October 2013 Update
Economic Update: Our economy continues to plod along, way below the
speed we would like, but ever upward. Low interest rates have helped
everyone, especially banks and consumers, to improve their cash positions or
debt levels since 2008. People still need to replace old cars and upgrade
housing that gives the economy some momentum. There are no apparent
bubbles out there that I can see, since these are usually accompanied by
investors throwing money at some illogical investment. You could argue that
bonds at these prices and yields are illogical, but only if you believe that we
have inflation over 3% coming, and that is not the case so far. The Fed would
love to get inflation to that level.
Market Update: Stocks are telling you the life looks pretty darn good! As we
trade around 15,000 on the Dow all the distractions like Syria, govt shut
down, ACA state exchanges, or no tapering seem to be meaningless. Interest
rates have backed off their highest levels and are looking less threatening
since the Fed postponed tapering.