Reading Time: 5 minutes In the past few weeks we have reported on the economic weakness in Europe. The Citi Economic Surprise index for Europe is extremely negative showing reports are missing economists’ expectations. The ECB’s Mario Draghi responded to this recent weakness by stating growth may have peaked for the cycle. This is a reasonable assessment, but it’sCONTINUE READING

Reading Time: 5 minutes Financial Conditions Ripe For Speculation 2017 was an unusual year where financial conditions actually eased despite the Federal Reserve raising rates. The financial tightness in 2015 and 2016 was catalyzed by weakness in the energy market. With the help of central banks, as we have previously stated, the economy narrowly avoided a recession. It’s stillCONTINUE READING

Reading Time: 5 minutes A statement popular in business is “if you’re not growing, you’re dying” (attributed to William Burroughs). It’s a great quote because it shows how quickly a business can fail. Unfortunately, America’s economy is trending in the wrong direction as growth is falling towards the flatline in expansions. If an economy barely grows in expansions, itCONTINUE READING

Reading Time: 5 minutes A statement popular in business is “if you’re not growing, you’re dying” (attributed to William Burroughs). It’s a great quote because it shows how quickly a business can fail. Unfortunately, America’s economy is trending in the wrong direction as growth is falling towards the flatline in expansions. If an economy barely grows in expansions, itCONTINUE READING