As I pointed out yesterday, the hard decisions in regards to the fiscal cliff negotiations have not been made and who knows, how and if they ever will be addressed once we step into 2013. For some food for thought on this topic, Mark Grant, author of Out of the Box, had some worthwhile comments in “Postponed:” “Postponed” is the official stamp …
Going Off The Cliff, But…
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] It was another day marked by confusion, last minute agreements that a fiscal cliff deal had been reached only to be followed by announcements that nothing had been finalized, but talks were still going on, etc., etc. It was insanity at its finest… In the end, hope prevailed that a deal is still possible, which pushed …
Last Minute Cliff Rescue Maneuvering Pares Losses
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Just as the major market indexes were about to violate their psychologically important milestones, that is 13,000 for the Dow and 1,400 for the S&P 500, news broke that there will be another fiscal cliff meeting forthcoming, as the House told their members to show up for work Sunday night at 6:30 pm. That’s all it took, and …
US Equities Slide Third Day In A Row On Budget Talk Concerns And Weak Retail Numbers
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] It was combination of weak retail numbers, showing that consumers spent less during this holiday season than last year, the ongoing fiscal cliff saga followed by low volume in the markets that provided neither upside ammunition nor any motivation for those left on Wall Street to get involved during the last few trading days of 2012. …
Indexes Slip As Fiscal Cliff Reality Looms; Food For Thought On Who Is Guilty
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Fears about the looming fiscal cliff are taking on a new dimension as there is exactly one week left for the President and Congress to come together and avoid the mandatory spending cuts and tax increases. On extremely low trading volume, the equity indexes gave up ground for the second day in a row during today’s shortened session. …
One Man’s Opinion: Can We Live On Stimulus Forever?
The Federal Reserve is clearly in this difficult situation where it needs to express its message more forcefully, because it’s not about how much quantitative easing it does, but the message behind it, says Kenneth Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard. So, he certainly welcomes their change towards focusing on final outputs like employment and inflation, though he would have …