Market Commentary

The overcast economy: Get used to it
Surprise! The economy isn't all rainbows, puppies, kittens and sunshine after all.

Time for Tim to act tough
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner proposed tough new rules Tuesday, saying they could prevent another AIG debacle.

QQQuestionable anniversary for Nasdaq
Got an interesting press release this morning from the Nasdaq OMX Group, which runs the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Where's the outrage over Goldman Sachs's other mortgage foray?
Back in 2007, before Goldman Sachs had become a 24/7 whipping boy, my colleague, Doris Burke, and I wrote an article showing how Goldman had peddled a particularly wretched issue of mortgage-backed securities to its customers, and had also bet against the kind of mortgages that made up the securities.

What's next for responsible investors?
Everybody is feeling the pain of this recession and bear market. But older Americans, especially those living on fixed incomes, are really getting squeezed. And it's not fair.

The market's illogical rally
It should have been an ugly morning for the markets.

7 investing themes for tough times
As the bear market becomes situation normal, successful investing has become more a matter of "my stocks are down less than your stocks." But should it be? The old adage is that any fool can make money in a bull market and we saw that writ large over the past couple of years. Making money in today's market takes real skill. The question really then is what kind of stocks could possibly go up in this market?

Worst...Week...Ever!?
If the Comic Book Guy character on "The Simpsons" were an economist, this might be his characterization of the next five days: Worst...Week...Ever!

The trouble with mutual funds
As you cringe over your mutual fund statements, you may be thinking, "This can't possibly get any worse!" Think again.

Get ready Peyton, Eli's coming
Those rare sports fans who think there aren't enough Mannings in commercials can take heart. Peyton's little brother Eli is likely about to be Madison Avenue's new go-to guy.