America awakes this morning to the realization that our federal government is collectively unwilling and/or unable to tend to the people’s business. Many in America might like to point fingers at one side of the aisle or the other. Many others would bemoan the general lack of real leadership in the most senior positions within [...]

I sit here outside a branch of my town’s local library to get an internet connection having no idea when power may be restored to my neighborhood. Today was the first day we actually even had a visit from representatives of an out of state power company merely to make an assessment. Their first reaction [...]

* Bumped Up * Lara Logan: “This Is Terrorism” and “Our Way of Life is Under Attack” With developments in the Middle East and surrounding region very fluid and a Presidential debate focused on foreign policy on the horizon, I urge you to view this exceptionally chilling clip in which CBS News Lara Logan lays [...]

Was the unemployment report released Friday gamed by the powers that be in Washington? Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch thinks so and had this to say in a tweet released right after the report: Well, while Welch and many others believe a conspiracy is at work, let’s take a harder look at the numbers. [...]

* Bumped Up * Editor: Larry Doyle has posted about Ben Bernanke’s Fed. A Bloomberg story suggests Mitt Romney’s readiness to be President: Bernanke has come under attack from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who said he won’t reappoint the Fed chairman and criticized his policies as ineffective and a threat to price stability. That [...]

* Bumped Up * (In the aftermath of the Aurora, Colorado mass murder, Larry Doyle’s compelling, first-person account of his experiences with Bain Capital were overlooked. Larry will make every effort to be available to respond to your questions and observations.) Bain Capital. I cannot recall in my lifetime as much attention being paid to [...]

The real tragedy of the scandal is the apparent lack of ethics or self-restraint among the people involved. Following billions of dollars of trading losses at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s out-of-control London unit, the latest installment of big-bank follies offers yet more proof that the industry shouldn’t be trusted to regulate itself. The earthquake that [...]

Six months and counting. The lives of countless numbers of families and individuals are likely forever changed by what transpired at MF Global. Yet there remains no real accounting nor full retribution for the fiasco which unfolded within the walls of the firm that traced its roots to the late 1700s. Certainly we can expect [...]

Have you seen this FBI PSA on your TV recently? Below, NoQuarterUSA contributor Larry Doyle comments on the FBI’s effort to warn Americans about insider trading and the dangers of white-collar crimes. Michael Douglas? Have we gone totally soft? Does America need to call on Michael Douglas, as the FBI recently did, to promote that [...]

Will we learn in 2012 if Mary Schapiro, current chair of the SEC, and other then senior executives at the Wall Street self-regulatory organization, FINRA, engaged in a fraud? The case addressing this question, Standard Chartered v FINRA, has been appealed to the highest court in our land. As such, one might think that most [...]

 * Bumped Up * While driving my truck and listening to Bloomberg Radio, I almost gagged on my coffee. What caused my knee jerk reaction? Let me set the table as to what I heard, prompted my thinking, “You have got to be kidding me,” and why I feel compelled to write this commentary today. [...]

BOMBSHELL!!! Since early 2009 I have written at length about the regulatory capture that has dominated the financial industry. I have defined this concept in layman’s terms as the Wall Street-Washington incest. Today a close friend and regular reader of Sense on Cents shares a story which blows the cover off this incest. This story [...]

From contributing writer Larry Doyle‘s blog, Sense on Cents. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Standard & Poors has just downgraded the credit rating of the United States from a AAA rating. This is a HUUUUGE story. What do I see as the implications? 1. Short term lending markets will get tighter and activity [...]

I have a soft spot for those within our society whom I believe are preyed upon and ultimately victimized by the perils and pitfalls of modern day finance. I fully appreciate that people need to be held responsible for their personal behaviors and decisions, but we need to acknowledge that the tangled financial web that [...]

From my blog, Sense on Cents: If this 5-minute video clip does not capture the spirit and rage that is boiling in our nation, I do not know what does. I thank the regular reader who shared this with me. I commend Jim Garvin for standing up, speaking out, and sharing a healthy dose of [...]

I will readily admit I am not a big fan of CNBC’s Jim Cramer. Perhaps it is more Jim Cramer’s style than his substance but for whatever reasons, I very rarely watch his show or follow his work. I will also readily admit I am a HUGE fan of Themis Trading’s Joe Saluzzi. Based upon [...]

Although I write primarily on issues directly relating to finance and the economy with a particular focus on investor education and investor protection, when “the most important story in the world in the last 25 years” comes along, as Carl Bernstein has asserted, I am compelled to address it. I have been busy since January [...]

While the United States licks its economic wounds and the Obama administration struggles to spin the anemic jobs report, we do not need to look far for positive employment news. Where should we look? Northward, as our friends in Canada are thriving compared to the struggles we are experiencing. Let’s navigate and review the Financial [...]

Over the last few years I have highlighted the fact that the deflationary impact of declining wages and home values gave cover to the Federal Reserve for maintaining an excessively easy monetary policy and pumping up asset prices via quantitative easing. That party would now seem to be over. Why? There is no doubt that [...]

I want to thank a regular reader for prompting me to tune into 60 Minutes this past Sunday evening. Watching CBS’s Scott Pelley evidence how Wall Street banks knowingly and fraudulently engaged in forging mortgage documents made me cringe and vomit as I thought of just how low these financial institutions have sunk in terms [...]