Articles

By Kyle Tetting A  growing number of economists, including many with the Federal Reserve Board, are expressing concern over changing prices.  One of the primary roles of the Fed is to combat inflation, but of late there has been more concern over an even more dangerous threat to economic recovery: Deflation. Each month, the Bureau…

By Joel Dresang Approaching $1.5 trillion, the U.S. deficit is becoming a bigger target for government critics and investors who wonder what the federal budget imbalance means for their nest eggs. “I get that question by clients every day,” says Bob Landaas, president of Landaas & Company. “I try to answer that it’s mostly about…

By Kyle Tetting Each week, we open our “Money Talk with Bob Landaas” webcast with a review of the latest developments on Wall Street and end-of-the-week updates on a few benchmark indexes. Additionally, we regularly field calls from interested investors who want to know what the market is doing for the day, the month or…

By Joel Dresang The U.S. federal government reached a record budget deficit in 2009: $1.4 trillion –about one-tenth of the nation’s economic output for the year. No one can deny that’s a deep hole to climb out of. Even relative to the size of the economy, it’s the biggest deficit as far back as the…

By Art Rothschild Rarely a day goes by this year that I haven’t been asked by a client (or two or three) whether they should convert their traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.  That question has taken on greater importance now that Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has signed into law a bill that allows investors…

By Joel Dresang Riding a surfboard requires coordination, balance and risk analysis. The more you want to catch the big waves, the more prepared you should be to get knocked off your board. Investing also involves maintaining equilibrium amid ever-changing conditions. In general, higher returns reward bigger risks, but there’s a point at which you…