By Robert Romano Since August 2007 when the financial crisis began, the Federal Reserve has expanded its balance sheet by more than $3.4 trillion — purchasing mortgage-backed securities and U.S. treasuries. The idea was and is to counteract the credit contraction that pulverized the global economy. But where’s the growth? As recently as March 19, 2014 , the Fed was projecting […]

By Robert Romano With increasing sanctions against Russia over its escalating incursion into Ukraine, the Kremlin may be poised to strike back — with a plan to dump its $126 billion of U.S. treasuries holdings to roil Western financial markets, financial blog Zerohedge.com warns . According to Zerohedge, “Russian presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev proposed plan of 15 measures […]

By Robert Romano What do we even need an Export-Import Bank for anyway? In 2013, the U.S. economy exported $2.271 trillion of goods and services , a $60.8 billion or 2.7 percent growth from 2012. In 2012, exports totaled $2.21 trillion, a $97.76 billion or 4.6 percent growth from 2011. Yet, almost none of the increases were because of […]

By Rick Manning E-cigarettes have become a source of consternation for anti-smoking lawmakers who quiver at the very thought of someone lighting up a tobacco product.  This knee-jerk reaction to the dramatic increase in the use of e-cigarettes in public is manifesting itself in places like Los […]

By Robert Romano Some proponents of a stable monetary policy and a strong dollar got giddy over Janet Yellen’s first major speech in her tenure as the new Federal Reserve Chair. Apparently, merely mentioning some sort of “automatic stabilizer” which Yellen defined as “when the public better […]

By Rick Manning Baskets of chocolate bunnies, marshmallow chicks and wondrous cream filled eggs will appear across America in a celebration bearing no resemblance to the real reason for Easter. The National Confectioners Association projects that Easter candy sales are projected to be up 4 percent this year to a […]

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By Robert Romano Alabama auto parts manufacturers only make up 2.9 percent of firms — 121 out of 4,103 nationwide according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet, they make up more than 9 percent of inspections of such manufacturers by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) in 2014 as of April 10, data from the agency shows. […]

By Robert Romano “[T]here is the issue of marriage and children. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that single women who have never married earned 96 percent of men’s earnings in 2012.The supposed pay gap appears when marriage and children enter the picture.” That was the American […]

By Robert Romano It is commonly said by Americans that the harder they work, the further they fall behind. Well, they’re right. Since 2000, household median income measured by the Census Bureau has only averaged 1.77 percent growth. In the meantime, the prices of staples like food and energy have been skyrocketing. Oil is up at an average […]