In May 2019, President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods worth $250 billion by about 25%. The previous import tax on Chinese products was about 10%. Now, China is subtly threatening that it will restrict rare earth exports to the United States. The minerals are used in many high tech and military goods, including smartphones […]
A growing number of economists are predicting a recession next year. And then there is Gary Shilling. Shilling believes that the United States economy is currently in a recession. He has accurately predicted past recessions. Most notably, Shilling repeatedly sounded the alarm over subprime loans. These loans led directly to the housing bubble bursting in 2008 and subsequently […]
The average American making $50,000 annually deducts about $2,900 from taxes for charity donations. It’s a lot of money, but the really big donations come from wealthy families and companies who can afford to donate billions of dollars at a time. Now two titans of business have announced their plans to personally give billions to […]
Since the beginning of the year the stock market has continued to advance, giving the impression the 10-year stock bull market is unstoppable. Since January the S&P 500 has increased by double digits, topping 3,000 for the first time on July 10. The losses from the sell-off in October have been recouped, no imminent recession […]
Starting a business is not as easy to do as it sounds. Around 70% of people who start businesses launch them from home and more than 20% of businesses fail within the first year of operations. Between 70% and 80% of businesses fail by the 10th year of operations. What works is never obvious at first. For […]
There are three facts about the horseshoe crab that you may not know. For one thing, horseshoe crab roe is considered a delicacy and aphrodisiac in many parts of Asia. Secondly, the horseshoe crab is a prehistoric living fossil that has outlived extinction-level events. The dinosaur first appeared about 250 million years ago and became […]
The Trump trade war with China makes it harder to predict economic performance Investors are now prone to overreact to any news about tariffs The Federal Reserve has its work cut out for it when it comes to interest rate policy After a period of relative market calm investors have turned jittery, causing wild and […]
Do economic expansions die of old age? Not according to the experts. Yet that’s where we are, now 121 months and counting for what’s now the longest period of unbroken growth in U.S. history. The growth trend started back in June 2009, just after the stock market bottomed. The previous growth record was 120 months, taking […]
Investment bank and financial services company UBS is worried that the global economy could soon be heading toward a recession, an outcome sure to concern the current administration as the 2020 presidential campaign kicks off. UBS says the ongoing trade war taking place between the United States and China is the main concern. Talks between the […]
Is gold finally back? The precious metal hit $1,889 back in the aftermath of the mortgage crisis, roughly a decade ago. Massive dollar printing was deemed the driver then. Gold passed $1,411 an ounce, on June 21, 2019, before falling back slightly. The last time that gold was that valuable was in 2013. Some financial institutions […]
