The race to November is on, and President Obama is launching a new ad campaign, trying to score votes by blasting Mitt Romney and his tenure as the head of Bain Capital, a private equity firm... continue reading »

The nation's lead securities regulator Mary Schapiro had a message today for small investors stung by the Facebook IPO. In spite of the problems with the social network's public stock launch, you should be confident in the markets.

But it's too late. They've already lost confidence. The IPO that was supposed to take the market by storm and re-ignite small investor interest in stocks did just the opposite... continue reading »

Well, after months of speculation and waiting, Facebook is a public company.

And for most small investors, the question will be where does it go from here?

Because now, Facebook joins the other 2,768 Nasdaq stocks that are graded on bottom-line performance. It's not about how many users the site has. It's about earnings and revenue growth.

... continue reading »

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is out trying to promote the administration's free-spending policies.

He's pushing back against Republicans who are calling for immediate budget cuts and long-term reform for social security and Medicare. To bolster his campaign for tax increases instead of deeper cuts, Geithner tried to sell you this:... continue reading »

California Governor Jerry Brown has a secret weapon in his fight to close his state's $16 billion budget gap.

Yes, he's doing the usual things politicians do. He's raising taxes; he's making some budget cuts. But to make ends meet he's tapping into a $400 million slush fund provided by the nation's biggest banks.

Of course, that's not what that money was meant for.

... continue reading »

Our debt crisis reminds me of this moment from Gulliver’s Travels:

Gulliver is us – literally hamstrung by debt carried away by our own spending!

Think about it. Our country has the biggest economy on the planet. We're a giant, but we're held down by trillions of tiny obligations.

The problem with this is that it limits what we can do... continue reading »

The Obama administration trying to pivot back to the economy today after spending a week talking about social issues.

The campaign has just launched a new wave of attack ads against Mitt Romney. This latest ad says Romney is a job killer. The ad blames Romney for the closing of GST Steel and the loss of 750 jobs.

Here's the real story:... continue reading »

As part of a government settlement, Bank of America began sending out 200,000 letters to people who have not been paying their mortgage.

These "troubled" homeowners stand to get some of their mortgage debt forgiven. As much as $150,000 off what they owe on the homes they can't afford.

More debt forgiveness for people who overspent and have no way of paying their debt without a rescue... continue reading »

Despite what you may think and see on TV, all is not lost when it comes to this economy.

Even after a dismal jobs report for April, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

U.S. companies posting the highest number of job openings in nearly four years - a sign hiring could strengthen in the coming months.

Employers advertised more than 3.7 million job openings in March... continue reading »

Our educational system is a mess, and what's the President's solution?

It's the same as his answer for every problem: More money.

He wants to give the Department of Education an extra $70 billion next year. What do you think this investment would get us?

A better prepared workforce? Or more bureaucratic red tape?

The sad fact is, not even a fancy college degree is a ticket to success... continue reading »