National

In a Nutshell: Who Will Pay for Growing Federal Government Spending?

Certainly the rich are expected to pay heavily!  So much tax increase news quickly and significantly hurt sentiment on Wall Street. The markets turned south towards the end of what had been a positive session (due to unemployment claims reaching… more

Jobless claims drop once again

In the week ending May 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 498,000, a decrease of 92,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it… more

Cerner CEO to step down

The North Kansas City-based healthcare IT company announced the upcoming exit of Brent Shafer as Cerner CEO on Wednesday. News of Shafer's departure was released at the same time the company posted is Q1 2021 earnings call.  In Q1 which… more

Coping with COVID: U.S. states to receive redistribution of COVID-19 vaccine doses

Announced on Thursday, a new plan from the White House will redistribute COVID-19 vaccine doses should states not order all the vaccines allocated to them each week. States will still get allocations based on their population, but the change means if a… more

Coping with COVID: FDA authorization pending for use of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on ages 12 to 15

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to approve the emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for ages 12-15, possibly by the end of the week. This would mean all high schoolers and even most middle schoolers would… more

SafetyCulture given $1.6B valuation with new funding

SafetyCulture’s new $73 million funding round and $1.6 billion valuation only mean more growth for its North American headquarters in Kansas City. The Australian tech company developed safety and quality management software that can be accessed from a mobile device.… more

In a Nutshell: America May Have an Economic Boom on Its Hands

There have been many economic factors contributing to our present extraordinary expansion.  In the last several days of Wall Street reporting on financial indicators, one stands out as a dramatic example: March Retail Sales.  The first signs of a spending… more

Jobless claims continue decline

For the week ending April 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 553,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 19,000 from 547,000 to 566,000. The… more

In a Nutshell: Is This the New Mission of Corporate America?

Many of my Wall Street colleagues recently shared concerns about proposed board diversity plans. Differences of opinion between those advocating for greater corporate diversity and those seeing it as an industry quota system have created tensions.  Other arguments played out… more

Jobless claims sink once again

In the week ending April 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 547,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it… more