The Harvester – Summer 2008
“Positive economics is in principle independent of any particular ethical position or normative judgments… In short, positive economics is or can be an ‘objective’ science.” – Milton Friedman ‘Tis the season for stump speeches and political posturing. Now that we are down to two candidates for President, we wanted to offer some advice to the […]
The Harvester – Spring 2008
“For this relief much thanks; ’tis bitter cold, and I am sick at heart” – Shakespeare, “Hamlet” Shakespeare could write the same line today, but as it applies to the members of the Federal Reserve Board regarding their decision last week to provide liquidity to the financial markets. Not only did they cut interest rates […]
The Harvester – Winter 2007/2008
“Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time” – Aristotle There is one thing that is consistent about the markets; people forget the pain and agony of past bubbles only to create new bubbles. Does anyone remember the mid-80’s when many people were concerned […]
The Harvester – Fall 2007
“May You Live in Interesting Times” – Unknown Author To say the last few months have been interesting is an understatement. Even though the stock market today is pretty much where it was at the end of June, the ride has been bumpy. The primary cause of this volatility was the meltdown of the sub-prime […]
The Harvester – Summer 2007
Half-Time Report With the stock market recently reaching new highs (THOR clients were at new highs back in May of 2003!), we thought it would be a good time to take a step back and review what THOR’s expectations were for 2007 and where we are today. In our newsletter dated December 21, 2006, we […]
The Harvester – Spring 2007
“If you lend money to someone who doesn’t qualify to borrow money in the first place, why the surprise when they don’t pay?” – Ed Yardeni, economist Ed’s recent quote about mortgage lenders hits the nail on the head. The financial media recently has been full of stories about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. […]
The Harvester – Winter 2006/2007
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy As in 1994, when the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, this past election was a peaceful revolution with opposite results – the Democrats took control of the House and the Senate. During the campaign, there was quite […]
The Harvester – Fall 2006
“For mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge. But for the security of the future, I would do everything.” – James Abram Garfield Given the three dollar per gallon gas prices we saw earlier this year, who would have thought we would ever see a gallon […]
The Harvester – Summer 2006
“Nothing Endures but Change” – Heraclitus This is always true when talking about the U.S. tax code. Life would be so much simpler (and our newsletters would be more entertaining!!) if Congress just implemented a flat or sales tax. Instead, they tinker with the tax code to gain political advantage. And now we must write […]
The Harvester – Spring 2006
“Be not the first by whom the new are tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside!” – Alexander Pope A new tax-free retirement plan became available on January 1 of this year. On that date and at any time thereafter – but before December 31, 2010 when the provision enacting the Roth […]