I have been asked about my thoughts on financial reform so let me put down some thoughts.  First, I was supportive of the bailout efforts in 2008/2009 not because I cared about Wall Street banks, but because a multi-decade economic collapse was going to be bad for everyone. As difficult as it was to ‘save [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: General
Posted on April 28th, 2010 by Bob Brinker

Today we updated our searchable online database of upcoming municipal bond auctions. Our database contains more than 700 upcoming new offerings in 47 states totaling more than $20 billion in securities. These include a $1 billion offering from the City of Chicago, a $700 million deal from the State of Illinois, a $592 million offering [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: General, Municipal Bonds
Posted on April 15th, 2010 by Bob Brinker

The minutes of the March 16th Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting were released this afternoon. Below are the highlights: nearly all of the Fed’s special liquidity programs are closed and there are no market strains spreads on ABS (asset-backed securities) remains tight Fed’s balance sheet grew to $2.3 trillion All maturing agency debt and [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: Federal Reserve, General, Inflation, Money Supply
Posted on April 6th, 2010 by Bob Brinker

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March 2010 Employment Situation report. According to the initial figures, the economy added 162,000 new nonfarm workers during the month. In addition, the January and February monthly figures were revised upward by a total of 62,000. The Unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7%, were it has [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: Employment, General
Posted on April 2nd, 2010 by Bob Brinker

The April 2010 edition of the Brinker Fixed Income Advisor is online at www.BrinkerAdvisor.com. Our 1-Year Model Portfolio total returns through 3/31/2010: Aggressive Portfolio + 35.6% Moderate Portfolio + 19.8% Conservative Portfolio + 13.8% Tax-Exempt Portfolio + 9.9% **this a tax-exempt return**

Comments Off | Filed under: General, Investment Letter
Posted on April 1st, 2010 by Bob Brinker