Social Security and You The 2026 OASDI Trustees Report presents a sobering assessment of the financial outlook for Social Security. The trust fund that supports Social Security retirement benefits is projected to be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032. At that...

Chips in Flux Since the most recent market low at the end of March, semiconductors (microchips, commonly called chip stocks) have been a very popular trade. In less than three months, the PHLX Semiconductor Index has more than doubled—see Figure 1. Investors are...

Oil Has Given Back Gains, but Gasoline—Not So Much Just before the start of the war, WTI crude oil traded at about $67 per barrel, according to MarketWatch. By last week, the price of oil had fallen to within about $1 of its pre-war price. However, the same can’t be...

A Q2 to Remember “S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Log Their Best Quarter since 2020,” read a story in the Wall Street Journal. “Dow Heads for Best First Half in 5 Years,” according to CNBC. And it wasn’t simply the biggest U.S. firms, which are represented in the Dow, the...

1776 to Today: Reflections on the Fourth of July As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding—a milestone known as the Semiquincentennial—the Declaration of Independence remains as important as ever. The treasured document declared the 13...

There’s a New Sheriff in Town The Federal Reserve surprised no one by holding its key rate, the fed funds rate, at 3.50–3.75%. But given the Fed’s full-throated rhetorical assault on inflation under newly installed Kevin Warsh, who took the helm from Jay Powell after...