As anticipated the Swiss gold referendum failed, but the margin of 77% Nein to 23% Ja should serve as an embarrassment to a country and a currency once considered hard money. I would suggest this attitude might prompt some no confidence outflows out of Switzerland’s allegedly secure banking system. In fact this is a perfect…
Click on picture to enlarge The above table reflects that fewest percentage of individual investors since 1989, believe stocks will be higher a year from now, according to research from the Yale School of Management. Does this mean stocks are at a peak? Or should one look at this from a contrarian viewpoint, as few…
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) believes this holiday season will be one of the best it has ever experienced as Black Friday already gave the e-commerce giant a clear indication of what to expect. It recorded impressive sales results in the U.K, just only four years after the event was launched. The company reports that it surpassed…
The ISM Manufacturing survey continues to indicate manufacturing growth expansion with an insignificant decrease in the rate of growth. This survey should be considered good news as it reconfirms a rather strong report last month. Key internals improved. The ISM Manufacturing survey index (PMI) declined from 59.0 to 58.7 (50 separates manufacturing contraction and expansion). This was…
OPEC is a cartel but it is a strange species in the sense that it only accounts for about 40% of oil production. In the past exerted its influence by cutting production, as in 2008, and driving up prices. Now it faces a different challenge. New supply has come on the market, which threatens the cartel’s…
Introduction American jails are full of citizens for possessing small amounts of drugs. At the same time, smoking, an activity that kills almost 500,000 American annually, is allowed. Guns kill more than 30,000 Americans per year. They are also allowed. In a civilized society, government limits on citizens’ actions should only apply where harm to…
On page 13 of the IMF Working Paper entitled Sovereign Debt Restructurings 1950–2010: Literature Survey, Data, and Stylized Facts, you will find this timeline on how to deal with the coming Sovereign Debt Default. Behind the Curtain, they know what is coming. They appear to be even using our timing. Numerous emails have come in asking about…
Of all the ridiculous reasons I’ve heard for pushing this astonishly overpriced market into higher highs is the “Santa Claus Rally”. What’s wrong with you people? I even checked in with some of the Barron’s luminaries; here’s their take on the notion of a Santa Claus Rally: Mario Gabelli: “Ghey.” Marc Faber: “Totally ghey.” Abby Joseph Cohen: “Gheyer…
An emergency fund is one of the most important strategies that any investor needs. As financial guru Dave Ramsey writes in his Seven Baby Steps for Getting Out of Debt, an emergency fund is necessary for “those unexpected events in life that you can’t plan for.” However well you plan, and even if you are…
Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) is the largest publicly traded farm products corporation with a market cap of $34 billion. The company is nearly 3 times larger than its closest rival, Bunge Limited (BG) which has a market cap of $13 billion. When I last analyzed Archer-Daniels-Midland, I was impressed with the management’s ROIC improvements and strong third quarter…
