Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope – a slight change, and all patterns alter. – Sharon Salzberg The headlines of the various stories in the July 30th Wall Street Journal seemed to leave little doubt as to which direction this current version of the economic train was heading. “Recession or Not, the Recovery Has Ended.” “Are We in a Recession Now?” “Jobless Claims Hold Near Highest Level of the...
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“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.” Arthur Schopenhauer As we reached the end of the month, the quarter and the first half of the year the commentary on the economy and the financial markets was, in a word, grim. “Brace for Recession Shock After Worst Rout in 52 Years” Bank of America warned. “Stocks End Lower, Capping Off...
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“Choice without alternative is only a sleight of hand, it is a magician’s force-play during which you believe you have free will, but your fate has already been decided.” – Garth Stein Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome (Jay) Powell certainly left no chance for misunderstanding on where he stood on incarcerating our country’s least wanted intruder, inflation. Speaking at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 25th...
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The mystery of man has no beginning and no end. His intuition and feeling unfold and blend. The Mystery of Man – William Hermanns For investors, the experience of March may have felt a bit like a walk in the park, but readers of the financial press perhaps wondered if it was a book best placed back on the shelf. “Strong Finish Can’t Salvage Tough Quarter for Stocks” opined...
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“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” - Socrates The war in Europe feels like footsteps not quite reaching the pavement. The March 1st Financial Times headlined “Nike Suspends Online Purchases in Russia” and “Carmaker Ford Suspends Operations in Russia”. The same day’s Wall Street Journal joined in with “The West’s Sanctions Barrage Severs Russia’s...
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The reflection on the surface of the water is often mistaken for the mysteries that lie beneath. Likewise, the reflection of the moon is mistaken for its own light.” – Thomas Lloyd Qualls, Painted Oxen The 14.4 % decline in the S&P 500 from the market close at year’s end to its low for the month on January 24th is what captured the headlines. Forbes Magazine mused “Will Inflation...
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“Time in its aging course teaches all things.”- Aeschylus, Prometheus Unbound There is a narrative that, while not held universally, is being offered with increasing frequency by the mavens of economic and financial market wisdom. The Federal Reserve, widely castigated only several months ago for having allowed the inflation genie to escape, is viewed by some as about to embark upon a serious policy error. In their view, the...
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"I see you standing in the alleys and the hallways. Wait a second, you’re gone now. I run to touch you but you vanish through the doorway." -lyrics from 'Mirage', Tommy James & the Shondells “The economy is very strong and inflationary pressures are high, and it is therefore appropriate in my view, to consider wrapping up the taper of our asset purchases…” so quoth US Federal Reserve Chairman...
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