By Professor Ricardo “Rick” Ulivi, Ph.D. When you consider making an investment, you are really betting on its future cash flows, so it’s important to have a mental picture of what might happen to the economy. That’s because if the economy slows down, you can expect the future cash flows from your investment to slow

By Professor Ricardo “Rick” Ulivi, Ph.D. Year to date the stock market is down about 10%, depending on the day you take the measurement. In financial terminology, that’s a correction. Another 10% drop, and it will be considered a bear market. A 10% drop can be ignored; you can argue that it is a temporary

By Professor Ricardo “Rick” Ulivi, Ph.D. Let’s review some of the latest developments in the world of finance and see if they are surprises or if they are events that were expected–at least by me! Below is an analysis of some of them. Un-Surprise # 1: China’s stock market meltdown When you major in business

By Professor Ricardo “Rick” Ulivi, Ph.D. After many years, the Fed has raised interest rates just a quarter of a point. The real thing to watch for is the future trend of rates, and the consequences of this current increase. Will rates continue to go up, or will they go down, again? That’s the million

By Professor Ricardo Ulivi, Ph.D. There is a currency war going on in international markets. What does this mean? Many countries are facing reduced or no economic growth, and this causes unemployment. Governments don’t like that, so they call meetings to figure out how to get their economies moving. The answer is simple: export more.