In August 1940, Nazi warplanes numbering in the thousands took flight from France with their targets set for the British Isles – the Battle of Britain had begun. After the Nazis had seized France & other portions of Western Europe in short order, their assumption was the taking of Britain would be the same. Hermann… Read More

Tomorrow (Wednesday, April 29th at 7:30 am Central) we will see the first estimate of Q1 2020 US GDP. This figure is of particular interest because it represents the first look at how the US economy as a whole fared during the first quarter, which included quarantines beginning in February. Most forecasters believe the US… Read More

The nationwide shutdown in response to the coronavirus has hit all corners of the economy, including the energy sector. The oil market made historic moves on Monday with the headline price of crude oil falling into negative territory for the first time. How could this happen? In short, suppliers continue pumping oil, while the demand… Read More

The first quarter of 2020 was a pretty rough one. The S&P 500 ended the quarter down 20.0% (down 19.6% on a total return basis, including dividends) – the worst quarterly return since the fourth quarter of 2008. As everyone knows by now, this was all due to the coronavirus and the toll of this… Read More

Not all bear markets are created equal and this one is no exception. Work stoppages, state lockdowns and a reduction in personal spending due to the coronavirus have already begun to affect the economy in unprecedented ways. To make matters worse, it’s unclear how long this will last. While controlling the spread of the coronavirus… Read More