Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the U.S. housing market is at last starting to thrive. It has, in fact, been steadily improving over the past years, and that trend has only accelerated of late.
Read more6 Reasons to Be Thankful About the Economy Today
It's admittedly trite to use the occasion of Thanksgiving to look on the bright side, but given how rarely we cast an optimistic outlook these days, it's as good a reason as any. With Chapter LXXII of the Middle East conflict playing out in Gaza and the daily soap opera of Washington politics oscillating between sex scandals and fiscal fearmongering, we are once again subsuming the bigger picture to the smaller one and privileging fear.
Read moreZACHARY KARABELL ON JPMORGAN CHASE'S RISKY BUSINESS
Question: When does risk aversion become risky behavior? Answer: when you are a large financial institution in today’s world, especially a behemoth bank like JPMorgan Chase, attempting to navigate both labyrinthine regulations and shareholder demand for endless profit.
Read moreBells Are Ringing! Confidence Rises as the Dow—Finally—Hits 13,000 Again
The Dow Jones industrial average briefly flirted with 13,000 today, marking the first time since May 2008 that the august index has reached that level. The number is purely symbolic, of course, but the steady rise of stocks this year (with the major indices up anywhere from 5 to 10 percent) has taken many by surprise, none more than Wall Street professionals who have assumed a Greek default and the ensuing financial catastrophe to be a near certainty. Instead of a Europe-led meltdown, we are witnessing a melt-up.
Read moreHousing Market and the Economy
The panelists discussed issues currently unfolding in the U.S. economy. Topics included the housing market and its credit bubbles, global economics, productivity rates, stocks and bonds, and bank crises. After their presentations the panelists responded to audience members' questions.
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