After trying privately to convince Yahoo’s board of directors to pursue a new strategic direction for more than a year, this week hedge fund investor Starboard Value went public with its plan to oust the entire board and replace it with one of its choosing. Read More

Most analysts avoid calling a top or bottom in the market, knowing the futility of such exercises. But sometimes you can sense when the worst is behind us, which I believe is now the case with energy stocks. Read More

Three trick questions with inconceivable answers. Read More

Cryptic remarks by Fed Chair Janet Yellen this week regarding future rate hikes caused the stock market to dither, but lit a fire under the bond market. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped from more than 2.75% last Friday to less than 2.50% when Yellen admitted during congressional… Read More

One of my favorite war stories is “The Man Who Never Was,” about a British scheme to deceive the Nazis during World War II by planting misinformation about an upcoming invasion on a corpse made to appear to be a drowned naval officer, the non-existent Royal Marine Major William Martin. Read More

This week’s snowstorm across much of the eastern half of the country has been accompanied by the usual clips of cars sliding backwards down icy roads. Those are sickening sights, but not as sickening as watching global stock markets sliding backwards, pushed by China’s slowing economy and plummeting commodity prices. Read More

Like a bad movie sequel, this week’s China-inspired stock market swoon may turn out to be worse than the original 2015 summer blockbuster. In August the U.S. stock market dropped more than 10% after China’s initial foray into letting its currency float in an attempt to shore up its flagging… Read More

Signs are everywhere that Americans have tired of playing the “long game” in dealing with the global financial crisis that erupted seven years ago. One way to judge how satisfied (or not) society is with the current condition is by the choices it makes. And right now, those choices are… Read More

A couple of weeks ago Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen said she was “looking forward” to the prospect of raising interest rates this month, since that would indicate of an improving economy. I’d like to believe she was sincere in that sentiment, but I can’t help but wonder if she was… Read More

Last week I had the pleasure of appearing as a guest panelist on the Fresh Outlook business news program, where we discussed if the Fed’s massive quantitative easing program created a “bubble” in the U.S. financial markets. Given trillions of dollars were pumped into the economy following the 2008-2009… Read More