Executive Summary A recent article in The Wall Street Journal entitled “European Banks Consider Mergers for Survival” describes how banks are exploring mergers due to a decade of weak returns. It goes on to explain how the banks have survived due to government policies and stimulus programs [...]

Executive Summary Public companies are required to publish financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).  However, if GAAP earnings do not provide the picture stock analysts want, then they shift to alternatives such as “adjusted” earnings, operating earnings or projected future earnings.  The financial [...]

Executive Summary Last month the stock market, especially the technology-heavy NASDAQ 100 Index, reflected extreme investor exuberance reminiscent of the Technology Bubble peak in 2000.  There is an old saying:  the stock market rises like and escalator and falls like an elevator.  The recent stock split announcements [...]

Executive Summary Historically, retirees could safely use the old “rule-of-thumb” of a 5% withdrawal rate to supplement Social Security and other defined benefits to provide income during retirement, while at the same time preserving their capital.  This principle typically assumed a 60/30/10 buy-and-hold portfolio – 60% stocks, [...]

Executive Summary Government’s initial response to the onset of COVID-19 was to force businesses to avoid person-to-person contact.  This action resulted in businesses laying-off millions of workers.  For some perspective, before the arrival of COVID-19, the highest number of initial weekly unemployment claims was 695,000 in 1982.  [...]

Executive Summary After working-off the defaults and write-offs from the Financial Crisis, debt immediately became in-vogue again.  In fact, by the end of 2019 just prior to the arrival of COVID-19, non-financial corporate debt had reached record levels.  But debt growth was not restricted to corporations – [...]

Executive Summary There is real excitement in the market as the S&P 500 Index approaches its February all-time high.  So, in this week’s newsletter I am going to take a look under the hood to see if all the hoopla is warranted.  First, for the first six [...]

Executive Summary An excerpt from Investopedia’s definition of the free market is: “an economic system based on supply and demand with little or no government control.” In looking at the current situation, one will see how much Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) action and Federal government transfer payments [...]

Executive Summary Today’s stock prices are anything but reasonable, and the warning signs extend beyond stock prices.  One would think with bankruptcies escalating, debt loads compounding, profits plunging, and the dollar losing value, the stock market would be falling.  But thanks to the Fed’s electronic printing press [...]

Executive Summary The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) declared a recession officially began in February of this year.  Since March, over 50 million people have filed first time unemployment claims.  Additionally, real annualized economic growth fell 5% in the first quarter and is expected to fall [...]