MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Berkshire Chamber     Berkshire Community College     City of Pittsfield    
Search
Home About Archives RSS Feed
The Independent Investor: Man's Most Expensive Friend
By Bill Schmick,
04:37PM / Friday, May 29, 2015

The pet business is booming. Last year, we spent $58.5 billion on our animal buddies and will plunk down an additional 4-5 percent more this year. The lion's share of that increase, after food, is going toward health care.

One reason for this growth is that a record numbers of Americans have pets today. The ASPCA estimates that there are 70-80 million dogs and 74-96 million cats that are homesteading in our houses. That means that approximately 37-47 percent of all American households own either a dog or cat. If you throw in birds, fish, rabbits and other small pets, nearly 70 percent of Americans own pets today.

There was a time when the experts could just tell you how

0 Comments
Read More >>

@theMarket: June Is Off the Table
By Bill Schmick,
05:39PM / Friday, May 22, 2015

The notes of the Fed's April policy meeting, released this week, may have confused more people than not. The central bank committee revealed that they were unlikely to raise short-term interest rates in June. That statement could be taken as both a positive and a negative, depending on your investment position.

The official notice of a delayed rate hike was greeted with relief by some, although the markets had largely baked in that outcome. Many Fed Heads contend that a rate hike in September is still only a 50/50 proposition, while others argue any increase in rates won't happen until sometime next year.

This, they argue, is because the growth rate of the economy is

0 Comments
Read More >>

The Independent Investor: Will Memorial Day Kick Off a Strong Summer?
By Bill Schmick,
04:26PM / Thursday, May 21, 2015

Brace yourself for a crowded holiday weekend. This year the kickoff to the summer season will see 37.2 million Americans take to the roads. It will be the strongest volume in travel in over a decade. And the summer is only beginning.

The joyful combination of low gasoline prices and a stronger economy is expected to improve the economic health of sectors ranging from hotels to autos to summer jobs for teenagers. After a dismal winter, this rebound should allow the economy to bounce back and then some.

Memorial Day weekend, for example, is typically one of the four best times each year to purchase an automobile (with tax season, Labor Day weekend and the end of the year the

0 Comments
Read More >>

@theMarket: Another Record High
By Bill Schmick,
01:34PM / Saturday, May 16, 2015

This off-again, on-again market continues to grind higher, if only by a few points, but it is the direction that counts. This week it was the S&P 500 Index's turn to chalk up another record gain. And so it goes.

If you recall last week, we were at the bottom of the trading range before the "algos" (algorithmic trading programs of high frequency traders) kicked in and took us up again. This time the cast of characters responsible for lifting the markets included a declining dollar, higher interest rates and higher oil prices.

Before you ask, no, none of those reasons make any sense, but they are not supposed to. It's simply a case of more noise in a market

0 Comments
Read More >>

The Independent Investor: Millennials & Money
By Bill Schmick,
02:54PM / Friday, May 15, 2015

Recent studies indicate our nation's youth are not investing in the stock markets. That's nothing new. It takes a rare individual under the age of 30 to have the wisdom to invest at a young age. For those who do, their future could be golden.

A recent survey by Banknote.com, a personal finance company, found that just 26 percent of individuals under the age of 30 are investing in stocks. That number hits home when we compare it to the 58 percent of people between the ages of 50 and 64, who do invest in the stock market.

Part of this lack of interest in stocks can be attributed to young people's attitude toward aging, retirement and death. When I was that age, I was

0 Comments
Read More >>

Pittsfield.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 106 Main Sreet, P.O. Box 1787 North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384 F.413-663-3615
© 2008 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved