Happy America day: Earnings are around the corner
To most of us its known as the Fourth of July. If you have ever traveled to or met someone from another part of the world. they have likely called it “America Day,” and to be honest, I prefer the latter. Regardless of race, gender or religious affiliation, its one of the few holidays everyone in the country observes and hopefully appreciates, and I think it ought to have a more appropriate, prideful nickname.
I’m on the train headed to Boston for the weekend and I thought I’d throw in some thoughts on the past week and a look ahead to the most pivotal time for the market. Continue Reading »
Unfashionably late as usual
Call it beginners luck, but not only have markets sold off since my inaugural post here at Average Joe L-E, but now the White House agrees that unemployment will climb into double digits. Earlier this year Mr Prez and his crew predicted unemployment would peak around 8%. Nice. Those guys have always been a little slow, haven’t they? Speaking of slow, the World Bank today cut its global forecast, citing a 2.9% contraction coming…whatever that means. It’s been pretty humorous over the last 12 months watching these upgrade/downgrade headlines come out so un-fashionably late.
In (un)related news, anyone ever notice how big Timothy Geithner’s head is? (Image only slightly modified). “It” reminds me of Dan Aykroyd in Coneheads, but worse. Aykroyd was an alien, and TG is secretary of the treasury. Anyway… Continue Reading »
Bando Bucks: “Less Bad” economy
Hello to all of you from 50 Broad Street in New York City, and welcome to the newest segment of the Average Joe L-E Blog, Bando Bucks. I’m a twenty-something Wall Street trader and just so happened to start my career as the worst recession in 50 years began. I’ll be chiming in every now and again with a young professional’s perspective on our new financial landscape, economy and trading to complement Joe’s blog. You’ll come to learn that I have many opinions on the stock market and the economy. Trading is a hobby of mine that I enjoy, but it’s also what I do for a living. You can say I’m like any young guy trying to make it in finance…but with 25% of a normal base salary. How I make my living is almost entirely based on trading performance, so I do my homework and take my trading seriously. I’m in this career because of its unlimited upside…sitting in a small room with a few millionaires under 35 doesn’t hurt my motivation either. Continue Reading »
Chicken or the egg dilemma on government spending
[Benefits spending soars to new high]
[U.S. unemployment hits record but job losses slow]
Two interesting, and in my view, conflicting stories this morning. One tells us that thanks to government spending, 16% of all Americans’ income comes from the government. In other news, unemployment rises, but at a lower rate. Which begs the question, which came first?
Obviously, there are some people who would be on public assistance no matter what. However, with the rapid government spending and taxes increasing in many states, it is unclear if the government’s actions pushed people to the unemployment line. Continue Reading »
