As we enter May we also enter the typical college graduation season. You're sure to see a bunch of high-profile speeches from Hollywood personalities and well-heeled men of business. (One of my personal favorites is Conan O'Brien's 2011 Dartmouth commencement address, for both the laughs and the life...
(24) Comments | Posted February 10, 2012 | 10:05 AM
Apple is bigger than Exxon Mobil -- and now Apple is about to hit $500 a share! The Dow is approaching 13,000! Unemployment is at a three-year low!
All those things sound grand, right? But in reality, not a single one of those numbers means a darn thing...
(31) Comments | Posted February 3, 2012 | 12:46 PM
If you believe Mark Zuckerberg's sanctimonious letter to prospective investors, Facebook apparently is all about altruism -- not turning profits. According to Zuck, "We don't build services to make money; we make money to build better services."
This passage, and other parts of the letter, raise some serious...
(56) Comments | Posted January 30, 2012 | 10:50 AM
There is a lot of bluster about overcompensated CEOs these days, and one of the hottest topics is Tim Cook's pay. We recently learned that the successor to Steve Jobs at Apple took home a cool $378 million in compensation last year.
Yeah, Apple is successful. But...
(10) Comments | Posted January 5, 2012 | 12:09 PM
Wall Street seemed upbeat this week thanks to a number of headlines, include positive jobs numbers in a private-sector payroll report from ADP.
Specifically, jobs increased 325,000 in December, led by the service sector and small businesses. Additionally, November's employment numbers were revised slightly higher.
But lest...
(142) Comments | Posted December 30, 2011 | 12:22 PM
There is only one thing that will save the economy: your job and your 401k in 2012.
We have to have confidence.
I know, I know. You think I'm as batty as Julie Andrews -- spinning up that dirt road to the von Trapp manor with guitar in hand, singing,...
(34) Comments | Posted October 6, 2011 | 9:07 AM
By now, you've surely heard. Steve Jobs, the visionary behind Apple has passed away. There will be a million "legacy" stories written about the passing of Apple's front man, but the one I hope gets the most attention by investors is the story of Steve Jobs the CEO -- a...
(101) Comments | Posted September 16, 2011 | 2:23 PM
On Sept. 15, 2008, the world learned a debt-riddled Lehman Brothers would be no more. The Dow dropped more than 500 points that day, and a month later the index was off about 25 percent.
And that was only the beginning.
The corporate carnage that followed...
(0) Comments | Posted August 23, 2011 | 1:24 PM
Since 1995, every president has had to deliver a salary report of White House employees to Congress and the American people. And at a time when federal spending is front and center - and the government is killing more jobs than they are creating right now - I...
(11) Comments | Posted August 19, 2011 | 10:29 AM
The market had quite an ugly day Thursday. But for a brief moment, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) swam upstream the down-current on news it is considering a massive $10 billion buyout of software firm Autonomy, among a host of other reports swirling around the stock that day.
Of course, the gains...
(27) Comments | Posted August 7, 2011 | 3:40 PM
After the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt, America now carries a rating of AA-plus instead of the coveted AAA rating on its Treasury bonds. Austria, Norway, Germany and Australia are no longer our peers ratings-wise -- we are, instead, in the company of Japan, China, Spain, Taiwan and...
(35) Comments | Posted August 3, 2011 | 11:26 AM
As we digest the debt debacle, one important fact seems to be lost on most Americans -- Congress has decided to overlook fixing unemployment in order to tackle spending. Unfortunately, that will only create more unemployment.
Why legislators allowed the conversation to change from job creation to debt busting is...
(14) Comments | Posted July 21, 2011 | 5:30 PM
It's amazing how a simple signature in Washington can cause an explosion in innovation. No, I'm not talking about new laws, but rather, the loosening of federal oversight that opens the door to the private sector.
Consider a seemingly arcane move in 2000, made by President Clinton, to change Global...
(25) Comments | Posted July 20, 2011 | 11:31 AM
A strategic default on our government is really the only responsible thing to do
ROCKVILLE, MD -- It is sad day when hardworking, undercompensated CEOs and money managers must see a bloated government gouge us with outrageous taxes -- and then throw away all our hard-earned money.
Millions of Americans...

(98) Comments | Posted April 30, 2012 | 4:57 PM