It is a question that has many job hunters scratching their heads:  how can the U.S. economy create an average of 100,000 new jobs per month in 2010, and yet still see an increasing unemployment rate? In January 2010, the unemployment rate was 9.7 percent.  Over the next ten months, government figures showed an increase [...]

Prognostications abound for gold prices in 2011.  Many of these forecasts consider the outlook for inflation, currencies and interest rates in the world’s largest economies.  Let’s take a closer look at why. Gold prices generally rise during times of actual or projected inflation because of gold’s traditional status as a “safe haven” asset.  Gold buyers [...]

Unsettling news from abroad drove gold prices higher on Monday, as buyers sought the yellow metal for its traditional status as a safe haven asset in times of uncertainty. The possibility of escalated military engagement between North and South Korea was a major theme for investors today.  South Korea conducted military exercises off the coast [...]

The upward pressure on gold prices over the last decade has been a result of trends that could continue or possibly even accelerate in 2011. In the West, gold demand has recently been driven by fears over the sovereign credit crunch in Europe, a lack of confidence in the dollar, and central banks’ low real [...]

As the old saying goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got, until it’s gone.” America’s AAA credit rating has been a part of the fabric of our economy…

Stocks saw a nice lift on Friday following the latest government data report, which showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowing more than expected in October. This news, combined with a better than expected report on consumer sentiment, raised a bit of optimism about economic growth for 2011. The Obama-GOP tax cut deal is still [...]

December 8, 2010 The stock market took a breather on Wednesday during a brief lull in economic announcements or other major financial news. With little else to drive the market, investors continued to evaluate the implications of the pricey $800 billion deal struck late Monday between President Obama and Republican lawmakers. Opinions differ widely on [...]

December 6, 2010 Markets on Monday were greeted with a blast of cold air from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who gave a much-anticipated interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” program over the weekend. Chairman Bernanke’s pessimistic outlook for the U.S. economy was no surprise, but his indication that the Fed would consider expanding its quantitative [...]

December 3, 2010 As the old cliche goes: two steps forward and one step back. A week of promising economic news ground to a halt on Friday with an unemployment report that came in well below expectations. The Department of Labor announced that non-farm jobs increased by only 39,000 while the private sector added only [...]