It’s hardly enough for a Hawaiian vacation — more like a January gas bill or a meal for two at a nice restaurant — but yours truly is on the receiving end of not one but two special dividends this December (I’ve got modest holdings of Costco and Commerce Bancshares). Multiply that largess by dozens of...Read More
iPhone 5 as Economic Stimulus (Note the Multiplier Effect) So, there appears to be a debate these days about whether the debut of Apple’s much-anticipated iPhone 5 can do what the Federal Reserve cannot: provide a genuine stimulus to the U.S. (if not) global economy. Put me squarely in the “affirmative” camp. That’s because cumulative...Read More
Questions, Questions Will the U.S. economy start to recover before the cost of intensive care bankrupts it? (No, the economy isn’t running “normally” yet, not with 0% interest rates — to the banks, not consumers; continued government bailouts; and burgeoning transfer payments for things like unemployment insurance.) Can the U.S. afford the ICU bill it’s...Read More
The Right Stimulus for Housing There now seems to be a clear consensus that, to help the economy, government must first do something to help housing. However, there’s still no consensus about what. The two leading strategies are: One. Using taxpayer money to basically subsidize mortgage rates down to some previously unheard of number, like...Read More
Recession, Uncertainty Hammer Big-Ticket PurchasesWhat to know what’s selling today? Not big-ticket items. On a scale of 1-10 (1 is the lowest, 10 is the highest), here is a shorthand — mine — for the magnitude of various consumer (and business) purchase decisions. Just like the Richter scale, this scale is logarithmic, kind of (8.0...Read More
