Archives for January 2011

At the time I'm writing this (Monday afternoon around 5pm), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just under 12,000; my phone is ringing more than normal with people wanting to invest; the blog post regarding municipal bonds from a couple of weeks ago is continuing to raise questions; we are in earnings season with tomorrow evening being President Obama's State of the Union Address. So . . . what are the things we know? The Things We … [Read more...]

Economic Headwinds I chose this title to accurately describe three potential headwinds to economic expansion around the globe in 2011 not necessarily because I believe they will play out. Rather, they are concerns to understand and put into perspective. I gained further perspective on them last week at the Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon with William Glavin, Chairman, President and CEO of Oppenheimer Funds and found the information worth … [Read more...]

Municipal bonds often provide a steady and efficient flow of income to investors. Over my career, they have played a very important role and, until 2008, had done so with little worry. It is time to take a good look at them again and put into perspective the current condition of the municipal bond market. First of all, municipal bonds are usually forms of general obligation debt offered by municipalities on both a tax-exempt and taxable basis. … [Read more...]

Recent media coverage of rare earth elements has caused questions to arise regarding possible investment opportunities. First of all, it is important to understand what these elements are. The periodic table lists the 16 elements more commonly known as the "rare earth" materials. These elements are relatively plentiful in the earth's crust and derive their "rare" description from the fact that they are not well concentrated making them more … [Read more...]