Amazon.com is on a roll. Last Friday, it announced a blockbuster real-estate deal, the purchase of its South Lake Union campus for more than $1 billion. It unveiled late in summer plans for three high-rise office towers on the edge of downtown Seattle — a quick streetcar ride from its [continue reading . . . ]
Say what you please about Ben Bernanke’s unconventional monetary policies (quantitative easing, QE for short, and Operation Twist), they’ve been good for the stock market. The first chart shows that stock prices have roughly doubled, give or take a few percentage points, since Dr. Ben launched the first round of [continue reading . . . ]
I’ve just updated Boeing related charts for a presentation on September 13. A couple of things worth noting: Even after adjustment for the loss of Qantas 787 orders last month, Boeing’s backlog in units at the end of August was higher than at the end of March. It hasn’t been [continue reading . . . ]
I’m working on charts that I will use in my upcoming speaking assignments. I try hard to make effective use of charts, especially in giving people a view from 10,000 feet, perspective aimed at overcoming the day-to-day noise about the economy. Here’s one. The seven largest advanced economies account for [continue reading . . . ]
Fix Medicare, primarily by restricting end-of-life care, as insurance companies do now. Fix Social Security by minor changes to (1) the payroll tax, (2) the benefit formula for high-income beneficiaries and (3) the retirement age. Fix the hopeless hairball that is the U.S. tax code primarily by (1) broadening the [continue reading . . . ]
Subjects addressed during my stint on KUOW’s Weekday program Aug. 29: The Qantas cancellation of Boeing 787 orders is a reminder that despite long lead times — years between orders and deliveries — Boeing is subject to short-term swings in the global economy. The decision says more about Qantas than [continue reading . . . ]
That’s the headline on Page 1 of the Seattle Times today. The article reports that some residents of the Bellingham area, an easy drive from the Canadian border, are grumbling that Canadian shoppers are overcrowding the parking lots of Costco Wholesale and other box stores on the U.S. side of the [continue reading . . . ]
Things on my mind as I prepare for my every-third-week appearance on KUOW‘s Weekday program Aug. 8: 1. Knight Capital Group (KCG). All investors ought to be concerned that a highly regarded Wall Street firm either didn’t have or (more likely) failed to hit the “kill switch” on an “algo” [continue reading . . . ]
Back when it was published every other week, I used to treasure Fortune magazine. I looked forward to the iconic annual list of the largest companies. I loved Fortune’s deeply analytical long-form journalism on industries, companies and long-term economic trends. To cite just one example of excellence, more than any [continue reading . . . ]
Interest rates on U.S. Treasury notes with a maturity of 10 years fell last month to nearly the lowest since World War II. They may go lower still. Today’s low rates reflect both the weak outlook for most advanced economies and a desperate scramble globally for safe places to park [continue reading . . . ]
If you live in the Seattle area, savor this time. It seems to me you and I live in a lush oasis of relative prosperity, surrounded by a grimy desert of gloomy economic news. There are no guarantees. Enjoy it while it lasts. Boeing is booming. Aerospace employment in Washington [continue reading . . . ]
Don’t miss today’s Heard on the Street item in the Wall Street Journal headlined “Central Banks Tilt at Global Windmills.” The item, by Richard Barley, notes that “the People’s Bank of China, the European Central Bank and the National Bank of Denmark all cut rates Thursday, and the Bank of [continue reading . . . ]