Tale of the Tape

Tale of the Tape You have to be a very attentive student of the stock market to understand just how unusual this year has been. The year isn’t over yet, so much can change from now to the end of the year, but what has happened thus far is startling. If you read these pages […]
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No Surprises

No Surprises The Fed meeting in Jackson Hole continues as this is written, but Chair Powell’s comments on Friday morning, the ‘highlight’ of the confab, were no surprise. Chair Powell reiterated that the inflation target is 2%, not 3% as some on Wall St. have speculated, and with rates at or near restrictive territory, any […]
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Promised Land

Promised Land It was quiet, too quiet. The lead up to this week’s Fed interest rate announcement was downright boring. After months and months of agita every time the Fed got together to talk about interest rates, this time there was little doubt about what would happen or what the Fed would say. The assumption […]
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That’s A Lot of Manure

That’s A Lot of Manure Economic history is full of roadblocks, things that appear impossible to overcome, until some technological advance comes along and changes the dynamics completely. Railroads changed U.S. transportation in the late 1800’s, fertilizers changed our ability to feed a growing global population. Even the automobile, now the bane of environmentalists, was […]
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Keep Calm and Carry On

Keep Calm and Carry On “God is Great, Beer is Good, and People are Crazy.” Country music fans will surely recognize the lyrics from Billy Currington’s famous song. These words come to mind because the first half of this year was absolutely crazy and had us thinking about drinking on more than a few occasions. […]
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Picks and Shovels

Picks and Shovels The 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California resulted in several hundred thousand prospectors rushing to strike it rich during the California Gold Rush. For most, the dream of riches remained just that, as most prospectors had little to show for their efforts. However, you did not have to […]
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Wherever You Go, There You Are

Wherever You Go, There You Are The market is expert at making prognosticators look foolish. Great Depression-era economist John Maynard Keynes, the primary architect of modern economics, once said “Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent”. It essentially means that the market has a mind of its own. It is more than […]
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