A few weeks ago I offered some calculations suggesting that lower demand for oil might account for about $20/barrel of the dramatic decline in the price of oil since last summer. Here I point to some other evidence consistent with that conclusion. Last week the IMF’s Rabah Arezki and Olivier Blanchard produced a very useful assessment of…
Dividend stocks have gained popularity and have been on the rise this year on investors’ drive for higher income in the current ultra-low rate environment. Additionally, the dividend paying securities are the major sources of consistent income for investors when returns from equity market are at risk. While the broad U.S. equity market have hit…
All three rating agencies are expected to downgrade Russia’s debt to junk soon and bailouts to Russian banks are on the rise, but how likely is default? The Financial Times reports … Russia trebled the size of its bailout of troubled lender Trust Bank to Rbs99bn ($1.9bn) on Friday, laying bare the growing financial fallout from its…
The GBP/USD pair has had a very negative run for a couple of months now, and as a result I believe that the bearish pressure will continue. As I write this article, the 1.55 level is being tested for support, and it could very well offer a significant amount of buying pressure. However, it appears that this…
On July 15th 2014, The Federal Reserve uttered the following warning to exuberant equity investors, “Valuation metrics in some sectors do appear substantially stretched — particularly those for smaller firms in the social-media and biotechnology industries.” 5 months later, Yellen Capital LP is half right… As Bloomberg reports, Social-media shares declined after the report, as…
by Ellen Brown, Web of Debt The sudden dramatic collapse in the price of oil appears to be an act of geopolitical warfare against Russia. The result could be trillions of dollars in oil derivative losses; and the FDIC could be liable, following repeal of key portions of the Dodd-Frank Act last weekend. Senator Elizabeth…
Since the beginning of 2014, the overall operating environment for banks had been quite tough. Nevertheless, banking stocks showed strong resilience and continued to confront challenges valiantly. Despite weakness in mortgage banking and capital market businesses, a modest improvement in investment banking, along with cost-control measures (streamlining operations and job cuts) and balance sheet restructuring,…
Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoyed a nice Christmas! For those of you who were trading (I was), although trading was light markets rallied higher again last week, sending the Dow, and SPX up to new heights. Nasdaq closed above 4,800, marching closer to the 5,000 mark. We had a nice leisurely week, with…
Having spent a few days in Las Vegas over the holidays, one is reminded of the lure of legerdemain. A few bells go off, some flashing lights and a win here and there can tempt even the most staid rationalist into believing that magic can happen. If you have seen “Chicago,” you may recall Billy Flynn’s musical urging…
The USD/JPY pair has been very parabolic over the last several months, going all the way back to the beginning part of 2012. That being the case, I feel that this market needs to take a little bit of a rest. If you look at the monthly chart attached to this article, you can see that the…
