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When David Card was recently awarded the Nobel Memorial Price in Economic Science (along with two other economists), I figured Paul Krugman would weight in, since Card, along with the late Alan Krueger, authored an economic study almost thirty years ago that allegedly debunked standard economic theory on the effects of a binding minimum wage. Krugman did not disappoint. As is his M.O., Krugman cherry-picked his information and then went on to claim that the...

Alhambra’s Bob Williams answers the question, “What do I do if I choose the wrong Medicare Plan?”. [embedded content] [embedded content] You Might Also Like Weekly Market Pulse: Perception vs Reality 2021-10-18 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Some see the cup as half empty. Some see the cup as half full. I see the cup as too...

Yield. It’s on the tip of every investor’s tongue, but it’s much harder to find than it used to be. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (like the early 1980’s) one could simply open a savings account, purchase a CD or US 10-year notes, and earn between 7% to 14%. The idea of earning 14% on treasurys seems the stuff dreams are made of. And you must be dreaming if you think you can find that kind of yield today. Interest rates are at zero, near zero, or negative...

Containers are piling up at ports, ships are waiting to offload cargo and store shelves are sitting empty. Are all the quick fixes enough to fix the real problems in our supply chains? Headlines over the past few weeks about our global supply chain woes are enough to make anyone start stocking up on toilet paper and other essentials (again!). Goods from steel and lumber to toys, bicycles, and semiconductors are all facing delivery delays and higher prices, causing...

The government and the mainstream media’s favorite economic statistic is gross domestic product (GDP). If GDP goes up, then the economy is doing well. If GDP shrinks, then the economy is doing poorly, or so it is assumed. It all seems so simple. But GDP tells us no such thing. The economy may be doing poorly when GDP rises. Likewise, the economy may be doing well when GDP falls. How can this be? Although the official statistical components that make up GDP are rather...

Der Bundesrat hat Dr. Alberto Franceschetti und Marzio Hug in den Verwaltungsrat der Eidgenössischen Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA gewählt. Die beiden italienischsprachigen Experten aus dem Finanzsektor treten am 1. Januar 2022 die Nachfolge der per Ende Jahr ausscheidenden Mitglieder Franz Wipfli und Bernard Keller an. Der Bundesrat hat in seiner heutigen Sitzung Dr. Alberto Franceschetti und Marzio Hug als neue Mitglieder des Verwaltungsrats der FINMA gewählt. Sie...

No government looking to massively expand its size in the economy and monetize a soaring deficit is going to act against rising prices, despite claiming the opposite. One of the things that surprises citizens in Argentina or Turkey is that their populist governments always talk about the middle classes and helping the poor, yet inflation still soars, making everyone poorer. Inflation is the gradual erosion of the purchasing power of the currency. Governments will...

Overview: After a couple of sessions of taking on more risk, investors are taking a break today.  Equities are mostly lower today after the S&P 500's six-day advance took it almost to its record high, while the NASDAQ's streak was halted at five sessions.  The Nikkei's nearly 1.8% slide paced the Asia-Pacific session, where most bourses retreated.  Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is off about 0.15% near midday after rising approximately 0.65% over the past two...

Die Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht FINMA schliesst ihr Verfahren gegen die Credit Suisse im Zusammenhang mit der sogenannten Beschattungsaffäre ab. Sie stellt fest, dass bei der Credit Suisse im Zusammenhang mit Observationstätigkeiten gravierende organisatorische Mängel bestanden. Die FINMA verfügt Massnahmen gegen die Bank, rügte zwei Personen und eröffnete Enforcementverfahren gegen drei weitere Personen. Die FINMA hatte Anfang des Jahres 2020 im Rahmen ihrer...

$BITO, the first Bitcoin ETF was issued Tuesday morning. The ETF provides retail investors their first true access to Bitcoin without having to open up a crypto wallet account. BITO tracks bitcoin futures and is expected to track the cryptocurrency much closer than the Grayscale Trust (GBTC). Stocks rallied alongside BITO and posted a fifth straight green day. The index is now well established above its 50dma and aiming for new record highs. However, not...