The three major US stock indexes finished with modest losses after four consecutive weeks of gains. Read More

The Labor Dept indicated that only 247,000 jobs were lost in July, the smallest pace of job losses since August 2008. Furthermore, prior reports saw significant positive revisions; taken together revised May and June payroll data suggests 43,000 fewer jobs were lost than originally predicted. Read More

The three major US stock indexes rallied, setting new highs for 2009. Unemployment numbers were better than expected, boosting hopes for economic stabilization and recovery. Approximately 247,000 jobs were cut in July, an improvement from June’s 443,000 jobs cut. Read More

Although carefully worded G8 declarations were intended to show consensus among member states and developing “G5” countries, crucial rifts remain unresolved. Read More

A lot of the financial industry is still very much locked up into looking at the world through geography, completely missing the fact that this is a market that’s matured a lot over the last couple of decades. Read More

Just a few short months ago, investors were wondering if companies had enough cash on their balance sheets to survive the recession. Now, that cash increasingly being put toward acquisitions. Read More

Strong soybean demand from China is expected to put upward pressure on prices as global inventories of the bean are extremely lean, creating the possibility of a shortage when demand recovers. Read More

Thirty-six states have raised taxes an aggregate $24 billion, or 3 percent of total state tax collections. Sixteen have raised taxes by more than 1 percent. These are clear signs to municipal bondholders that states will do what they must to meet their obligations. Read More

Profitable financial services companies are few and far between. Happily, an Income Portfolio denizen is a glowing exception. Read More

Better-than-expected quarterly earnings reports have fueled recent market strength. Here’s my take on the latest results and how to play the trends. Read More