Toward Recovery

If you're looking for a measure of the challenge that awaits, new orders for durable goods are a useful place to start. Durable goods are arguably at the front line of economic activity. Purchasing big-ticket items, like cars and aircraft, takes some ...

From JAMES PICERNO, Seeking Alpha,  25 Sep 2009

A Fresh Look at Link Between Politics, Investing

"..there appear to be both long-term and short-term connections between the U.S. national election cycle and stock market performance, with presidential term year 3 (1) the best (worst) and a tendency for a brief election-time rally. However, the ...

From JAMES PICERNO, ETF Investor,  23 Sep 2009

Related Topics: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Is there More Good News in the Labor Market?

Thursday morning's update on initial jobless claims offers more encouragement for thinking that the economic contraction has bottomed out. That's still distinct from proclaiming the arrival of a recovery worthy of the name, as we've been discussing for ...

From JAMES PICERNO, ETF Investor,  10 Sep 2009

Jobs: Better, But Far from Healthy

It's getting better, or at least the pain is lessening. But no one will mistake the labor market as healthy at the moment. Nor is it obvious that salvation's coming any time soon. Nonfarm payrolls dropped again last month. The good news is that the ...

From JAMES PICERNO, Seeking Alpha,  4 Sep 2009

The Returns of August

August was another hot month for REITs. It wasn't even a contest relative to the other major asset classes. The Wilshire REIT index soared in August with a 14.6% total return, building on a 10%-plus gain in July. For the year through the end of last ...

From JAMES PICERNO, ETF Investor,  1 Sep 2009

Asset Allocation: Still Relevant After All These Years

The answer, of course, is that no one has 100% confidence in forecasting returns, in part because no one can see all the risks lurking in the distance. Then again, our confidence in peering into the future isn't zero either. Financial economists have ...

From JAMES PICERNO, ETF Investor,  10 Aug 2009

« Previous  |  Next »

Who is This?

Help us add to our database, by linking this writer their entry in Wikipedia or Source Watch, or by suggesting that we remove it from our index.

Suggest an Entry