Author Archive
Fed Ends QE, Waits on “Forward Guidance”
Gary D. Halbert Between the Lines Going into this week’s Fed Open Market Committee policy meeting, there were really only two questions on the table. This was the Committee meeting when a vote to halt “quantitative easing” purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities was expected. Since QE began in…
Is Gold as Dead as Florida Hurricanes?
By Dennis Miller It’s been over 3,280 days since a hurricane hit Florida. As hurricane season comes to a close next month, only Mother Nature knows how long the streak will last. Like many Floridians, my wife and I stayed home and rode out a hurricane—once! We’d built a home…
US Leaning Toward A Bad Nuclear Agreement With Iran
Gary D. Halbert Between the Lines The next deadline for an agreement with Iran on its controversial uranium enrichment program is November 24. Until this week, most observers felt that a deal was not likely and that the talks would have to be extended yet again. However, earlier this week,…
More Older Americans Are Working, But Why?
Gary D. Halbert Between the Lines As you know, I write frequently about the economy and specifically about the unemployment rate, as I did in my E-Letter on Tuesday. While the official unemployment rate fell to a six-year low of 5.9% in September, I emphasized that the “labor force participation…
Cold Feet: Why Shareholders Should Fear the Hasty Corporate Marriage
By Dennis Miller I never understood why Sears bought Kmart. Sears was a giant retailer, the dominant tenant in shopping malls throughout the US. Kmart was the spawn of S. S. Kresge’s dime stores. They served different consumer groups—different strata. When they came together, they combined a lot of the…
“King Dollar” Is Back – Or Is It?
Gary D. Halbert Between the Lines The US Dollar has surged higher since the middle of this year. Yet most Americans pay little attention to the fluctuations in our currency, even though most of us get paid exclusively in dollars and spend exclusively in dollars. Since most of us don’t…