Madagascar Development

Much has been made about how much wealth is sloshing around in U.S. households and the significance of that fact. Our call of the day pulls no punches as it warns that all that oft-referenced increase in affluence has been artificially inflated by the Fed, which is ultimately bad news for the economy and the stock market. Here’s how Jesse Colombo, an analyst at Clarity Financial, explains it: “The U.S. household wealth boom since the Great Recession is a sham, a farce and a gigantic lie that is tricking everyone into believing that happy days are here again even though the engines that are driving it are bubbles that are going to burst and cause a crisis that will be even worse than the 2008 crash,” Colombo said in a video he posted via the  Real Investment Advice blog . There has been a fair bit of buzz on the topic since data this summer that showed household wealth topped $100 trillion for the first time in June. Colombo’s isn’t the only invective against bloated U.S. w...

Sears recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that it will close nearly 200 stores by the end of the year. Sears still hopes to operate at least 400 stores going forward, but their fate remains uncertain as the company undergoes a painful restructuring to alleviate its billions of dollars in debt. Sears' bankruptcy was telegraphed years ago, as the retailer struggled with declining mall traffic and intense competition from superstores and Amazon. Between fiscal 2007 and 2017, Sears' annual revenue plunged from $50.7 billion to $16.7 billion, and analysts were expecting another 26% drop this year. Moves such as cutting costs, closing stores, and divesting assets failed to right the sinking ship, and CEO Eddie Lampert blew billions on buybacks instead of reinvesting the cash into Sears Holdings' struggling stores or expanding its e-commerce presence. By the end, Sears was a hollowed-out shell of its former self. On the bright side, Sears' downfall co...