US stocks end off session highs; S&P 500 just below record close … U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, lifting the S&P 500 to a intraday record and briefly clearing its 2014 loss, as investors embraced activity on the M&A front and continued to disregard lackluster economic data as largely due to winter weather. Mergers and acquisitions came into play, with RF Micro Devices agreein...Read More
Profit From Global Warming or Get Left Behind … Still think human activity isn't changing the climate? Last month, I wrote about global warming in the context of investment opportunities. As part of that discussion, I mentioned McKenzie Funk's new book, "Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming." I thought framing the financial opportunities of this might bypass the...Read More
Why North America is stronger than its parts … Twenty years ago NAFTA, the most ambitious free trade agreement negotiation of its time, gave birth to a profound transformation of the economies and the regional value chains of Mexico, the United States and Canada. Trade dramatically changed the relationship between the three countries, though asymmetries of power and economic vitality persist...Read More
Al Gore brings climate change message to Kansas City … Former vice president Al Gore spoke about climate change Saturday during the Folk Alliance International conference at the Westin Crown Center hotel. But the former vice president, speaking Saturday in Kansas City, cited many more recent examples how heavy use of fossil fuels is contributing to extreme weather events and trends, in his v...Read More
Why North America is stronger than its parts … Twenty years ago NAFTA, the most ambitious free trade agreement negotiation of its time, gave birth to a profound transformation of the economies and the regional value chains of Mexico, the United States and Canada. Trade dramatically changed the relationship between the three countries, though asymmetries of power and economic vitality persist...Read More
Al Gore brings climate change message to Kansas City … Former vice president Al Gore spoke about climate change Saturday during the Folk Alliance International conference at the Westin Crown Center hotel. But the former vice president, speaking Saturday in Kansas City, cited many more recent examples how heavy use of fossil fuels is contributing to extreme weather events and trends, in his v...Read More
How to make the world $600 billion poorer … Barack Obama's unwillingness to fight for free trade is an expensive mistake … In July 2008, Barack Obama, then a candidate for the presidency, declared before an adoring crowd in Berlin that "true partnership and true progress [require] constant work and sustained sacrifice." So it is with free trade. If not championed by leade...Read More
Liberals get help from pro-pot group … Following the lead of successful campaigns in several U.S. states, a new Canadian lobby group has a $7 million budget and a two-year plan to elect Members of Parliament who support the legalization of marijuana in Canada. Voters in Colorado and Washington State passed ballot initiatives that led to those states legalizing and regulating the recreational...Read More
How to make the world $600 billion poorer … Barack Obama's unwillingness to fight for free trade is an expensive mistake … In July 2008, Barack Obama, then a candidate for the presidency, declared before an adoring crowd in Berlin that "true partnership and true progress [require] constant work and sustained sacrifice." So it is with free trade. If not championed by leade...Read More
Liberals get help from pro-pot group … Following the lead of successful campaigns in several U.S. states, a new Canadian lobby group has a $7 million budget and a two-year plan to elect Members of Parliament who support the legalization of marijuana in Canada. Voters in Colorado and Washington State passed ballot initiatives that led to those states legalizing and regulating the recreational...Read More
- John EmbryIf you've always suspected the world's central banks of keeping gold prices down, Dimitri Speck's investigation will come as no surpriseAs we head into February, gold and silver are showing signs of emerging from their slumber.And they're doing so despite flack from the mainstream media, as well as predictions that the price of gold will plunge to US$1,000 an ounce or even lower.Still,...Read More
I recently had the opportunity to meet with Jim Pattison, one of Canada's most powerful and influential business people. While sitting in his office overlooking Burrard Inlet and the mountains of Vancouver, Mr. Pattison asked me a most timely and intriguing question. "President Fox, I have read recently that you are in favour of the legalization of marijuana. Is that true? … With Ju...Read More
What exactly is an entrepreneur? … Entrepreneurs are everybody's favourite heroes. … In a new paper Magnus Henrekson and Tino Sanandaji argue that the number of self-made billionaires a country produces provides a much better measure of its entrepreneurial vigour than the number of small businesses. The authors studied Forbes's annual list of billionaires over the past 20 years...Read More
I recently had the opportunity to meet with Jim Pattison, one of Canada's most powerful and influential business people. While sitting in his office overlooking Burrard Inlet and the mountains of Vancouver, Mr. Pattison asked me a most timely and intriguing question. "President Fox, I have read recently that you are in favour of the legalization of marijuana. Is that true? … With Ju...Read More
What exactly is an entrepreneur? … Entrepreneurs are everybody's favourite heroes. … In a new paper Magnus Henrekson and Tino Sanandaji argue that the number of self-made billionaires a country produces provides a much better measure of its entrepreneurial vigour than the number of small businesses. The authors studied Forbes's annual list of billionaires over the past 20 years...Read More
What America's leftward shift means for elections … With each new poll, it's becoming clear that the United States is shifting to the left. A majority of Americans now supports same-sex marriage. And legalization of marijuana. And normalization of relations with Cuba. Gallup reports that, in 2013, the percentage of Americans identifying themselves as liberals reached its highest leve...Read More
Obama Heads to Mexico … Amigos Meeting Strained by Keystone … Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's frustration with U.S. President Barack Obama's failure to approve the Keystone XL pipeline may make this installment of the North America summit, known as the "Three Amigos," the frostiest since the annual meetings began almost a decade ago. At the one-day meeting to...Read More
What America's leftward shift means for elections … With each new poll, it's becoming clear that the United States is shifting to the left. A majority of Americans now supports same-sex marriage. And legalization of marijuana. And normalization of relations with Cuba. Gallup reports that, in 2013, the percentage of Americans identifying themselves as liberals reached its highest leve...Read More
Obama Heads to Mexico … Amigos Meeting Strained by Keystone … Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's frustration with U.S. President Barack Obama's failure to approve the Keystone XL pipeline may make this installment of the North America summit, known as the "Three Amigos," the frostiest since the annual meetings began almost a decade ago. At the one-day meeting to...Read More
Despite stimulus, middle class still struggles … Five years ago Monday, President Barack Obama signed the signature economic proposal of his presidency, saying that the passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus package heralded the "the beginning of the end" of the Great Recession. The president told a Denver audience that he was "keeping the American Dream alive in our ti...Read More