Barron's: How QE3 is a Mixed Bag for Commodities

By SIMON CONSTABLE

What will it mean for commodities if "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke cranks up the printing press once again?
Some investors simply expect prices to soar across the board if the Federal Reserve chief institutes a new round of quantitative easing, aimed at stimulating economic growth. They see such a move flooding markets with dollars, weakening the U.S. currency, and pushing up the prices of dollar-denominated commodities, as stronger economic activity boosts demand. See original post here.

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WSJ: Wall Street Sees Dark Clouds Ahead

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Wall Street professionals earn a lot of their oversized paychecks playing the roles of modern-day clairvoyants, peering into the future and telling investors where the economy is heading.

As the presidential election drones on, you could be forgiven for thinking that the country is headed over a cliff. After all, that's what the one guy keeps saying about the other guy.

Here's a news flash: Whoever wins, the country probably isn't collapsing.

But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of uncertainty about the economy—and lots of reasons to be cautious.

We asked some of the savviest fortune tellers on Wall Street to look beyond the election rhetoric and give a sense of what to expect in the next six to 12 months. Here is the short version.

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WSJ: What Is EBITDA?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When portfolio managers and analysts talk about stocks, they often praise or bemoan a company's Ebitda.

Huh?

That's an accounting acronym and stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The somewhat complicated formula aims to get at something very simple: how much cash a business generates from operations. See original post here.

WSJ: Why The Individual Mandate May Cost You More

By SIMON CONSTABLE

With many things in economics more is better. More food, more production, more profits — generally all good. But when it comes to health insurance more might actually be worse.
In June the Supreme Court ruled that the health-care law requiring us all to have health insurance was constitutional. A lot of people cheered saying it would pave the way to solve the nightmare problem of health-care costs in the U.S. 

Not so fast. Insurance may actually be the root of the problem with our health-care costs. Or in other words, more people having insurance could actually make things worse. Read more here.

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