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As I write this the wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton is under way. They will probably be too busy for the next few days to read this post, but eventually I'm sure things will settle back down for them and they'll get back to walking the dog, making coffee, taking the car for an...

I am no happier than anyone else to pay $4 a gallon for gas. But I'll admit that years ago (many years ago) when gas first hit $1 a gallon, I was more chagrined than I am now. Partly it's because I am busy enough these days to have other things on my mind. But a big reason why is that some years...

You'll be hearing in the media about these indicators over the next few days: New Home Sales Consumer Confidence Durable Goods orders Fed Open Market Committee Interest Rate Decision Gross Domestic Product Personal Spending & Income Retail Sales Expect mixed signals. Expect earnest conce...

Tax filing deadline was yesterday; here's a shout-out to our Tax Dept., led by Joe Arena, which prepared many hundreds of returns this year, including nearly 100 for brand-new clients. I hope they are enjoying a well-deserved rest. They had better - it will be tax season again before we know it....

Pity poor Richard Fuld. Once head of Lehman Brothers, Mr. Fuld saw his net worth drop all the way from $1 billion to a mere $100 million. Please, dear reader, don't avert your eyes from this tragedy; it gets even worse. According to the NY Times, Mr. Fuld and his wife were "forced to sell some of th...

You can't dip your toe in the media pool lately without hearing about $4-a-gallon gas. If the media buzz isn't enough to get your attention, seeing a $75 tab on the gas pump when you top off your tank will certainly do the trick. For investors in energy stocks the ride up to that $4 has been a smoot...

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed out the quarter yesterday with a gain of over 6%, its third straight quarter in a row of positive returns. The jobs picture keeps getting better, the recession is over. So why are so many investors worried that the stock markets is a dangerous place, with risk...

My brother received an email yesterday purporting to be from the IRS. We had quite a chuckle looking over the awkward syntax and bad grammar. It was clearly a phishing attempt, trying to get personal information from the unwary. Here is the text of the email (with my comments in parentheses): Thi...

Exactly three weeks ago, Friday March 11th, a magnitude 9 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan. News and photos of the devastation have been extensive. Since then the world has watched with concern as the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant has leaked steam and radiation. Reaction in the financial...

The financial crisis revealed Citi to be one of America's worst performing big banks, requiring a $45 billion dollar taxpayer-funded bailout to keep it from collapse. Stockholders saw their shares fall from $56 in early 2007 to less than $1 in early 2009 while, the cash dividend evaporated. The shar...