Last Tuesday, October 29th, our conference room welcomed over a dozen small business owners. Sarah Grace delivered a thought-provoking presentation that led to some pretty great conversation throughout and following the workshop. It was moving to witness a safe space in which business owners shared experiences and raised questions that in one way or another was [...]
As of this week, the government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. Granted, it is only a partial shutdown. Previous wholesale shutdowns occurred in January 2018 over immigration (specifically saving DACA-Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival) which lasted 3 days and October 2013 (over saving Obamacare) which lasted 16 days. These prior shutdowns can be [...]
Well, 2018’s third quarter earnings season is history. It was pretty much a repeat of both the first and second quarters. The U.S. economy will stay strong in 2019 and inflation will tick-up above 2% and so the U.S. central bank should continue to raise interest rates gradually, New York Fed President John Williams said Tuesday. [...]
It can’t get a whole lot better in the U.S. job market (or can it?). The employment situation continues blast through expectations. The number of Americans losing their jobs and applying for unemployment benefits each week remained near a 49-year low in mid-October, suggesting no visible deterioration in the U.S. labor market. Initial jobless claims, on [...]
Well, 2018’s second quarter earnings season is history. It was pretty much a repeat of the first quarter. Once again, if you were to read the headlines, you would be led to believe the end-of-times was near. Reporter anxiety continues to run high and, at times almost hysterical. The continuing trade spat between the U.S. and [...]
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 4.1% in the second quarter of 2018, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is up from 2.2% in the first quarter. The 2nd quarter increase in real GDP reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, business investment, and government spending. The only decreases were [...]
On April 13, 2018, Kentucky legislation passed a new tax bill into law. Instead of reading the thousands of pages of the new tax law, which I know many of you enjoy dearly, I thought a summary of some of the main highlights would be useful. This does not include every single change in the tax [...]
Our economic indicators continue to run positive for the first quarter of 2018. Consumer spending, business investments and residential fixed investments rose at a 4.6% annual rate. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a broad measure of the nation’s overall economic activity has shown consistent growth over the past three quarters; up 3.2% in 2017’s 3rd quarter, 2.9% [...]
Well, 2018’s first quarter earnings season is in the process of winding down. The first quarter of 2018 had considerably more noise with respect to earnings because of the new tax law changes. However, earnings are looking much better than expected. During the quarter, investors celebrated the passage of the Republican tax plan that lowered the [...]
On March 8, 2018, President Trump imposed a global tariff of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminum imports.1 A tariff is a tax on a particular class of imported goods or services that is designed to help protect domestic industries from foreign competition. The metals tariffs have not been well received by U.S. allies or [...]