Archive for March 2017

It took just 24 days for the Dow Jones Industrial Average to go from 20000 to 21000. That tied the record for the fastest 1000-point rise set on 5/3/99 when the DJIA surpassed 11000. That was a rise of 10%, this time the rise was just 5%. The longest wait for the DJIA to rise…

As of 1/31/17, the partner at an accounting-firm heading up an audit of a US public firm is public information. As expected, auditors fought against this rule mightily. Can you say Enron, Worldcom and Bernie Madoff? This increased accountability should result in better audits and notoriety for partners associated with restatements and worse. The downside,…

With markets now showing a 90% chance of a rate rise in nine days, only a torrent of dreadful data will hold back the Fed. Survey data show solid gains in consumer and small business optimism, unemployment is nearing the Fed’s target, and all this despite deliberately delayed tax refunds. Through 2/10/17, 14.1 million refunds…

The Friday File: While getting there may be very hard, the technological challenges significant, and the risk huge – to say the least – asteroid mining may be amazingly lucrative. In the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter there are over a million asteroids with a combined value estimated to be $700 quintillion, or $100…

5% of the US workforce, or 8 million people, is undocumented, of which 92% are between the ages of 18 and 64, compared to 60% of the US-born population. In agriculture, 17% of the workforce is undocumented, followed by construction at 13%, leisure/hospitality at 9%, and business services at 7%. In Nevada 10.4% of workers…

While raising rates is always risky, the Fed might wish to act soon. Credit spreads have narrowed to their lowest point in years, real interest rates are almost back where they were before the Trump election victory, and most financial stress indices are at or near multi-year lows. Moreover, members of the Fed are talking…