AAM Weekly Market Wrap – February 27 – 2011

February 28, 2011 Weekly Market Wrap:  Stocks gave back some gains this week as tensions in the Middle East and Libya escalated driving up oil prices.  The S&P 500 index dropped 1.7% on the week closing at 1,319.88.  Oil surged 9% on Middle East supply concerns topping off the week at $97.88 per barrel.  Gold [...]

5 Stock Market Changers This Week – February 27 – 2011

Personal Income and Spending: Personal income and spending both increased in November and December, but personal spending outpaced income. The uptick in spending was good news for the economy. But with spending rising faster than income, personal savings dropped in December. Data for January come out Monday at 8:30 a.m. ISM Manufacturing Index: The manufacturing [...]

Simple Steps to Help Reduce Credit Card Debt

Simple Steps to Help Reduce Credit Card Debt The U.S. has a cumulative revolving debt of more than $850 billion, according to the Federal Reserve. A whopping 98% of that figure is comprised of credit card debt — with 54 million households in arrears for an average balance of $15,788.1 If you are contributing to [...]

Washington Hotline – February – Week 3 – 2011

White House Budget Release Starts Debate On February 14, the White House released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. Following the release, there were extensive comments by the White House, Senate leaders and House of Representative leaders. The new budget proposes spending $3.7 trillion next year. With an estimated total federal revenue of $2.6 [...]

5 Stock Market Changers to Watch This Week – February 20 – 2011

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index (HPI): Home prices across most of the largest cities in the U.S. are continuing to fall. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index fell 1.6 percent in November from October and average prices in eight major markets have hit their lowest point since home prices peaked in 2006 and 2007. Data for [...]

New Fee Disclosure Rules Help Make Costs More Transparent

New Fee Disclosure Rules Help Make Costs More Transparent Ask most retirement plan participants how much they pay to participate in their workplace plan, and answer will probably be, “Nothing.” But your retirement plan isn’t really free. While employees typically aren’t charged any out-of-pocket costs to participate in their plans, participants do pay expenses, many [...]

President Submits Fiscal Year 2012 Budget

President Submits Fiscal Year 2012 Budget President Obama submitted his Fiscal Year 2012 budget to Congress, and it once again includes a limit on the value of itemized deductions, including the charitable deduction, for certain taxpayers. The proposal is virtually identical to language included in last year’s budget plan and calls for a 28 percent [...]

Washington Hotline – February – Week 2 – 2011

Fed Chair Bernanke Defends Bond Purchases Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke appeared on February 9 before the House Budget Committee. He defended the plan by the Federal Reserve to purchase another $600 billion of government bonds. This would bring the total holdings of the Federal Reserve to approximately $2.6 trillion. Previously, the Federal Reserve lowered [...]

AAM Weekly Market Wrap – February 13 – 2011

Weekly Market Wrap:  Stocks got back to their winning ways as the S&P 500 index posted a gain of 1.4% to finish the week at $1,329.  Gold also ended the week higher up 0.62% to $1,356 per oz.  Oil slid down to $85.46 per barrel, dropping 4%.  The dollar gained against other major world currencies [...]

5 Stock Market Changers This Week – February 14 – 2011

Retail Sales: While slightly weaker than in November, retail sales still increased in December from the previous month, giving another indication that the economic recovery is on track. This week’s figures for January will show how much of an impact record snowstorms had on retail sales for January. New data come out Tuesday at 8:30 [...]