Economics
The Financial Stress Toll (of Late)
In a recent survey by the American Psychological Association, more than 80% of American adults said they were feeling increased financial stress due to: Higher inflation (87%) Ongoing supply chain…
Read MoreThe War on Oil Prices
As with any major global conflict, we learn things. The pandemic taught the U.S. the importance of reshoring manufacturing jobs, so we aren’t beholden to other nations, like China, for…
Read MoreHow the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Could Affect Americans
When Putin invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, President Biden announced sanctions targeting Russian banks, the country’s sovereign debt and Russian oligarchs, warning that Russia would pay an even steeper…
Read MoreAre We Back to Normal Yet?
It’s been two years since COVID-19 hit U.S. shores, but are we anywhere near pre-pandemic normal yet? It doesn’t look like it. The stock market, while volatile, recovered nicely from…
Read MoreAn Update on Municipal Bonds
Municipal bonds are popular among retirees and near-retirees as they seek to reduce market risk and position assets for a lower tax bill. One way to diversify across this sector…
Read MoreThe Fed Changes the ‘FAIT’ of Economic Recovery
In the summer of 2020, the Federal Reserve announced its new approach to monetary policy on inflation. The Fed previously used a 2% inflation target. If inflation rates fluctuated above…
Read More2022 Market and Economic Outlook
The last month of 2021 was filled with lots of new information — the new omicron variant of the coronavirus first hit U.S. shores, along with cautions that its level…
Read MoreThe Taxing Landscape of the IRS
It seems that millions of taxpayers still have not received their tax refunds from 2020 and even 2019.1 A major reason is due to the defunding of the IRS. Between 2010…
Read MoreImplications of Omicron
The U.S. is in the emergent stages of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. However, we now have some experience in what this could mean moving forward, both for the…
Read MoreWhat’s Up With Inflation
Inflation was already on the rise before we learned about the omicron variant. Now on top of supply-chain shortages and transportation disruptions, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently observed that…
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