Economic and Investment News Bits Medicare is scheduled to link physician payments to the quality of service provided, beginning in 2019. Before 2019, Washington must decide which measurements will be used to determine superior inferior physician service. There are 2,167 metrics to be evaluated on the initial measurement list, and this is one of hundreds…
Economic and Investment News Bits “Job growth last month shifted to higher-paying positions in a sign of a broadening labor market recovery. Professional and business services, construction and health care led the solid 223,000 job gains reported by the Labor Department last Friday. The trend reflects a widening recovery that includes a pickup in full-time…
Economic and Investment News Bits “Patience can be tough, especially in investing, but that is what is needed at the present time. While a sharp upward move in equities seems unlikely, and the risk of pullbacks is elevated; a grind higher is not something most investors should miss on. Economic data and the Fed will…
Economic and Investment News Bits Columbus-based Cardinal Health (CAH) is still tops among Ohio companies on the Fortune 500 list. Cincinnati-based Kroger (KR) and Findlay-based Marathon Petroleum (MRO) are close behind. Cardinal ranks #22 on the list, while Kroger is #24 and Marathon #25 in the national ranking. “More policy news from China suggests that…
May 2015 Financial Markets Summary “I’ll be honest; I haven’t heard much clamor about the new Apple Watch. I’m not sure I’ve even heard it mentioned in any passing. Number one reason: watches aren’t actually used anymore. They are fashion accessories, and Apple Watch isn’t cute. And no one wants to spend that kind of…
Economic and Investment News Bits “Many investors erroneously surmise that frontier market nations must be more impoverished than emerging market nations. They might be surprised that Sri Lanka, a frontier nation, is almost twice as rich per capita as India, which is considered a leading emerging economy,” (Source: Matthews Asia). The American Institute for Economic…
Economic and Investment News Bits A 65 year-old couple retiring in 2014 will need about $220,000 in today’s dollars to pay out-of-pocket health care costs during their retirement years. The $220,000 assumes the couple qualifies for Medicare but does not require nursing home care. (Source: Fidelity) The Human Development Index, published annually by the United…
Economic and Investment News Bits Due to energy sector weakness, a still-strengthening U.S. dollar, and worries over global growth, corporate earnings estimates for the quarter have come down sharply. Some analysts expect total earnings in the recently-ended first quarter to be down 4% or more over the same period last year because of lower corporate…
Economic and Investment News Bits In the past year, Slovakia has become increasingly important in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine over Ukraine’s strategic alignment with the West. One of Russia’s key levers over the Ukrainian government has been the threat of limiting or cutting off natural gas supplies. Ukraine has countered this by…
We reviewed what took place so far in 2015 and discussed the Federal Reserve’s potential rise in interest rates. We also spent a minute on the impact of plummeting oil price, the rising U.S. Dollar and the significant change in international returns. Lastly, we gave some insights into adding index funds into portfolios. Please click the…
April 2015 Financial Markets Summary “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” This quote from legendary investor Ben Graham (and popularized by Warren Buffet) serves to remind us that price alone is not the path to successful investing. For example, Amazon’s stock price is up more than 450% since the pre-dot.com bubble…
Economic and Investment News Bits ”Continued low interest rates are supporting stocks. Expect the Dow to trade in a range between 17,000 and 18,500, with 20,000 possible by year end. A weaker U.S. dollar would help lift stocks, since the 20% gain in the dollar is equal to the Fed raising interest rates by 0.50%,”…
Economic and Investment News Bits ”Fed forecasts for GDP indicate it will take a long time before we see an uptrend in inflation.” Despite this, many companies are generating excess cash beyond needs, and more is being returned to shareholders as dividends or used in financing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) – about $308 billion in…
Economic and Investment News Bits The current six-year bull market, among the longest of the past century, could be celebrating more birthdays before it’s over, according to Schwab’s Liz Ann Sonders. While she thinks 2015 could continue to be rocky and “a tough year”, she suggests the market is firmly rooted in fundamentals. She notes…
Economic and Investment News Bits “If your investment pool represents the accumulation of your life’s work and retirement savings, your focus should be not on how much you can make but rather how much you can afford to lose,” (Source: Edward Studzinski, retired, Harris & Associates). The European Central Bank (ECB) is starting an aggressive…
