Editor's Note: Matthew Beller is a former employee of the Federal Reserve Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He currently works for a private investment firm in Los Angeles, California

It’s fascinating how the sell side uniformly aligned to praise the Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) acquisition of 3Com (COMS) last week. Cheerleaders are plentiful but analysis of an underlying problem s

“Inspiration, move me brightly. Light the song with sense and color; hold away despair.”- Grateful DeadThere are moments in life you never forget; sometimes they arrive rather unexpectedl

Just one in 20 Americans say they plan to buy a home within the next year, and they're most likely to be 34 years old or younger and living in the South or West, according to a survey released Wednes

I'm the first to confess that dealing with kids and money is difficult. And I'm sure you come to Minyanville looking for well-researched and thoughtful articles on difficult issues. Sadly, this artic

George Soros discusses an entirely different crossroads. I've been too cautious the last few months and I own that. I'm usually early, however, and while I certainly see both sides, my sen

Editor's note: The following is an edition of The Lavery Insight economic newsletter by former Merrill Lynch chief economist Jack Lavery.  For more information, or to sign up for a free trial, c

The Senate approved yet another plan to stimulate the economy. It's called, throwing $33 billion at homebuilders. This is, of course, doing nothing but giving money to the greedy people that helped c

The US economy appears to face a classic chicken-or-the-egg conundrum: The economy is slow because consumers aren’t spending, and consumers aren’t spending because the economy is slow, gi

The swine flu (H1N1) pandemic first caused a panic in March and is once again threatening to become a preoccupation among the American public.But you’d think we be getting used to this type of