“Play it once, Sam, for old times’ sake, play ‘As Time Goes By’.”–Ingrid Bergman “You played it for her, you can play it for me…If she can stand to listen to it, I can. Play it.”–Humphrey Bogart. Casablanca Last year the bull market rally began to run out of steam on May 2nd. Over the [...]

Who do we owe?

Our national debt stands at $14 trillion and rising $3 million a minute or $3.99 billion a day, every day. Given that our debt ceiling at the moment stands at $14.294 trillion, it is only a matter of time before we once again have to renegotiate the debt ceiling.

No Pain, No Gain

Sometimes you just need to throw in the towel, take your losses and walk away. This is not one of those times.

Sometimes I look at my wife, Barbara, and wonder how we ever got here. We gave up our high-powered jobs in New York City for life in bucolic Berkshire Country, MA. But this is not another story of inn keeping, goat herding or yoga teaching.

It is no surprise that money can be the root of many evils since money symbolizes different things to different people.  Love, security, power, control–money can be a landmine of unexpected emotions. Psychologists will tell you that couples will talk about just about anything, even sex, before they will talk about their finances. No wonder [...]

“Greed is good. Now it seems its legal” Gordon Gekko, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” The Oliver Stone directed sequel to the 1987 film “Wall Street” starring Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf and Josh Brolin, opens Friday in the aftermath of two years of financial crisis that almost sank the global financial structure and put 9.9% [...]

Don Yacktman, his son, Stephen, and Jason Subotky, all portfolio managers of the Yacktman Fund and it’s sister the Yacktman Focus Fund, are not sitting on their duffs just because their funds are up over 51% and 48% respectively so far this year, according to Morningstar. And just because Mr. Yacktman is a finalist in [...]

Until recently most professionals simply lumped men and women together when it came to planning for retirement, savings or other investment goals. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that the genders do differ in their investment needs and I want my women readers to understand that.

That’s right, thanks to an initiative by President Obama, announced earlier this month; you can contribute all those unused vacation days to your 401(k). So if you’re the type that just can’t stay away from the job, start lobbying your employer to amend your benefit plan.

The market action this week appeared ideal for further upside gains in the week ahead. Although sectors such as technology, commodities, industrials and financials led the markets higher, other sectors are beginning to participate while volume expands as more investors abandon the sidelines and take the equity plunge. I expect this to continue.