The crisis in Europe was sparked by the widespread belief among investors that Greece’s financial woes were just the tip of a much bigger debt iceberg in the Eurozone. The fear has been that other member nations – Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain, which, along with Greece, are called the PIIGS – were also buried in debt and could …
Wall Street & Markets
The stock market rebounds!
Apparently, the stock market took a little tumble last week while I was away on vacation. Now that I’m back, things are looking so much more cheery. Here we are, at 4 p.m., and the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq are all up by more than 3%. I’ve been asked to write a blog post about why.
8 Ways to Teach Kids about Money
Before scaring them with concepts like debit card overdrafts and bank foreclosure, you can start by taking them shopping and making them aware that advertising exists to try and part fools with their money.
Why Europe is still in meltdown
The hope after the European Union and the International Monetary Fund finalized a $146 billion bailout for heavily indebted Greece was that such a grand display of resolve would stop the contagion beginning to seize financial markets from rampaging through Europe, and from there, the rest of the world. Well, that hope now looks more like …
Stock Markets Caught in a Greek Tragedy
Shaken by the prospect that the Greece rescue package might not be enough, and worried about Euro contagion as new concerns arose over Spain, investors sent the Dow down more than 245 points on Tuesday. The decline was spread across every major sector; overall, 96% of stocks took a tumble. The Nasdaq took an even steeper drop, falling …
If More Businesses Operated Like Goldman Sachs
A funny take from Tom Tomorrow on the idea of selling of “a useless product that will probably blow up” in the faces of consumers who purchase it.
How to fix Europe, Part 1
This is the first in a series of posts posing different ideas on how Europe can get itself out of its current mess. I figure Europe has so many problems that we can’t possibly address them all in one post. Yes, Greece finally got its bailout, and a big one — $146 billion from the Eurozone and International Monetary Fund – but the …
Did Goldman Sachs commit a crime?
Things keep getting worse for Goldman Sachs. Late yesterday news broke that federal prosecutors are looking into whether to bring criminal fraud charges against the Wall Street firm. (The outstanding SEC lawsuit involves only civil charges.) No word yet on any details about what those new charges may entail.
Nonetheless, stock analysts …
Greece Fizzles But The Dow Sizzles
Investors large and small are watching a spectacular financial fire rage across Europe, with Greece headed for either all-out default or a painful restructuring of its debt, and fellow members of the European Union in earlier stages of their own crisis. (As of Tuesday afternoon, the leaders of the European Union were announcing their …
Maybe it’s time to break up the banks
As the Senate takes up debate on financial industry overhaul, there is one issue above all others that is imperative to work out: how to deal with institutions that are Too Big To Fail. The reason the government stepped in with taxpayer money at firms like Citigroup and AIG is still alive and well. Our financial giants are so behemoth …
Fed Intends to Keep Rates Low
The Federal Reserve’s policy making committee still has its lasers focused on the weak points in this economic recovery. In the minutes of the open market committee meeting, released today, the Fed noted that the economy is improving but it also noted ongoing weakness in the labor market and the fact that bank lending continues to …
Cheapskate Wisdom from … Nevada Senator John Ensign
“I think most people in Las Vegas would take offense at having Wall Street compared to Las Vegas. Because in Las Vegas, actually people know that the odds are against them. They play anyway. On Wall Street, they manipulate the odds while you’re playing the game. And I would say that it’s actually much more dishonest.”
