As an offshoot of our weekly podcasts – and to encourage your participation – we occasionally feature responses to listeners’ questions. Here Bob Landaas responds to a client’s question about incongruity between the U.S. economy and the stock market.

At some point, inflation poses a threat, and the Fed raises interest rates to cool the economy. Investors should know that will happen – but probably not anytime soon, Bob Landaas says in a Money Talk Video.

By Bob Landaas
Just as we thought, the Fed has launched its latest round of quantitative easing – buying mortgage bonds and other assets until the job market improves. This third round of quantitative easing is different from the first and second in that it’s open-ended and it’s not as much. The Fed was spending up to $100 billion a month (…)

By Diana Sarandos
My husband and I were excited about our vacation last month but also a little nervous. Part of our concern was traveling two weeks overseas with our two active young sons to visit family. Part of it was our destination: Greece.
We are all familiar with the economic turmoil surrounding the small nation by the sea: 327 billion euros in debt, a four-year recession, political upheaval.
We know that Greece was living beyond its means even before it joined (…)

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS Clamor over debt in Europe has rippled across the Atlantic and dampened moods on Wall Street. During a recent Money Talk podcast, Bob Landaas and Marc Amateis discussed events abroad and repercussions on investors closer to home. Here’s an edited version of their […]

By Sam Beres                            London – My semester of study in London made me realize that the United Kingdom has taken a backseat to the U.S. and the euro zone. The focus is rightly on the U.S. and the 17-country region using the euro as a common currency. They have greater impact on the global financial markets. […]

America’s recovery from the Great Recession is the first to be driven not by domestic consumer spending but by growth in the developing world. Recent analysis of the Standard & Poor’s 500 companies by the Wall Street Journal underscores how corporate America has gained since the recession, reaching record profits on greater productivity and lower […]

By Joel Dresang Three years after stocks hit recessionary lows, values of the major indexes had doubled. Art Rothschild, vice president at Landaas & Company, declared the rebound remarkable. “I just marvel at what I think has been the most spectacular market recovery at least in my lifetime,” Art said during a Money Talk podcast. […]

To foster financial literacy, we regularly feature discussions on common terms and concepts used in personal finance and investing. Here’s a Q&A with Marc Amateis on the risk that currency issues can play in foreign investments. What is currency risk? It is the possibility that foreign currency exchange rates could affect returns on foreign investments. […]

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS At the last of its meetings for 2011, the Federal Reserve Board’s policy-making committee reconfirmed its expectations for inflation – and thus interest rates – to remain at “subdued” levels at least through mid-2013. As the chart below shows, the […]

By Bob Landaas Last summer, we still were talking of the potential for a double-dip. But later in August, it became apparent we weren’t going to go back into recession, and we turned the corner before the end of this past year, transitioning from an economic recovery to an expansion. The typical business cycle lasts […]

By Katie Potts The Deepwater Horizon accident has illuminated an already-developing movement to develop additional energy sources. As more than 200 million gallons of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico since the April 20 explosion, a sense of urgency has spilled over to energy reform. “I can’t help but think that you’re going to […]