Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

An Explanation of the State of our Economy

By: Alex Harris First of all, I’d like to say that I personally apologize to those of you who do actually enjoy reading this blog periodically. Clearly, it’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to write; apparently college takes its toll.  But, that’s neither here nor there,...
November 16th, 2009 | Business, Markets, Policies | Read More

In Debt We Trust: Here Comes the Bust

By: Billy Alpert On September 15, Fed Chairman Bernanke said that the recession is “very likely overâ€.  At this juncture there is really no point in believing anything that comes out of this man’s mouth, in fact, over the not too distant past it was actually wise to use his statements to forecast...
September 18th, 2009 | Business, Policies | Read More

Speculation Pushing Major Stocks Higher

By: Alex Harris Warren Buffet once said, “Don’t buy a stock unless you plan on owning it for 10 years.”  That mantra has all but gone out the window. If you’ve been paying attention to market action over the last couple of months, you’ve recognized that certain companies...
August 28th, 2009 | Business, Markets | Read More

Cash-For-Clunkers: Not So Bad After All

By: Alex Harris Recently, the Obama administration striked into law what has been so-cleverly dubbed by the mainstream media: the ”Cash-for-Clunkers” program, or more professionally known as CARS, or the Car Allowance Rebate System.  At first glance, it seems like another government initiaition...
August 9th, 2009 | Business, Policies | Read More

The Illusion That is Economic Data

By: Billy Alpert The news is flooded with optimism for our economy and talk of a recovery. Wall Street seems especially euphoric as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index finished the week of August 7, at 1010, its highest close in 10 months. The calls for an end to the recession come in the midst of...
August 9th, 2009 | Business, Markets | Read More

Real Economic Stimulus: Abolish Minimum Wage

By: Billy Alpert The most recent attack on prosperity is the federal government increasing the minimum wage from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour, effective July 24, 2009.  This 11% increase is occurring on top of a large 12% increase from $5.85 to $6.55 in 2008. Many only tend to look superficially...
July 19th, 2009 | Business, Policies | Read More

The Banking Sector’s Problems are Far from Over

By: Alex Harris Since March 6th, 2009, the Dow Jones US Financials Index (symbol: .DJUSFN) has witnessed a drastic jump, moving upward nearly 77% off its 52-week low. Market expert or not, one would have to assume an increase of this magnitude would be coupled with encouraging economic news.  Decrease...
July 4th, 2009 | Business, Markets | Read More

Stock Market: Time to Be Greedy or Cautious?

By: Billy Alpert Generally, the 2000s decade has been rather unkind to investors of the US stock markets. The popular index used as a barometer for US stocks, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, emphasizes this point as it includes the stocks of the largest 500 public companies in the U.S. The S&P...
June 30th, 2009 | Business, Markets | Read More

GM Bankruptcy: Lawless Government

By: Billy Alpert Although the media has been covering the GM bankruptcy from May extensively, I feel it has failed to address the real hidden issue surrounding it: government lawlessness. When a company declares bankruptcy, the company does so because it acknowledges it cannot fully meet the obligations...
June 14th, 2009 | Business, Policies | Read More

Ken Lewis: Speak Up

By: Alex Harris On June 11th, Ken Lewis (the current CEO of BofA) testified in front of a congressional panel to answer questions regarding last year’s September 14th merger with investment bank, Merrill Lynch.  The main topic of concern: Did the government, specifically Ben Bernanke or former...
June 14th, 2009 | Business, Policies | Read More