The chart above shows 3-month T-bill rates back to 1934, and shows an interesting historical, full-circle pattern: from zero in the 1930s to a 16% peak around 1980, back to zero again in 2011.

“The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported gains in 2011 rail traffic compared with last year, with U.S. railroads originating 15.2 million carloads, up 2.2 percent over 2010 and up 9.7 percent over 2009. Total U.S. rail intermodal volume … read more >

Byron Wien, vice chairman of Blackstone Advisory Partners, yesterday published his list of surprises for 2012 – following a 25-year tradition he began while still chief U.S. investment strategist at Morgan Stanley. Byron defines a “Surprise” as an event which … read more >

Rochester-based Eastman Kodak has been around since 1894, and was a blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average stock from 1930-2004.  The company has been on the annual Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies every year since the rankings started in … read more >

From Atlas Van Lines, based on 80,289 interstate and cross-border (Canada) household goods relocations from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011.   States that gained population with net inbound moves in 2011 include North Dakota (no surprise there), Texas, New … read more >

In another sign that the U.S. labor market is gradually improving, the Labor Department reported today that the four-week moving average for initial jobless claims fell to 380,250, the lowest level since June 2008, three and-a-half years ago (see chart … read more >