He surprised them all in his last FOMC meeting, exiting his role as Fed chairman with a token taper of just $10 billion from the ongoing $85 billion per month asset purchases (now $75 billion). This is what I wanted to see (check out Just Do It) and apparently the market’s first reaction was happiness…

This is pretty awesome, from artist Mario Zucca via Wired:   Read more about the project here.

Matt Boesler of Business Insider has truly outdone himself with this epic post I’m about to send you over to… Business Insider has collected the most important charts of 2013. Virtually every important Wall Street strategist and many other well-known financial commentators are featured here. Head over at the link below, and if you want…

Warren Buffett’s net worth grew by an average of $37 million a day in 2013. Think about that for a moment. Some more great data via Robert Frank of CNBC: Top billionaire gainers in 2013 Warren Buffett—$12.7 billion gain to $59.1 billion Bill Gates—$11.5 billion gain to $72.6 billion Sheldon Adelson—$11.4 billion gain to $35.3…

Today is the final FOMC Meeting for Ben Bernanke as Chairman. I bet if he had any idea of what he was getting himself into back in 2006, he would’ve stayed in the faculty dining hall at Princeton. It’s too early to know how history will judge him. Today, however, the judgment will be flying…

My friend Morgan Housel is 2013’s breakout financial blogging star and he’s easily the best thing Motley Fool has going for it. During the course of this year, Morgan’s done some fascinating interviews (did you see that gem of a talk with Dr. Daniel Kahneman this summer? Wow!) in addition to his regular posts. Last…

One of my favorite secular growth trends happening right now is the stealth solar energy boom. I say stealth because people think of their neighbor’s roof covered in photovoltaic shingles when you say solar energy – they have absolutely no idea how massive the industrialized version is going to be as power grids across America…

Yes and no. Here’s what I get from Twitter: I try to gain wisdom from my interactions with knowledgeable traders, analysts, field experts, practitioners, advisors, VCs and executives. I try to get a feel for how market participants are reacting to news, data and events in real-time. I liaise with the journalists, reporters and other…

The phrase “Tapering isn’t tightening” sounds like the desperate plea of a high school boy on prom night. — Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) December 17, 2013  

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