Surprise! It's Christmas! (again...) Christmas always seemed to surprise me when I was first living on my own. It would be about this time of year I realized that I needed to spend a large sum of mon

Many people are finding the holiday tradition of making charitable donations difficult again this year, particularly if they're unemployed or worried about the economy. Charities, many of which norma

The past quarter century was a fun one for the American consumer. But after all that borrowing and spending, consumers have re-discovered the benefits of thrift and prudence. This is good news for pe

Money is a difficult subject. There's much confusion as to what it is. There's even more confusion as to the best way to measure it. Yet, before we can measure it, we have to define it.Here's a descr

Bob Seger once sang that seeing old friends is good for the soul. Following a three-day southbound sojourn, I would have to agree with him.After a Friday morning business meeting in Tampa, I was bles

As the credit crisis commenced in 2007, paradoxically, nobody actually defaulted. Outside of sub-prime delinquencies, corporate defaults were at a record low. Instead, investors in high-quality (AAA-

Investors have wagered hard on the gambling stocks but, at their current prices, it’s hard to see why stock pickers should double down on this bet. Wynn Resorts (WYNN) made headlines over the w

As a rule, I’m not one to boast. But I’m tooting my own horn this week because I reached a big personal milestone.I’m at the official goal weight I set for myself when I joined Weig

Editor's Note: This article was written by James Quinn, a senior director of strategic planning for a major university. James has held high-level financial positions with a retailer

Editor's Note: This article originally posted on the Buzz & Banter. It's being published here for the benefit of the Minyanville community.Today’s factory-orders data were significantly low