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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…

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…

By Art Rothschild and Joel Dresang Given continued volatility in global stock markets, it is nice to know that bond investors have been able to benefit from ongoing interest payments and the relative stability that the bonds in their portfolio have provided this year.  When 2010 started, all eyes were on the stock market.  Given…

By Joel Dresang At 75 years old, the Social Security Act is drawing the speculation and foreboding that often accompany advanced age. President Barack Obama, marking the August birthday of the program, hailed Social Security as “a cornerstone in the foundation of America’s middle class.” He also contended that Republican leaders plan to “privatize” the…

By Kyle Tetting A  growing number of economists, including many with the Federal Reserve Board, are expressing concern over changing prices.  One of the primary roles of the Fed is to combat inflation, but of late there has been more concern over an even more dangerous threat to economic recovery: Deflation. Each month, the Bureau…

By Joel Dresang Approaching $1.5 trillion, the U.S. deficit is becoming a bigger target for government critics and investors who wonder what the federal budget imbalance means for their nest eggs. “I get that question by clients every day,” says Bob Landaas, president of Landaas & Company. “I try to answer that it’s mostly about…

By Kyle Tetting Each week, we open our “Money Talk with Bob Landaas” webcast with a review of the latest developments on Wall Street and end-of-the-week updates on a few benchmark indexes. Additionally, we regularly field calls from interested investors who want to know what the market is doing for the day, the month or…

By Joel Dresang The U.S. federal government reached a record budget deficit in 2009: $1.4 trillion –about one-tenth of the nation’s economic output for the year. No one can deny that’s a deep hole to climb out of. Even relative to the size of the economy, it’s the biggest deficit as far back as the…

By Art Rothschild Rarely a day goes by this year that I haven’t been asked by a client (or two or three) whether they should convert their traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.  That question has taken on greater importance now that Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has signed into law a bill that allows investors…

By Joel Dresang Riding a surfboard requires coordination, balance and risk analysis. The more you want to catch the big waves, the more prepared you should be to get knocked off your board. Investing also involves maintaining equilibrium amid ever-changing conditions. In general, higher returns reward bigger risks, but there’s a point at which you…