Gold has been pretty flat this week compared to last week. That is a remarkable performance after the strong spike of last Friday, however, when the Chinese central bank announced that it is going to lower interest rates. The more expansive policy of the European Central Bank also caused a spark. Mario Draghi announced that…
If you ever needed proof that the financial press has been completely indoctrinated in the cult of Keynesian central banking consider the attached Bloomberg note on the recent tiny decline in Chinese industrial company profits. Without breaking for anything more than a comma, its hapless Hong Kong stringer, one Malcolm Scott, conjoined the fact of less profits with the imperative…
The sell-side is worried… SocGen’s head of oil research Mike Wittner warns “this will reverberate for years”… (via Bloomberg) OPEC decision to keep output target is “unambiguously bearish,” “We are entering a new era for oil prices, where the market itself will manage supply, no longer Saudi Arabia and OPEC” “It’s huge,” he says by phone…
Econintersect: The Chicago Business Barometer declined 5.4 points after increasing 5.7 points last month, driven by a large decline in new orders. The market expected the index between 62.0 and 65.0 (consensus 63.2) versus the actual at 60.8. A number below 50 indicates contraction. From the authors of the index: The Barometer‘s decline reversed nearly all…
When the tech and real estate bubbles burst, many of my friends lost 40-50% of their retirement portfolios almost overnight. Whether you’re at the tail end of the baby boomer generation or already retired, lopping 40-50%—or more—off the value of your nest egg would be catastrophic. Which begs the question: is a similar downturn looming? Take…
Black Friday (Thursday?) is quickly approaching, and whether you see it as a daylong spend-a-thon or a blight on American consumer culture, the fact remains—it can be crazy out there. Last week, I asked what were some of the craziest Black Friday moments you’ve ever witnessed, and wow… just wow. I was able to glean…
Email is an incredibly useful tool for businesses dealing with basic information. However, using email to communicate with customers and other businesses can pose a serious risk for your business if you don’t take the proper precautions. Because of the risks inherent in unencrypted email communications for hackers and identify thieves, businesses are warned to…
Since 2010, the average return for our weekly best scoring small caps has outpaced the R2K by a median 759 bps over the following year. The best performers from one year ago are HA up 111%, GTIV up 57%, UEIC up 55%, and ARII up 55%. The best small cap sector is utilities. The top…
The December futures roll was also one for the ages. On Nov. 20 there were 162,509 December contracts, and now we go into first day notice Friday with 11,524 standing. That is still enough to be disruptive and take all Crimex deliverable gold. Incredibly, only about 30% of these Dec. contracts rolled out to the…
Citigroup may have been unable to prevent the Netherlands from repatriating some 122 tons of “a fiat commodity currency with insignificant intrinsic value“, or in the words of Ben Bernanke, “tradition”, but it sure won’t stop that erudite expert on the timing of Greece’s exit from the Eurozone, Willem Buiter, from doing all in his…
