Blog Posts by Stacy Curtin

On Christmas Day, pop singer and fashion designer Jessica Simpson confirmed rumors that she is pregnant with her second child. Simpson, who recently lost more than 50 pounds on Weight Watchers (WTW), reportedly signed a $4 million contract with the weight management company earlier this year. According to a Weight Watchers spokesperson, Simpson "will not be following the program during the pregnancy while her weight and well-being is monitored by her obstetrician, as is recommended for any woman during pregnancy. After she gives birth, Simpson and her doctor will decide when she should resume following the Weight Watchers program."

Simpson's surprise pregnancy raised questions about her contract with Weight Watchers especially since new commercials featuring Simpson's svelte body began airing this week.

“It’s wonderful news and we couldn’t be happier for Jessica, Eric and big sister-to-be Maxwell,” said Cheryl Callan, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Weight Watchers in a press

As 2012 comes to a close, the U.S. housing market remains one of the bright spots of the economy.

In November, existing home sales rose 5.9% to an annualized rate of 5 million, beating Wall Street expectations. Last month was the 17th consecutive month of growth in the housing market and the highest level of sales since November 2009. The national price for an existing home also rose 10.1% to $180,600 in November.

"I think housing is going to continue to improve," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "So for the next 3 or 4 years we will see better home sales, more housing construction and higher house prices. All of which is good news for the economic recovery."

Even though there are roughly 3 million homes in foreclosure, Zandi is very optimistic about housing demand.

Here are the key points of his housing outlook for next year and beyond:

• The recovery has legs for the next 2-4 years.
• Expect a rise in sales, construction and prices, which could positively impact

Facebook's photosharing site Instagram backtracked Tuesday on its new user privacy policy that would have allowed the site to sell users' photos to advertising agencies.

After a huge outcry from Instagram users on both Facebook and Twitter, co-founder Kevin Systrom wrote on the company's blog:

"I’m writing this today to let you know we’re listening and to commit to you that we will be doing more to answer your questions, fix any mistakes, and eliminate the confusion....

“To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear.”

Related: Facebook Lock-Ups Just Expired: Insiders Can Now Shovel Stock Out Door

While this update may be comforting to Instagram's users (at least for now) the question remains: Why does Facebook continue to shoot itself in the foot, so to speak, when it comes to privacy issues?

The social networking site has long been criticized for infringing upon users' privacy rights. For example:

Even as the U.S. economy seems to be picking up steam when it comes to jobs and housing, many economists are projecting moderate growth in 2013.

But Yaron Brook and Don Watkins have a remedy that they say will help spur greater economic expansion. In their new book, Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government, they write, "our goal must be the total separation of state and economics."

Related: Jobs Growth a "Pleasant Surprise" But Economy Still Just "Slogging Along": Economist

Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Institute, joins The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task in the accompanying interview.

"We are clearly heading in the wrong direction," says Yaron, a Randian disciple and a staunch supporter of non-government intervention in capital markets.

"Long term the real problem, and the real reason why people are not investing, is not because of uncertainty, it is because of certainty," says Brook. "We know what is going to happen. We know government is increasing. We

The end of the year is two weeks away and the so-called "fiscal cliff" still looms. At the turn of the New Year, $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax hikes are set to take effect if Democrats and Republicans in Congress cannot come together over a fiscal deficit reduction deal.

But there are signs that a stalemate may have been broken.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday he is now willing to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, those individuals making more than a $1 million a year. Conservatives have been staunchly opposed to raising taxes on anyone next year, regardless of income bracket.

Boehner's overture is encouraging but it does not align exactly with the president's proposal to raise taxes above the $250,000 threshold.

"While there is still a lot of ground to cover here, this is a sign of progress," says The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task.

Related: Let's Take the Fiscal Cliff Plunge: Bruce Bartlett

Boehner's counteroffer also includes a debt ceiling

The Federal Reserve concluded its last policy meeting of 2012 Wednesday and vowed to continue its stimulus programs to the tune of $85 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities and bond purchases.

The U.S. Central Bank also pledged to keep interest rates near zero until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5% and inflation remains stable at around 2%.

Related: Why the Fed Deserves Credit for the Economic Recovery

Chairman Ben Bernanke predicts hitting those targets sometime in 2015. But many are skeptical that the economy can improve at such a rapid clip and are questioning what his assumptions are based upon.

Miller Tabak's Peter Boockvar wrote this in an email note yesterday:

"If I was able to ask Ben Bernanke a question at today's press conference, I would ask this: What in your models make you believe that GDP growth can accelerate to a range of 2.3-3% in 2013, 3-3.5% in 2014 and 3-3.7% in 2015 from 1.7-1.8% in 2012 but somehow forecast that PCE inflation will be no greater than

The Federal Reserve holds its last policymaking meeting for 2012 this week. The central bank is widely expected to continue its aggressive quantitative easing program, which it announced in September.

Ben Bernanke will also hold his last press conference for the year where he will give his outlook for 2013.

Related: The Fed Will Keep Printing Until the Dollar Gets Weaker: Jim Rickards

In a recent article, John Tamny, editor of RealClear Markets, calls the Fed's quantitative easing program "the monetary policy of the adolescent."

The Fed currently purchases $85 billion worth of long-term securities a month. Forty billion of that is allocated to mortgage-backed securities and the Fed's QE program. The remaining $45 billion is allocated toward Operation Twist, which is the selling of short-term treasury bills to buy long-term treasury bills. Operation Twist is set to expire at the end of the year.

Tamny joins The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task in the accompanying interview. He says the Fed

Macy's (M) is under pressure to drop Donald Trump's clothing line from its stores after the real-estate developer let loose a Twitter tirade following President Barack Obama's re-election last Tuesday.

Before the election was even called for President Obama, Trump tweeted that the election was "a total sham and a travesty." He also called for a march on Washington to take back democracy.

As The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget notes in the accompanying interview, Trump irked a lot of people with his "hissy fit," and now some of those same people think he's tarnishing the image of the department store at the center of Miracle on 34th Street. Trump's luxury retail line at Macy's includes ties, dress shirts, suits and some men's accessories, such as cuff links and tie clips. Roughly 500,000 people have signed a petition through SignOn.org to stop Macy's from doing business with Trump.

Related: Markets Plummet After Obama Victory Puts 'Fiscal Cliff' in Focus

In a letter to Macy's President