Columns

Fra-gee-lay– Must be from Italy   I’m not abig fan of forwarded emails or “send this to 7 people or else…” messages, but Idid get one recently that made me think a bit. As we approach Thanksgiving andthe full on Christmas (and Hanukkah, …and other holidays) season, I wanted toshare this with you. 

The bipartisan debt Supercommittee is expected to announce Monday that after three months it has hit gridlock on finding spending cuts to bring down a record federal deficit, which now stands at $15 trillion, equal to the size of the U.S. economy.

It’s infographic time!  We’ve been hearing about the 1% of peopleand/or corporations not paying their fair share a lot in the news lately. Onething that surprised me as I absorbed the data from this graphic was just whois paying the overwhelming share of taxes in America. Wasn’t it just a fewyears ago we had congress calling for new taxes on “windfall profits” the oilcompanies were making from high gas prices? Did anyone else know the Big 3 OilCompanies in America have 40-45% tax rates? Check out the contrast to GE andAT&T. GE has a tax rate of 7.4%! Is that paying their fair share? Whatabout AT&T? Does anyone know why they get back over a billion dollars intax rebates? 

Whilein Chicago last week, I stopped in to have some fun with the group at tastytrade.For those of you who have not had the pleasure of catching a segment on www.tastytrade.com, theyoffer live online programming about the financial markets. As in ALL financialmarkets, traditional and non-traditional alike. To use their words, “GetTasted,” is alternativefinancial programming where Wall Street squawk meets improv talk.The hosts discuss anything and everything financial from stocks to sports,aiming to deliver a “Daily Show” about the markets.  

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The worldwide bond market continues to be an increasingly tight financial pressure cooker and it's only going to get worse.

Mark Wolfinger fields a question about options exercisevs. other ways to exit a trade

Despite posting a weak performance last week, stocks may be in a fairly strong position.

Alan Brochstein finds 6 stocksthat might appeal to conservative investors

The market – as defined by the Dow – has shown a net change of 8 points since October 21.  Now that’s a sideways market.

optionsguy

This week was not a merry week for Wall Street, but as the holiday season kicks off, one online retailer may be poised to leap ahead of the pack.

A day before Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu is slated to testify before a House panel, a memo from the panel notes White House’s stimulus program planted a stimulus czar at the DOE to smooth the way for taxpayer money spent on Solyndra and other green companies.

Alan Brochstein Discusses Investigating Large-Cap Technology Stocks 

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which covers retiree benefits when companies go bankrupt and their pensions fail, says its deficit for fiscal 2011 was the largest in its 37-year history.

Even as Europe's debt crisis threatened to engulf one of the world's biggest economies, Wall Street held its support and posted a powerful comeback rally -- a bullish sign.

AlanBrochstein Screens for Potential Growth Stocks

The Market breathes a sigh of relief and some hurricane-proof stocks..

Last week I noted I wasn’t exactly optimistic about the market.  In fact, I was worried enough I thought the downside may be tested again.

Oy -- the day, week, month, even year has been downright awful.  Well, okay, not awful, but the last few weeks have certainly been ugly.