“Risk is most dangerous when it is least apparent and least dangerous when it is most apparent.”  -FINANCIAL NEWSLETTER WRITER EXTRAORDINAIRE, JAMES GRANT POINTS TO PONDER 1. Many pundits believe stocks are on the cusp of a new bull market.  However, the liftoff point for the last… Read More

“Communism creates shortages, capitalism creates surpluses.” -FORBES COLUMNIST AND NOTED ECONOMIST, GARY SHILLING APRIL 6TH, EVA Is risk-off back on?  It’s that time of the month many EVA readers look forward to—an issue that I don’t actually write!  This week’s “guest” EVA fulfills… Read More

“On balance, an assessment of a broad range of indicators suggests that a substantial portion of the decline in the unemployment rate does reflect genuine improvement in labor market conditions.”  -BEN BERNANKE POINTS TO PONDER 1. Wall Street seems to have at best mixed feelings toward the… Read More

“I never give them hell.  I just tell them the truth and they think it’s hell.” – HARRY S. TRUMAN, 33RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES A Midwinter Night’s Dream. It’s easy to be a dreamer in Hawaii.  Between the leisurely pace and the paradise-found… Read More

“Clearly, things are weaker than we thought when we made plans for this year.” –UPS CFO KURT KUEHN POINTS TO PONDER 1.  Retail sales have now fallen for three straight months.  This has occurred just 2% of the time since WWII… Read More

“Only the government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless.”    -MILTON FRIEDMAN The Taylor House Rules.  Numerous past EVAs have highlighted the famous, at least to monetary authorities and economists, “Taylor Principle” (aka, the Taylor… Read More

“I’m terrified of missing a big rally but equally terrified of a possible apocalypse.”  -BARTON BIGGS, ACCLAIMED MONEY MANAGER  POINTS TO PONDER 1.  Unfortunately, the US Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for both services and manufacturing has fallen to levels below those… Read More

“This isn’t just my wallet. It’s an organizer, a memory and an old friend.” –SEINFELD’S GEORGE COSTANZA The following piece, written by Evergreen Gavekal’s CEO Tyler Hay, was published by Seeking Alpha earlier this week. Seeking Alpha reaches over 650,000 readers as “the… Read More

“Going into this summit we had a monetary union in Europe that clearly did not work. Coming out of this summit we have a monetary union that still does not work.” -PAUL DONOVAN, GLOBAL ECONOMIST, UBS POINTS TO PONDER 1.  Though the popular… Read More

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force.  Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and fearful master.”    -GEORGE WASHINGTON Morning in America or America in mourning? Undoubtedly, how you are feeling, as this pivotal week comes to an end,… Read More