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@theMarket: The Virus Versus the Fed
By Bill Schmick,
05:22PM / Friday, June 26, 2020
Bulls and bears are in a tussle. Market averages reflect the battle that is moving stocks down, up, and then sideways throughout the week. It is a phase where investors are in a data-dependent mood and the data isn't all that good.   The bears are watching the COVID-19 cases climb higher every day, which threatens to trash their expectations for a "V" shaped recovery. The bulls, meanwhile, aren't too worried. They are banking on the Federal Reserve Bank's promises to keep pouring added stimulus support into the financial markets just in case the virus pushes the economy further toward the brink.   It did not have to be this

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The Retired Investor: Corporate Debt & the U.S. government
By Bill Schmick,
11:12AM / Friday, June 26, 2020
The pandemic and its impact on the American economy required a drastic response from both the federal government and the Federal Reserve Bank. One of the most controversial, but necessary, steps taken by the Fed was to not only purchase private-sector debt, but implicitly guarantee that debt.   In addition, both fiscal and monetary stimulus has been pouring into the economy in an effort to defend jobs and stave off bankruptcy for thousands of small businesses. While some worry about the inflationary effects this may have down the road, the attitude of most economists is that we will worry about that later, if it becomes a problem.   In my last column, I

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The Retired Investor: Inflation, a Factor to Forget?
By Bill Schmick,
12:12AM / Friday, June 19, 2020
It has been a long time since we have seen a rise in the inflation rate of any magnitude. As a result, most investors have largely dismissed inflation as a near-term concern. But that doesn't mean we have vanquished this troublesome variable from the financial equation forever.     There is a reason that inflation fears have subsided. Ever since the Financial Crisis, when central banks and governments dumped trillions of dollars into the world's economies, investors feared that all this money would re-ignite the inflation fire. It didn't happen. Instead, the inflation rate moderated, and in some countries began to drop. Rather than worry about

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@theMarket: Markets Fear New Virus Surge
By Bill Schmick,
09:15AM / Saturday, June 13, 2020
Thursday happened to be one of the worst days for the market all year. Stock indexes dropped between 5-6 percent in the blink of the eye as the number of COVID-19 cases spiked higher in several states. Was that simply an excuse to sell, or should we be worried about a second surge?   As far as a second surge is concerned, I don't know what Wall Street is talking about. We are still in the initial phase of the pandemic. All that has happened is that a number of states are playing catch up with ground zero states like New York, New Jersey and California. Of course, it doesn't help that most states, like Florida, Texas, Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama, etc., have all but

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The Retired Investor: The Virus & the Stock Market
By Bill Schmick,
11:19AM / Friday, June 12, 2020
Once upon a time, the world suffered from a pandemic. The global stock markets collapsed. The world's labor force disappeared, and the economies in every corner of the world plunged. All seemed lost until one day, the virus mysteriously disappeared, and every one lived happily ever after.  If you liked that fairy tale, I also have a bridge I can sell you.   Don't say we were not warned. Every epidemiologist that wasn't on the government's payroll has been sounding the alert to prepare for a second wave of the COVID-19 virus. So why didn't we listen? There are a number of reasons.   Number one, it is an election year. If the economy

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