Beautiful Shag Bark Hickory In the Forest Primeval And Several Links

THIS UNIQUE HARDWOOD TREE IS ONE OF THE EASIEST TO SPOT AND IDENTIFY, EVEN IN WINTER because of its shaggy bark.  Indigenous to most eastern U.S. forests,  it's another one of my favorite trees.

In other news,  Janet Yellen is the new head of the Federal Reserve and some people and pundits think she is in way over her head.  To wit,  John Tamny writes today at RealClearMarkets about her misunderstanding of the definition and cause of inflation:

Fed Chairman Janet Yellen has fraudulent definition of inflation. As the Wall Street Journal's Jon Hilsenrath reported last week, Yellen "has argued consistently in recent months that labor markets are abundant with slack that will hold inflation and wages down." Translated, your prosperity is seen as a problem by Yellen who is charged with keeping inflation down, particularly if most people are working. Like her predecessor in Ben Bernanke, Yellen believes that tight labor markets are inflationary.

At first glance, and only if we ignore the certain truth that inflation is a monetary phenomenon, Yellen seemingly has a point. Tight labor markets in the U.S. could lead to rising wages and prices that some might deem 'inflation.' But given a second pass, a more reasonable reaction is horror that Yellen occupies such a powerful seat.

Tamny consistently calls for the lessening of the FED's powers and over-reach. I couldn't agree more.

If you, like me,  like living debt-free and investing in companies with little or no long-term debt,  then you might enjoy knowing the 26 U.S. companies with no debt.  Not surprising at all,  Facebook (FB) leads the list.  Then there's VISA (V) ---you know the company that makes a fortune off our  willingness to go into credit card debt and stay there.  

 Wish there were more news that I thought interesting enough to blog about....too much focus on celebrity nonsense these days. So, guess I'll wait until something I find interesting comes along.