Blog

This week kicked off with a better-than-expected earnings report from Alcoa, and yesterday saw the same thing from giant chip-maker Intel. There is of course feverish chatter within Wall Street's analyst community about what else to expect from 2nd quarter corporate earnings to be reported over the...

Last week US stocks had their best week in nearly a year, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 511 points (5.3%). Economic news has been generally positive, the US Congress has managed to go another week without wrecking the economy, and investors were upbeat about the coming spate of corpor...

BP announced that it may be able to contain the flow of oil from the Gulf of Mexico within the next four days. Thad Allen, the government's national incident coordinator, announced today that this will be accomplished by accelerating installation of a tight seal between a damaged wellhead and a surf...

I have blogged several times in the past few months about the importance of saving for retirement while in your 20's and 30's. In a perfect world everyone would save more than enough to live the lifestyle they have always dreamed of and more importantly, make it to that point. Unfortunately we know...

As we navigate our current economic malaise it is important to recognize the state of the labor market in the United States. According to the newest data out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) we lost 125,000 jobs in June, though some losses were expected due to Census worker layoffs. According...

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been serious trouble for BP. Not financially - by most accounts a company with the size and profitability of BP can comfortably handle even the outsized costs of such a large spill. No, the trouble has been political, as the President, governors of gulf states, even...

As we approach the half-way point of the year, it may be a good time to sit down and review your investment portfolio. The stock market has been volatile so far in 2010, and many people are uncertain as to what to do with their investments. Should you be confident that the market will settle down,...

The NASDAQ Composite peaked and the air began to come out of the Tech Bubble. Bill Clinton was President. The Rams beat the Titans to win the Super Bowl and the NY Yankees beat the Mets (sorry, Rory) to win the World Series. The last original "Peanuts" comic strip appeared in newspapers one...

Tesla Motors begins trading as a public company today. Tesla makes and sells a highway-ready electric car, and has been getting lots of buzz in the press. Three things come to mind: First the numbers. Tesla's offering of 14% of its shares will raise over $200 million, giving the company a tota...

I'm taking a short break from the world of finance to introduce our company softball team: After two weeks of rainouts, the Brighton Securities softball team took the field for the first time ever Wednesday at Norton Village Park. The weather was less than cooperative, but none the less the team...