The economy is continuing to add jobs and the U.S. April jobs report was generally positive. On the plus side, the unemployment rate of 4.4% would suggest that the country is at, or near, full employment. However, as noted previously, the labor force participation rate remains near record lows at 62.9%. This is troubling, as […]
Read MoreFord Motor Company recently fired its CEO, Mark Fields. Its decision to do so was based on the stock’s poor price performance and belief that the company was not agile enough in addressing structural changes occurring in the auto industry. Personally, I have no opinion as to whether Mark Fields was the source of the […]
Read MoreCurrently, U.S. jobs data suggests that overall unemployment is relatively low, underemployment remains an issue, labor force participation is relatively low and there appears to be a significant skills mismatch, which is likely to get worse. Anecdotal evidence suggests that millions of jobs stand empty because employers are unable to fill jobs that are in […]
Read MoreAccording to Wikipedia, bitcoin is both a cryptocurrency and an electronic payment system invented by an unidentified programmer, or group of programmers, under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin was introduced in October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list, and released as open-sourced software in 2009. The system is peer-to-peer, allowing users to transact with […]
Read MoreIt is generally accepted by economists that for every new job, some additional jobs are a natural consequence. However, not all new jobs are created equal. The oil industry has been advertising that every new energy job creates two more positions in the economy. Volvo Car Group’s new factory near Charleston SC, may do much […]
Read MoreIn a recent Wall Street Journal article, Martin Zweig posited that ETFs, often dirt-cheap to own, can still be costly to buy and sell. Mr. Zweig cites a study by Antti Petajisto, a portfolio manager at LMR Partners, a London based hedge fund, who looked at about 1,800 ETFs from 2007 to 2014 and concluded […]
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