Death of the Petrodollar
The petrodollar has kept the U.S. dollar stronger than it would have been but it appears that Obama is in the process of throwing the petrodollar under the bus.
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Argentina Coming Apart at the Seams… Again
As you’ve probably heard Argentina has defaulted on it’s Sovereign debt. This is the second time in 12 years that Argentina is defaulting. Of course the Kirchner Government is trying to blame the U.S. for their troubles by saying that it is our fault…
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GNP vs. GDP
Once upon a time, Gross National Product (GNP) meant the goods and services that a country produced. But as our economy shifted more toward government and away from the free market, more of the total economy came under the control of the government. So the government changed the definition.
How a Big Cat Started Europe’s Addiction to Oil
By Marin Katusa, Chief Energy Investment Strategist On July 1, 1911, a German gunboat named Panther sailed into the port of Agadir, Morocco, and changed history. For the previous two decades, a faction within the British Admiralty had called for the navy to switch from coal-fired ships to ones powered by a new fuel. Admiral John Fisher,
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Investors: Do You Know How We Got Here…
And Where We are Going? Policy Makers- Blowing Bubbles Again Many hard-working Americans are scratching their collective heads about the following questions: Why have stocks performed in a manner that seems to be out of step with the relatively slow pace of economic expansion? Why has the economic recovery failed to gain traction, even though
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How is the Middle Class in the U.S. Doing? (Infographic)
In the United States we consider a family with a household income of less than $100,000 to be “Middle Class”. But how well are families really doing? Let’s look at middle class income, net worth, taxes, etc since the recession of 2008. According to the 2010 census, the median household income was $51,371. Which means that half the households earn more and half earn less.
If we break the population up into 5 segments of 20% each we can get a closer look at how the population as a whole is doing. Based on the $100,000 definition, the “middle class” probably comprises segments 3 and 4 of the total population. Households in the top 20% earned about $239,100 per household and those in the bottom 20% earned about $24,100 before taxes. But that doesn’t tell the whole story…
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Separatist Forces Growing in Europe
Throughout Europe regions that were once independent are seeking to shed the shackles of their non-productive neighbors. Those areas that feel they are paying more in taxes than they are receiving in benefits are looking to their historical roots and dreaming of independence. Among them are Scotland, Catalan, Spain and Venice, Italy.
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Golden Oldies
There is an old saying, “Those who do not study the past are condemned to repeat it” and another that goes along with it which says, “History may not repeat itself but it does rhyme.”
Recently I came across some articles that we published quite a few years ago but I thought they were worth mentioning again in an effort to learn from the past. So here they are:
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Closing Costs and Refinancing
The simplest way to include the closing costs in your refinancing calculations is to simply calculate the overall savings you expect to make when refinancing and deduct the estimated closing costs sum from the savings. If you don’t break even, you’ll be losing money on the refinancing, so maybe sticking to the old terms for a while longer is more advantageous.
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Energy Trends- Deregulation (or Not)
Is Energy Deregulation Just a Fad? In the late 1990’s, individual states began trying to introduce more competition into the energy marketplace. As we know, competition tends to drive down prices and improves choice and service. Without competition businesses get lazy and they add layers of bureaucracy and then simply tack the additional costs on to
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