Not one of my finest moments when I argue with my wife first thing in the morning. Similar to fighting with my kids, it does not make for a good start to the day. What makes this “discussion” more interesting is that she asked me about the recent bank failures after watching a segment on Good Morning America. Sometimes it … Read More
The Stock Market is Not the Economy
John Rekenthaler, who is Vice President of Research for Morningstar, wrote a piece recently, The Stock Market Is Not the Economy. In his article, Rekenthaler noted that stock prices are only tenuously connected to general economic conditions. Rekenthaler went on to say, “For one, stocks anticipate future developments rather than dwell on current affairs. For another, neither employment statistics nor … Read More
The Golden Age of TV Content?
With so much intriguing content and new shows on TV over the past few years, you may call this the golden age of TV content. New non-traditional players such as Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu are now spending billions on their own original content vs. the traditional media pillars of Disney, Fox, HBO, and Showtime. And as more and more people … Read More
Is It Worth Amazon Coming to Your City?
Seems like I have been writing something about Amazon every week. Living in Metro Detroit, this one hits a little more home for me as Detroit is one of the cities who are currently trying to lure Amazon to build their 2nd headquarters. While there are obviously lots of benefits to having a titan of industry relocate to your city, … Read More
Why Should Amazon Buy Another Retailer?
As we head into the busiest shopping season of the year, be prepared for more and more of why Amazon should buy this company or that company. While just about anyone could build a case for why Amazon should buy up cheap retail companies such as Kohl’s, I think that the analysis in this piece misses the mark on brands. … Read More
Economic Development – Where will Amazon’s 2nd HQ Go?
Do economic development incentives really work and would company business decisions actually be altered?
The Downward Spiral Within the Apparel Retail Space Except for Amazon
I have recently read several articles in several different publications about the death of retail, namely in the apparel brick and mortar space. Recently several retailers such as Macy’s and Kohl’s have reported lackluster financial figures. I don’t have to look very far from home in this area to see that much of what my wife buys is online. I … Read More
“It is always morning in America”; Highlights from Warren Buffet’s Annual Shareholder Letter
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder letter is always a great read for both investors and non-investors. The manner in which he writes his letters in plain English so that people can better understand them is a true skill. One of my favorite Buffet quotes is “it is always morning in America.” So what does this mean? Those familiar with … Read More
Why Some People Do Not Believe that the Economy is Better
While the economy may have improved since the Great Recession, there appears to be an increase in uncertainty. A sea change of sorts has been overtaking the American Dream if you will. Once upon a time, it was merely a high school education that one needed to secure their spot within the middle class of America. From there the road … Read More
Pictures Help to Tell the True Economic & Investment Story
Sometimes a picture can tell a thousand stories. However, I hope to use far fewer words and utilize only three pictures (graphs actually) in which to explain the story behind the price declines within the U.S. equity markets. Let’s begin with the two graphs below which from my viewpoint tells of the correlation between the drop in equity prices over … Read More
