DIASTOLE ECONOMIC AND MARKET COMMENT

The government shutdown, which began on October 1st, continues, Congress is in recess, so there is no way to resolve the shutdown at this time. As the shutdown goes on, pain will grow for furloughed government workers and recipients of some government benefits, to say...

DIASTOLE ECONOMIC AND MARKET COMMENT

The biggest news this week is what’s going to happen next. Will the government shut down at midnight tomorrow? Will there be a September jobs report on Friday? I’m also wondering if my prescription medications come from overseas. Well, maybe that last one isn’t one of...

DIASTOLE ECONOMIC AND MARKET COMMENT

Happy First Day of Autumn! And just like the leaves on the trees, interest rates are falling. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee announced on Wednesday that it was cutting the Fed-funds rate by 0.25% – to a range of 4%-4.25%. The Fed-funds rate is what...

DIASTOLE ECONOMIC AND MARKET COMMENT

It’s Fed week! And a lot has changed since last week, when what the Fed was going to do was still up in the air. Now we (and everybody else) expect the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) to lower interest rates, probably by one quarter of a percentage point....

DIASTOLE ECONOMIC AND MARKET COMMENT

First markets were closed last Monday for labor day. Then we saw optimism about a coming interest-rate cut move markets higher, and finally, on Friday, we saw bad news bringing markets lower. Which is it, people? Is bad news good or is bad news bad? By the end of the...

DIASTOLE ECONOMIC AND MARKET COMMENT

Wow that went fast! It’s September already and I haven’t yet put away my winter coats. Well, in this case procrastination is my friend. And if you were thinking about getting out of the stock market but didn’t, procrastination is your friend, too. In August, the Dow...