Retailers are quick to blame outside factors like Walmart, Amazon, and now tariffs. The reality though is that they just overextended themselves and are now faced with fixing this. Retailers are up in arms about President Trump’s planned tariff escalation set to happen this September 1. It’s not that we don’t have tariffs now, and […]

There is a view out there that stock markets, as well as other financial markets, should somehow be shielded from speculation. Speculation is all that these markets do though. Some people believe that financial markets engage in a lot of “useless speculation.” It is curious that we would ever use the terms “useless” and “speculation” […]

The story behind Bed Bath and Beyond’s stock over the last few years has been a truly ugly one, and shows what can happen if we simply hold on to our positions and just hope. The collapse of retailer Bed Bath and Beyond’s stock didn’t happen overnight, as the writing has been on the wall […]

Retailers rely significantly on private brands. A tiny bit of Amazon’s business is from this, but not everyone thinks that we are entitled to benefit from the value this offers. Some Democrats just don’t like big companies it seems, especially ones that make their money from the internet. This is especially true for those who […]

While Trump’s threat of getting rid of rebates that drug companies pay third party agents has many breathing a sigh of relief, this battle against drug prices may be far from over. As a general rule anyway, kickbacks aren’t permitted, although for some reason the pharmaceutical industry often doesn’t follow general rules. The prescription drug […]

Morgan Stanley has decided that the time has come where they feel the need to cut back on their exposure to the stock market, and they are telling clients to do the same. Morgan Stanley is becoming more concerned that the stock market may be reaching a top and their near-term outlook has dimmed. Morgan […]

Less than 10% of employee-sponsored retirement plans offer an annuity option, although this may change with new federal legislation about to be passed. There is much debate about whether it is a good idea to put some or all of your retirement savings into an annuity, and there are arguments for this on both sides. […]

The first half of 2019 has brought anything but calm and clear waters, but both stocks and bonds have navigated all the big waves that have come pretty nicely so far. We started 2019 with a bit of a hangover from the previous quarter, the way some people wake up on New Year’s Day, but […]

Initial public offerings, or IPOs, usually generate a fair bit of excitement one way or the other, and are known to be quite volatile. The excitement isn’t always there though. Slack is a maker of business software, with their particular focus being on offering enterprises a better way of communicating than using traditional e-mail. E-mail […]

A lot of people have anxiety about money, including people who we wouldn’t think would have much to worry about. Anxiety about money is a symptom of a bigger problem though. There is a lot written about managing anxiety out there, and many people spend a lot of time and effort on trying to get […]