Author: landaasco

  • For What It’s Worth: Beige Book

    For What It’s Worth is an occasional look at the meanings and origins of words and expressions investors may run into. By Joel Dresang What’s commonly called the Beige Book is formally known as the “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District.” And that’s a better description. The report, from the…

  • Knowing The Number

    By Brian D. Kilb A few years back, I visited with a prospect who asked (based on The Number from his accumulated savings) how much he might expect to draw in retirement.  The figure I gave him was less than he hoped for, and the meeting ended right there. When I walked him to the…

  • Table Turned

    By Joel Dresang Call it recycling – or opportunity finding need. A heavy wooden conference table and 10 upholstered armchairs recently moved from the back office of Landaas & Company to the nearby Grand Avenue Club. The Grand Avenue Club is a downtown Milwaukee organization that offers community and a place for adults who experience…

  • Cyclical worries

    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…

  • What You Feel vs. What the Fed Sees

    By Adam Baley A client called recently and was bemoaning the rising cost of her grocery, gasoline and medical bills. For her, food and energy represent the core of monthly expenses.  An avid reader of the newspaper, she noticed the Federal Reserve doesn’t view inflation the same way she does. “Why does the government focus on an…

  • All That’s Gold Glitters

    Both to support the Green Bay Packers and benefit a regional food bank, Landaas & Company staff displayed green and gold at the office two days before Super Bowl XVL. Employees donated $5 or more to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin in exchange for adorning their professional attire with Packers-themed accoutrements, including jerseys, neckties, earrings and…

  • On Balance: Beyond U.S.

    Considerations abroad should figure more into investment strategies, Bob Landaas writes in the latest bimonthly magazine of the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants. For the third year in a row, the professional association has invited Bob to share his economic outlook with its 8,000 members. In the January/February issue of On Balance, Bob makes…

  • For What It’s Worth: Wall Street

    News of stock exchange mergers in Europe and between London and Toronto are further reminders of the global nature of finance. But as we reported in a Money Talk podcast in May 2010, the international influence on Wall Street is longstanding. By Joel Dresang Wall Street – sometimes just called “the street” – actually is…

  • For What It’s Worth: Windfall

    By Joel Dresang Accumulating wealth requires solid values such as discipline, patience and balance. But reaping a big bundle in a hurry often comes as the result of a windfall. A windfall is a sudden – usually surprising – gain from circumstances largely beyond one’s control. How to handle a financial windfall, a Money Talk…

  • Bob on the QE2

    By Bob Landaas On Nov. 3, the Federal Open Market Committee announced a $600 billion quantitative easing, which is now known as QE2. There was an unusual amount of dissent at the Federal Reserve about this, led by the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the…