Bitcoin topped $10,000 on some exchanges yesterday to much fanfare and animal spirits internationally. With an 850% surge in less than a year, bitcoin has seen gains that are four times more than dot-com stocks gains at their height in the late 1990s. This is making the first and arguably the best cryptocurrency look…
Headline data for truck shipments show improved growth in October. Analyst Opinion of Truck Transport I tend to put heavier weight on the CASS index which showed slower growth year-over-year. The ATA data showed a similar trend but their overall trend line seems wrong. It should be pointed out that although the data seems to…
The central banks’ inability to achieve their inflation targets led some analysts to argue for modifying these targets. Are they inappropriate in a modern, globalized economy? Should central banks change them? Or should they conduct a more rule-based policy, as John Taylor argues? How would such moves affect the gold market? As a reminder, the Fed (as…
WTI Oil prices are pulling back as oil starts to trickle down the Keystone Pipeline. TransCanada Corp restarted the Keystone crude oil pipeline that leaked in South Dakota and caused a drop in Cushing Oklahoma crude supply, is now running at reduced rates on Tuesday according to the company. The leak which caused WTI to…
Cryptocurrency may be one of the biggest threats to governments, security and the entire financial system that we’ve ever seen. It can help fund terrorism and its anonymity makes it almost impossible to track. Most importantly, it is poised to revolutionize global finance and banking. But our new Enemy No. 1 can’t be fought; it…
I have likely mentioned a time or two that I believe I have earned, at the very least, an honorary degree from Wall Street’s school of hard knocks over the last 30 years. You see, I didn’t have a mentor to teach me the stock market game. No, I simply tried to learn as much…
US equity futures in the green ahead of critical Senate debate on US tax reform and a much anticipated testimony from Yellen replacement Jerome Powell for Fed’s current policy approach. European stocks advance, led by oil and gas stocks after Shell fully restored its cash dividend and unveiled a bullish outlook. Asian shares slide despite…
Last week, as traders were all on vacation, the market surged to 2600 as the “inmates ran the asylum.” The expectation of a better than anticipated shopping holiday season and ongoing hopes of “tax cuts and reform” lifted stocks higher. The current advance, is still working the general year-end pattern I laid out three weeks ago as shown below. With…
In what was a masterstroke of closing the stable doors after the horses have bolted, central banks around the world (notably in Europe and the USA) conducted an audit to see if the banks in their charge were placed to withstand another major financial jolt. It will be recalled that in the aftermath of the…
US economic growth in the fourth quarter is expected to hold at or near the solid 3% pace that’s been reported in Q2 and Q3, according to several recent forecasts. If the outlook is accurate, US GDP growth could post its strongest and longest run of quarterly increases in over a decade. The average forecast…
