The Vise Continues to Tighten
Christopher Galakoutis
Saturday, July 17 2010 8:51 AM

We continue to read daily of the budget struggles not only at the US federal government level, but all the way down the line from the state and local governments to the essential service providers.

Tax revenues are the crucial variable in any budget formula, and they have been falling for the last two years. Consequently, the trend since then has been for authorities to not only slash services but raise fees as well.

A perfect example is the plight of the New York Metropolitan Tran...

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Deflation is now the Primary Trend
Christopher Galakoutis
Saturday, July 17 2010 8:49 AM

I find it very interesting to see advertisements all over the radio and on late night television about gold. This has been happening for a few months now.

We have even seen conservative talk show hosts on American prime-time cable television recommending this or that gold dealer, while letting it be known they too own some gold.

I suppose one could look at this in cynical fashion and conclude that if you can turn ‘Joe the Plumber’ into a star and media darling to help y...

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Standing Clear of Today’s Crowd
Christopher Galakoutis
Friday, July 9 2010 5:30 PM

I was asked the other day what I thought about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and whether it would impact the markets in a negative fashion.

We see such questions posed every day. Looking for the edge, today’s market participants of ev...

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Are Corporate and Muni Bonds a Safe Haven?
Christopher Galakoutis
Wednesday, July 7 2010 9:17 AM

With the stock markets seesawing their way out of the public’s comfort zone since the dramatic declines of 2008-2009, many investors have turned to the “safety” and “security” of bonds for piece of mind.

Is th...

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China move on currency largely misinterpreted
Christopher Galakoutis
Thursday, July 1 2010 12:26 PM

Both the stock markets and news reports have largely overstated, in my opinion, the Chinese central bank’s announcement on June 19 that it would further reform its exchange rate regime and increase the flexibility of the RMB exchange rate....

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