No one goes into Walmart (WMT) and asks to pay extra sales tax. Thus sales taxes are reasonable barometers for retail sales. This week we look at how taxes are doing in a period of economic recovery.

Yesterday, biz TV went ga-ga over Toll Brothers (TOL) order numbers and the “unbelievable” 6.9% cancellation rate. Similarly, on Tuesday Beazer Homes (BZH) reported a shockingly bullish p

All day and every day, some of the stock market's best and brightest traders and money managers share their ideas, insights and analysis in real-time on Minyanville's Buzz & Ban

Back in June, CBS (CBS) announced that its CFO, Fred Reynolds, planned to retire in mid-August. That same day, the company announced that Joseph Ianniello would be taking over as CFO on July 20.Now I

Even though we brace for the worst, when the unemployment numbers are announced each month, it’s hard not to be shocked. With the news on Friday that the unemployment rate is now at 10.2%, no o

Farewell, KB Toys, Circuit City, Mervyn’s, and Linens ‘n Things.Each retailer, now defunct, offered good prices, but that’s not enough in a recession. Quality and brand strength cou

Photo by Sebastian Willnow/AFP/Getty Images In 2007, Timberlake collaborated with his Destino partners to open Southern Hospitality, a Memphis-style ribs and barbecue join

Japan has gone through two lost decades, in and out of deflation, with nothing to show for it but increasing debt to GDP and a stock market still 70% below its peak.Now, Richard Koo of Nomura Researc

I first wrote about the Muddle-Through Economy in 2002, and the term has more or less become a theme I've returned to from time to time. In 2007 I wrote that we would indeed get back to a Muddle-Thro

Jim Otar doesn't much care what you think. As the Canadian financial adviser likes to say in his eastern-Balkan accent, “You can't please everyone. I'm 58 years old. I'm deep in the ‘Gree