You likely have never heard of Praisegiving because I just made it up. However, I have it on reasonably imaginary authority that President Lincoln considered this alternative option to the Thanksgiving we currently celebrate. In fact, President Lincoln’s official proclamation declared the last Thursday of November a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” There are always…
Voluntary and taxpayer are two words that usually are not found residing next to each other. Corporations and individuals spend millions of dollars every year to hire tax professionals whose primary job is to legally minimize the amount of income taxes they are required to pay. They would rather pay people to find ways to…
Last week there was a fascinating public conversation between bond traders and their chief psychologist, Jerome Powell. Mr. Powell’s primary job is to be the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. In this position he is responsible for maintaining full employment and a growing economy while keeping the flames of inflation near his self-designated 2% annual…
Following a little snow on the pumpkin yesterday, today we find ourselves a full 10 months through 2023. This means there are only a mere two months remaining in what has been an unpredictable year. This year started with concerns about a recession which still has not arrived, optimism about bond prices benefiting from falling…
After a rough August and September, traders and investors alike looked forward to finally turning the calendar to October. Their expectations were that October would be a treat relative to the previous two months. Historically, this is the case. But so far, this October has been a great example of how past performance does not…
Today, Wednesday, October 18th, is day number 450. If you were stranded on an island or locked in a dungeon, imagine tallying the days as they go by. One singular vertical line every day the sun comes up. One slash every fifth day. Knowing in advance that there was a chance you would encounter the…
While they are usually the relatively boring part of your portfolio, bonds have been financial market troublemakers over the last few weeks. There are likely several contributing factors to bonds’ recent bad boy attitude. First, the U.S. government has issued over $500,000,000,000 in Treasuries over the last three weeks, boosting the total federal debt from…
Later this afternoon (Wednesday, 10/4) at around 1:20 pm (CDT) your cell phone will likely receive an emergency test alert. In August, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it will be conducting a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) today. If you are within range of…
What are your plans for New Year’s Eve this year? While some people like to spend the night out on the town, others prefer a small gathering with friends or family or maybe even a family movie night at home. Some people enjoy celebrating the bright spots of the previous year while others optimistically look…
For those of you fearful that today’s blog lesson will involve a graphing calculator, you will be thankful to learn that it does not. It involves something far more gray than the black and white of mathematics. This week is full of central bank meetings and announcements. The Bank of England gets together on Thursday,…