Mohamed El-Erian, former PIMCO guru and current Allianz economic adviser, warns that corporate cash, now being hoarded, must be unlocked for growth to take place. Otherwise he fears political collapse and economic demise. He rejects the concept that people’s QE (helicopter money) should be attempted, because of the unknown political ramifications. I don’t know that […]

Shares of Vitae Pharmaceuticals (VTAE) are up almost 50% after hours after the company announced positive proof-of-concept phase 2a results in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. The company’s drug used in the study is known as VTP-43742. Psoriasis is a disease of the skin where scaly patches that itch occur. The results were positive […]

One of the strongest indicators that a company could cut its dividend is that it’s done so in the past. Once a company has made that decision once, it’s easier to do it again. And again. I suspect that’s going to be the case for Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR). The company provides telephone and broadband Internet services […]

I’ve recently argued that the success of passive investing potentially sows the seeds of its own demise. Patrick O’Shaughnessy also made a similar point recently and probably a bit more eloquently. But, to dig deeper into the push towards passive, there’s one big problem I have with virtually every one of the major robo-advisors that very few folks seem to be […]

Leonor Jean-Christine Soulas d’Allainval was no Shakespeare. His first play, “L’Embarras des richesses,” was a three-act comedy that premiered in 1726 and was performed only four times in the hopeful playwright’s lifetime. At age 53 he died embarrassingly franc-less at the Hotel de Paris. That’s not to say Soulas did not leave his linguistic mark, […]