There is a perfect word that describes the current condition of governments and consumers around the world today. The word is obdurate, and it means to be stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing. The word comes to mind when witnessing the renewed enthusiasm of central banks to re-inflate old asset bubbles and to endlessly debase their currencies…
US equities (Russell 3000) took the lead with performance among the major asset classes in November, posting a solid 2.4% total return. US real estate investment trusts (REITs) were in close pursuit with a 2.0% advance, which builds on October’s spectacular 10.0% surge, based on the MSCI REIT Index. In third place: foreign stock markets…
Source After categorically denying it would ever plan to buy government bonds since the ECB was created, the opposition against such a plan seems to be decreasing as the central bank has stated that it plans to do everything it can to increase the liquidity in the system and to avoid a possible (and increasingly…
OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ14 -0.40%) this morning are down -0.41% and European stocks are down -0.67% on global growth concerns after manufacturing data from China and the Eurozone disappointed. A slump in crude oil prices to a 4-1/3 year low has also undercut energy producers and oil service operators with Exxon Mobile and Schlumberger both down -1.3% in…
Last week was again largely positive for the major markets with only the UK’s FTSE losing ground. It marked the final trading session of November. In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE was down by 0.42%, it closed at 6722.6, but made 2.7% over the course of the month; the Dax ended…
I keep replaying a recent conversation about risk in my head. You know how it is. Someone says something that does not make sense and you ponder why he or she fails to see what is obvious to you (and to many others). Let me explain. The speaker (whom I will call Bill) asserted that concerns on the…
The US dollar is mostly softer as North American participants prepare to return from what for many was a long weekend. The greenback had initially moved higher, hitting JPY119.15 while the euro slipped to $1.2420. The proximate cause was the continued fall in oil prices and news that Moody’s cut Japan’s credit rating to A1 from…
Friday came in with the Panic Cycle on target. The polls in Switzerland were showing little support for the Save Our Gold issue. Nevertheless, as we approach year-end the major trading range will be 1310 to 1042.50. These are the outer end range boundaries and closing between these two numbers will leave gold in a bearish mode…
Senator Charles Schumer, in a recent speech, stated President Obama and Democratic majorities in Congress were elected in 2008 to get the economy working for middle class families. Consequently, assigning extraordinary priority to passing the Affordable Care Act was a mistake. In 2008, most middle class families had private insurance they liked; their incomes had…
Last week saw the global financial system tip from delusion — where it had happily drifted for several years — into chaos. Consider the following more-or-less randomly chosen data points: French unemployment hits record high Italian unemployment hits record high Oil’s price falls by $10.36/bbl, or 13.5%, in a single day, to its lowest price…
