Pacific Park Financial Inc.

I listen to sports talk radio in the morning for entertainment. Today, a popular broadcaster went off script to chat about the ridiculous nature of political correctness, surmising that Americans...

The broader stock market (as measured by the NYSE Composite) may be making marginal progress. A 2.5% appreciation in price over the last nine months is mildly positive. Similarly, higher lows are...

As much as investors might like to believe that the U.S. stock market is still “grinding higher” in 2015, the reality is that it may be grinding to a halt. S&P 500 stocks have been...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 logged in as the 3rd longest bull market in the benchmark’s history. Yes, yes… bull market’s don’t die of old age. Yet, what about...

The U.S. economy is in trouble. After expanding at a modest 2.2% in the 4th quarter, economic growth dimmed to a scant 0.2% in Q1 of 2015. Yet privately, many are acknowledging the likelihood that...

The U.S. government spent $7.50 trillion above the country’s budget over the last six years to encourage economic growth as well as fulfill pre-existing obligations (e.g., defense/military,...

The nature-nurture debate may be one of the most popular battles in psychology. In financial markets? One can make the case for an octagon match between “value” and...

Many investors have given up on the idea that gold merits consideration in their portfolios due to years of depreciation in the dollar price of the yellow metal. For one thing, the SPDR Gold Trust...

The former chairmen of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, acknowledged his belief that the Fed will not normalize overnight lending rates in his lifetime. Yet Mr. Bernanke neglected to share his...

Economists should not have been stunned by downward revisions to job creation for January and February. Similarly, analysts should not have been surprised by the painfully weak jobs data for March...

Other than permanently bearish writers and investors, few address the possibility of the U.S. falling into a recession. Many conclude that the Federal Reserve’s ultra-low rate policy completely...

The U.S. 10-Year Treasury note is the most recognizable, and most important, debt instrument in the world’s financial system. It is vital to foreign jurisdictions, banks and investors as a way...

The current bull market for U.S. stocks is the fourth longest in history. Two others journeyed into a seventh year, while one other (1990s) enjoys the distinction of having traveled into an eighth...

A large number of stocks in the Dow Jones 30 Average have moved lower since the Federal Reserve ended its quantitative easing (QE) program in late October. Telecom giants AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon...

Less than three months ago, analysts everywhere argued a case for economic acceleration. It was almost as if financial authorities big and small had held a convention at LEGOLAND in California to...

For the better part of 15 months, I have pounded the table for longer-term U.S. treasuries. Most financial pundits thought that I was nuts in December of 2013; they debated my scarcity premise...