Modern economiststhink an economy is a kind of machine. They think they can make it work better, or fix it when it is broken, by tinkering with it.

The remarkable ascent of the S&P 500 since early September 2010 has been eclipsed by that of the Russell 2000 index of micro-cap stocks.

If the feds slow down their spending machine, what calamity will be upon us?  What evil is so great that we should put the financial integrity of the nation at risk?

A lot can change in three weeks.

There seems to be a mood of benign complacency now on the part of asset allocators that the US fundamentals are just right: not too fast a recovery, not too much inflation and a generally positive outlook for US domiciled multi-nationals.

Future historians, when they finally get a grip on it, will no doubt dub our time as the "Age of Bubbles."

The Bank of England's Quarterly Inflation Report is one of the most important pieces of documents released by the central bank.

Fiscal stimulus, monetary stimulus, unorthodox stimulus -- trillions of dollars' worth.  What happened?

The chart for XLU, which is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR, has characteristics indicating that this sector is stalling.

Real trouble comes unannounced.  Black swans do not honk before they appear.