Sometimes investors hear analysts and fund managers refer to “macroeconomics” in their explanations of investment decisions. So what is macroeconomics? Put simply, it’s a way to break down the broader … Read more →

When investments flame out and fall to zero they often are referred to as being akin to a “Ponzi scheme.” While there may be a number of reasons a stock … Read more →

You might hear your friends and relatives who actively trade stocks and mutual funds talk about the “VIX.” It sounds like a ticker for a stock or fund, but it’s … Read more →

Learning to ride a bike when you are young comes with some risk at first. You could fall and get hurt, ride into a tree or worse. Yet once you … Read more →

Chances are, you hear this a lot on the evening news or online at any major finance website: The “Fed” did this or that, so stocks moved this way or … Read more →

Many investors hear the word “stock” and they think “risky.” Then, when they hear “bond” they think “safe.” While it’s broadly true that stocks are more volatile than bonds — … Read more →

Most people, when they want to understand how the economy is doing, look at their own bank accounts. Some might add to that a glance at their 401(k) balance, or … Read more →

The mainstream media often reports on “the jobless rate” or “unemployment numbers,” information which can seem to impart something important and vital. The latest number is from the Bureau of … Read more →

Read anything in the news about the Federal Reserve these says and you might run into the term “quantitative easing.” Besides being hard to spell, the whole concept is a … Read more →

The iconic billionaire investor Warren Buffett once used the idea of shopping for hamburger meat — the most ordinary of daily expenditures — to explain how to buy stocks. In … Read more →