Blog Posts by Morgan Korn

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Josh Brown won't make any big calls on the outcome of the presidential election. Brown, the author of widely read "The Reformed Broker" blog and a vice president at asset management firm Fusion Analytics, says market reaction to the next president will be "huge" and some people will be rewarded handsomely for their bets. Hospital REITs could see a 10% pop if Obama wins, Brown believes, while a Romney victory means a boost for traditional pharmaceutical stocks.

But that momentum will fade and investors will redirect their attention to the looming crisis in Washington: the convergence of massive automatic tax increases and spending cuts — more commonly referred to as the "fiscal cliff." These concerns, coupled with decelerating corporate earnings, have convinced Brown to reduce exposure to equities and take a cautious investing approach as the year comes to a close.

"This third quarter earnings season was just atrocious and the guidance was not that

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Superstorm Sandy fled the East Coast as quickly as she arrived but her presence will linger for years to come. For the 5,900 year-round residents in Belmar, N.J, a beach community about 90 minutes south of New York City, Sandy destroyed their homes, their beach and their 20-block boardwalk. Six pumps are still working 24 hours a day to push the neck-deep salt water back into the ocean. Chunks of boardwalk have been floating along the flooded streets for days. Residents' yards and rooftops are still littered with storm debris and sand. The boardwalk shops and cafes that sold daily beach passes, ice cream and cold drinks just three months ago have been washed away with the waves, barely leaving a trace of their existence.

On Friday residents were trying to resume a modicum of normalcy even as they continued to remove refuse and flotsam from their homes. Getting around town the past few days has involved jet skiing, boating or kayaking — fun water

Thousands of residents in the Northeast remain without power Wednesday morning, two days after Superstorm Sandy unleashed destructive winds and heavy rainfall on coastal communities and major metropolitan cities. Estimated damages from the storm will likely exceed $20 billion, and IHS Global Insight economist Gregory Daco projects a $25 billion cut in U.S. economic output this quarter as a result of Sandy.

The New Jersey Shore, one of the hardest hit regions along the East Coast, was largely unrecognizable to residents and vacationers Tuesday morning. Shore homeowners were kayaking on streets to get around and iconic Boardwalk amusements were either completely destroyed or sitting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers have deployed resources to the storm-battered municipalities, offering thousands of ready-to-eat meals, bottles of water, blankets, generators, cots, diapers and other necessities to evacuees. A FEMA spokesperson says

Atlantic City was battered by Hurricane Sandy on Monday, and the full damage to the Jersey Shore gambling capital is still being evaluated. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told reporters at a press conference Tuesday, the "level of devastation at the New Jersey Shore is unthinkable." A New York Times report on Tuesday, however, did note that "much of the city, particularly inland from the shore, appeared to have survived without great damage" and that "the waist-high floodwaters that surged through the streets on Monday had largely receded." The north side of the famed Boardwalk reportedly saw a 50-foot stretch washed away amid Sandy's wrath; much of the serious damage seems to have occurred in the northern section of the city.

Extensive hurricane damage in Atlantic City

Hundreds of residents fled inland on Sunday, and gamblers and revelers were forced to evacuate the city's 12 casinos that afternoon after Christie ordered the casinos to close by noon. Caesars Entertainment, owner of Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah's Resort,

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Hurricane Sandy moved closer to the New Jersey coastline Monday morning and was expected to pummel shore communities with 85 miles per hour wind, extreme tides and severe flooding later this afternoon.

The National Hurricane Center has warned nearly half a dozen states including New York, Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania to prepare for what many are calling a "Frankenstorm" — a frightening mix of rain, snow and wind that's part hurricane, part nor'easter.

More than 60 million Americans are likely to be impacted by Sandy and experts are already forecasting damages in the range of $2 billion to $100 billion.

Related: Hurricane Sandy: Economic Impact Could Pound Main Street

Hundreds of schools, offices, shopping malls and restaurants have closed their doors in anticipation of the hurricane. Broadway theaters canceled their shows. Atlantic City casinos sent gamblers home.

New York City suspended all subway and bus service and New Jersey shut down

On Oct. 31, ghosts, zombies, comic book heroes, princesses and vampires will be ringing doorbells across the country, shouting, "Trick or Treat!" They'll eagerly wave their Halloween buckets, drooling in anticipation of the sugary, cavity (and obesity) causing candy that will be dropped into their eager hands. But this time, at my house, there won't be a Snickers bar or a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup waiting for them.

Piperlime store opening, New York City

No, there will no Halloween fare at my house this year -- not even a bag of pretzels or the unloved Tootsie Roll (TR) or the even more unloved apple. As I have patiently waited for the little ones to come to my door over the years, I have asked myself: Why am I giving candy out? Have I become brainwashed by Mars and Hershey (HSY) to believe the only acceptable way to spend this evening is to hand candy out to local children, many of whom I don't even know? Why do I feel pangs of guilt and daunting fear that I'll run out of Halloween goodies? Why does society force this

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U.S. companies have in general reported better-than-expected profits for the third quarter. Yet some of the biggest U.S. multinationals are exhibiting signs of weakness, prompting concerns that dark times are coming.

Dupont (DD), 3M (MMM) and Xerox (XRX) all missed Wall Street estimates. Caterpillar (CAT), the world's largest construction and mining equipment maker, warned investors to anticipate lower profit and revenue for the rest of the year. Clothing marker VF Corp. (VFC) fell short of analysts' revenue projections. Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) lowered its revenue guidance.

These lackluster earnings could be viewed as outliers or confirmation that the U.S. economy is falling back toward recession territory. The economy has shown in recent weeks its resiliency — new homes sales grew 5.7% in September, the highest level in nearly two and a half years. The unemployment rate fell to 7.8% last month — the first time it has slipped below the 8% mark in

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Facebook (FB) assuaged fears Tuesday that its mobile advertising business was failing.

The social network reported that its third-quarter revenue from mobile ads jumped 14% to $150 million. Wall Street was expecting an increase of 5%. Facebook stock rose sharply after the earnings report, surging as much as 12% in after-hours trading. The rally continued Wednesday morning with the stock up as much as 21%, its biggest gain in 5 months.

Facebook CEO and Co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg assured analysts that the high ad revenue was no fluke.

Related: Facebook Launches "Gifts": Are You Comfortable Sharing Your Credit Card?

"I want to dispel this myth that Facebook can't make money on mobile," he said. "We are just getting started."

Facebook's ability to monetize 14% of its 604 million mobile users last quarter was a dramatic change of events for the 8-year-old company. Facebook's second quarter mobile ad revenue totaled less than $50 million and six months