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"The simple reality, which you're unlikely to hear from any candidate, is that much of America pays no income tax at all."...keep reading

So there I was, on July 8 -- a sunny summer Saturday on Long Island's beautiful North Fork -- scanning the online news headlines, when I happened upon an AP news article about the president's summer plans....keep reading

It must be upwards of forty years ago that the legendary market observer Ray DeVoe wrote, "More money has been lost chasing yield than at the point of a gun."...keep reading

What follows is a story that I believe could only have happened in New York City, of all the cities in America, if not the world. It is perfectly true in every detail....keep reading

1. By far the most important, most accessible bit of journalism published in the last...
2. When I reviewed William Cohan's House of Cards in this space, I cautioned ...
3. I just got around to Steve Forbes's and Elizabeth Ames's How Capitalism Will ...
4. Not surprisingly, I very much liked Brian Wesbury's and Robert Stein's August ...
5. Mort Zuckerman's op-ed in the July 27 Financial Times, "Obama needs to stop ...
6. This collection of alarmist Time magazine covers...
7. I suppose I can be accused of never reading a book about the Beatles that I ...

Whether one agrees with it at any given time or not, the commentary of Michael Cembalest, chief investment officer of J. P. Morgan Global Wealth Management, is always thoughtful, and thought-provoking. He recently commented on earnings in a squib he called "Earnings Rashomon" -- after the classic Japanese film in which each of several observers of a particular incident vividly recalls seeing something totally different from everyone else....keep reading

Of course, it is too soon to know whether the rise in the equity market is a false start or the beginning of a strong rally that is anticipating an upturn in economic activity in the first quarter....keep reading

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Smith Barney's John Manley famously said that the shortest time interval measurable by man is between the moment when it's "too soon" to buy equities and the point at which it's "too late." If the stock market doesn't cool off pretty soon, believe it or not, this is going to start to become an issue in your dealings with clients and prospects....keep reading

I was a fan of Ben Bernanke before most people, even in the financial community, knew who he was. Going back a number of years, I favorably reviewed his book on inflation targeting (even while demurring from its conclusion) as a lucid and dispassionate examination of the "how to" issues in the pursuit of monetary stability. And I cheered when he went on the board of governors of the Fed. Then, a little over three years ago, my cheering stopped....keep reading

I'm addicted to thrillers in general, and wait eagerly for the all-too-rare publication of another of Stephen Hunter's novels starring the "retired" Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger. In the latest--I, Sniper--there's a wonderful conversation between a young FBI agent and a much older colleague, who still wears blue button-down shirts and English shoes, and who, I am bound to confess, reminds me very much of me....keep reading

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It is not the business of this newsletter, nor of any sentient being, to engage in short term market prognostication--or even commentary. But, barring some fresh calamity, it would certainly appear that the correction which began as the buds of spring bloomed upon the trees may well have ended--or at least begun to end--as those selfsame leaves turned crimson, and the air was once again filled with footballs....keep reading

Great professionals in every calling are great for a lot of similar reasons. One, of course, is a passion for what they do -- a love of practicing their craft, and of the benefits their clients receive from it....keep reading

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1. There'd be no way to know this from the mainstream media's coverage of it ...
2. A caution, as much as a recommendation: you've probably seen reviews just ...
3. I had thought it inevitable that at some point someone would do a book of ...
4. I note, as well, that John Lewis Gaddis's terrific short history, The Cold War, ...
5. PBS is airing a wonderful 90-minute intellectual biography of Milton Friedman ...
6. Nobel economics laureate Gary Becker and federal circuit court judge Richard ...
7. The single best summary of where the economy really stands -- contrasted, by ...

1. David Halberstam died (senselessly, needlessly) believing that The Coldest ...
2. I like Ike. He's the only President I ever saw in person (unless and until Rudy ...
3. Three wonderful WSJ op-ed pieces, all must-reads: "Lifelines for the Drowning ...
4. Paul Tibbetts died on November 1; he was 92. Tibbetts was chosen to ...

OK, suppose - just suppose - that the S&P 500's bottom on July 23 was The Bottom. I'm certainly not saying it was; remember, I'm the guy who thought as recently as Memorial Day that the panic lows of September 21, 2001 were The Bottom. But, hey: just suppose....keep reading

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