Category Archives: Commentary
Many things could go right for the U.S. economy
It has been hard to avoid negative news recently. We all know that there is a debt crisis in Europe, unemployment and home price declines remain problems in the U.S. and political combativeness has drained confidence in U.S. leadership. While … Continue reading
Oil, natural gas will dominate energy for decades to come
Climate change and reliance on oil to power the world certainly generate a lot of news. Many people think the future is in renewable energy resources. But the reality is that oil will be the dominant resource for energy production … Continue reading
Student loan relief likely will lead to even higher tuition
File this in the unintended consequences folder. President Obama’s October 26 announcement of student loan reforms to “ease the burden” of education debt may provide relief to some but could ultimately cause the damaging pace of tuition inflation to increase … Continue reading
Understanding high-frequency trading
There has been a lot of talk in the industry over the past few months about high frequency trading and whether it is the cause of markets being more volatile than usual. Liz Ann Sonders, Schwab’s Chief Investment Strategist, provides … Continue reading
Bonds less incredible than you think
Here is Gary Brooks’s column from the October 5 Tacoma News Tribune.
GET unit price takes huge leap
As a follow-up to my September 8 column in The News Tribune (see below), here is some more detail about the new unit price to participate in Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program. The 2011-12 purchase price for one GET unit … Continue reading
Six Rules for Including Rental Real Estate in Your Investment Portfolio
For many people, investment real estate makes up a large percentage of their net worth. Rental property has been a more consistent part of the financial picture for our clients than we ever assumed would be the case. From a … Continue reading
Greece, land of the gods and debt
With all the attention over the past year on Greece and its debt, it’s interesting that a Greek Goddess is now being used to explain a potential outcome for the European economy. Blackrock, in its 2012 Outlook, described its worst … Continue reading →