John Ransom
John Ransom is the Finance Editor for Townhall Finance. You can follow him on twitter
@bamransom.
By John Ransom (Apr 25, 2011)
We need a new foreign policy and we need to spend a lot less money.
That’s the message stock market is telling us.
It’s a message painted in big bold letters and we’d be... more
By John Ransom (Apr 24, 2011)
This week I've picked a broad array of topics from the Twitterverse of followers of @bamransom, including life, foreign policy, Sen. Ensign and Nevada, the debt "bomb" and... more
By John Ransom (Apr 23, 2011)
Note: Because of the Easter Holiday, I'm running a column which first appeared March 9, 2011.
News comes today that George Soros is upset with talk the US is trying to cut... more
By John Ransom (Apr 22, 2011)
For believers, Happy Easter. For the rest of you, you’re welcome for the holiday.
I’m taking today off for Good Friday observance.
But that doesn’t mean I didn’t... more
By John Ransom (Apr 21, 2011)
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that they would seek the death penalty for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a jihadist complicit in the bombing of the USS Cole.
The... more
By John Ransom (Apr 20, 2011)
In response to the news that Standard and Poors has downgraded U.S. government debt, President Obama has vowed to tackle…immigration reform.
Reeling from wars,... more
By John Ransom (Apr 19, 2011)
Federal finances are a mess. And the negotiations to clean them up are messier still.
Thanks to that three-eyed snake, the 111th Congress, the country has written checks... more
By John Ransom (Apr 18, 2011)
Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid want you to know that the rich are out of control.
After thinking about it for a few years, they have finally figured out that our... more
By John Ransom (Apr 15, 2011)
I don’t know that Obama will be a one-term president.
But the glamour days are done for him. His scholarship has about run out.
On that, even people on the left are... more
By John Ransom (Apr 14, 2011)
I’m not sorry enough that I’m a white man in America, apparently.
But thanks to another professor who works for the Colorado university system- this time... more
By John Ransom (Apr 13, 2011)
If some think that Donald Trump and Mitt Romney best represent the hopes of Wall Street for America, some think that if Herman Cain is elected president he will best... more
By John Ransom (Apr 12, 2011)
Last week, The Weekly Standard pointed out a hilarious, yet wholly sad correction in the New York Times' story of March 30th about Obama's new energy policy. Obama, as you... more
By John Ransom (Apr 11, 2011)
There is a budget brokered, at least until September.
That’s a big accomplishment considering the Democrats, running a one-party government, couldn’t get a budget... more
By John Ransom (Apr 08, 2011)
President Obama has been going around the country reminding everyone that despite him seeming out of touch, he’s really not.
He’s just a normal guy, with the same... more
By John Ransom (Apr 07, 2011)
The budget problem that the country faces isn’t merely big.
It isn’t even really, really big.
It’s much bigger, and more dangerous, in actual fact, than politicians are... more
By John Ransom (Apr 06, 2011)
On Monday, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy continued its deployment of dozens of aircraft and ships in support of the “War-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named,” in the countries... more
By John Ransom (Apr 05, 2011)
On Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the 9-11 attacks, will finally face a military tribunal under rules... more
By John Ransom (Apr 04, 2011)
The United States has the resources today to solve its own energy crisis.
It’s not energy we’re in short supply of, it’s vision in which we have a deficit.
We have no... more
By John Ransom (Apr 01, 2011)
Harry Reid is a bitter, bitter man.
Having survived a challenge to his career in 2010 while serving as the Senate Majority Leader, Reid is still looking for someone else to... more
By John Ransom (Mar 31, 2011)
After another of Obama’s ringing calls to inaction, confusion and delay, it should come as no surprise that people are even less sure now about the president’s energy policy... more
By John Ransom (Mar 30, 2011)
The federal government can’t patrol the border, but they can hire 3,000 sheriffs to shakedown Wall Street.
New regulations passed by Democrats aimed at policing Wall Street... more
By John Ransom (Mar 28, 2011)
It’s good to know that at a time you can’t get Democrats to declare war on Libya while they engage in war on Libya, they are at least willing to declare war on... more
By John Ransom (Mar 25, 2011)
After a series of articles detailing discrepancies in how Chicago Police handled an investigation of a brawl involving R.J. Vanecko, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita... more
By John Ransom (Mar 24, 2011)
On a day that Toyota has announced plans for a possible shutdown in the US because of supply problems in Japan, the United Auto Workers said that they are on... more
By John Ransom (Mar 23, 2011)
What if we had a war and called it something else? Well then we’d be a policy wonk for progressives.
NPR yesterday weighed in on the constitutional debate on the war... more
By John Ransom (Mar 22, 2011)
I had dinner with a GOP media strategist last weekend as 100 missiles were fired from the Mediterranean at 4x4 trucks and other “high-value” targets outside Benghazi, Libya.... more
By John Ransom (Mar 21, 2011)
Pay no attention to the words behind the constitution, because the constitution right now is just a bumper sticker anyway.
Whether passing Obamacare, or taking us to... more
By John Ransom (Mar 17, 2011)
The market lost 242 points off the Dow on Wednesday, a rather modest down day for a stock market that has seen plenty of catastrophes much greater than the one playing out in... more
By John Ransom (Mar 16, 2011)
As economists predict that the Japanese earthquake and tsunami will contract the third largest economy’s GDP by between zero percent and 3 percent, Obama has responded... more
By John Ransom (Mar 15, 2011)
On energy, Obama’s got a case of the “blue-flu.”
In revolt against the most productive sectors of our energy industry- oil, natural gas and coal- Obama wants instead to... more
By John Ransom (Mar 14, 2011)
Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama have a tsunami of greenbacks ready to swamp our economy.
You thought they were done with that? Oh, they’re never done with that.
As... more
By John Ransom (Mar 11, 2011)
Stocks tumbled on Wall Street yesterday, despite falling oil prices, because of the uncertainty that’s hanging over the world like a wet woolen blanket. Unrest at home and... more
By John Ransom (Mar 10, 2011)
Stocks are poised to tumble today as investors discover that perhaps Chinese Communists don’t have the whole “economy” thing figured out.
China today revealed that it posted... more
By John Ransom (Mar 08, 2011)
Wall Street has started strong the last several sessions. However, after sharp upward price action, prices have faded. Although the markets have made up ground by the close... more
By John Ransom (Mar 07, 2011)
I’ve been preaching prudence in the market for a while now. We’ve had a substantial rally since the lows in the spring of 2009. However, while the market is due for a decent... more
By John Ransom (Mar 04, 2011)
Markets are reacting not just to a pullback in oil prices and unemployment claims, but also some good news by retailers.
“Among major retailers reporting February results... more
By John Ransom (Mar 03, 2011)
Ok, so two bad things happened to the markets Tuesday: Ben Bernanke spoke and so did Barrack Obama.
People thought perhaps that Obama was channeling his inner Ronald Reagan... more
By John Ransom (Mar 01, 2011)
As incredible as it may seem, Time Magazine is starting to bang the gong on military intervention in Libya. “[T]he growing danger of a humanitarian catastrophe created... more
By John Ransom (Mar 01, 2011)
Yesterday I fretted about the lack of volume on the market rally. Volume fell back again after a robust closing on Friday. Advancers beat declining shares 3-to-1 on the... more
By John Ransom (Feb 28, 2011)
Ignore the rally.
Now is the time to filter out the background noise that comes with market rallies and concentrate on individual equities. Try to find low P/E (relative)... more
By John Ransom (Feb 25, 2011)
While normally a big revision downward in GDP is cause for concern, today’s release from the Labor Department revising GDP growth downward from 3.2 percent to 2.8 percent... more
By John Ransom (Feb 25, 2011)
In face of mounting evidence that American voters want public employees to share the sacrifices of a downbeat economy, Obama just blinked.
Voters have told political... more
By John Ransom (Feb 23, 2011)
I have to admit that I’ve been having a case of price envy recently. Every stock I look at, even value stocks, seem to have made a nice runs recently. While I like to buy... more
By John Ransom (Feb 22, 2011)
In any showdown with the GOP over spending cuts, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has to be keeping a close eye on Madison, WI. The drama playing out in the Wisconsin... more
By John Ransom (Feb 18, 2011)
It’s been a choppy week, this last one, with inflation talk going from the possible to the probable for markets and money. Data from China, the UK and the World Bank weighed... more
By John Ransom (Feb 17, 2011)
Fans of Obama’s high speed rail program like to talk about all the benefits from bullet trains moving across the country at 220 mph. They mention things like creating jobs... more
By John Ransom (Feb 17, 2011)
An old standby is doing more than just standing by in the recent bull run.Walt Disney (Symbol: DIS) blew through consensus estimates on Monday by over 20 percent, posting... more