The following is a summary of our recent podcast, “Is Bitcoin a Modern-Day Tulip Mania?“, with cryptocurrency researcher Demelza Hays, which can be accessed on our site Is Bitcoin a Modern-Day Tulip Mania? or on iTunes here. On the day we are writing this, bitcoin traded as high as $19,227.08. The price increase for 2017 has been so explosive that…
Two weeks ago, as part of our continuing coverage of the Steinhoff fiasco in which it emerged that the ECB was the mystery and (not so) proud buyer of just issued Steinhoff (now junk) bonds (maturing in 2025 but set for bankruptcy much sooner) and which lost more than half of their value overnight when it the…
from the New York Fed The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today released the November 2017 SCE Labor Market Survey which shows an increase in the rate at which workers transition to a different employer and an increase in average full-time wage offers. Satisfaction with promotion opportunities at one’s current job also…
The iPhone was an enormous gamble, as its pushed the limits of then-available technology – the microprocessor, screen, battery, and wireless capability were beyond what seemed possible in 2007. Undoubtably, if Apple hadn’t created the iPhone, someone else would have created a similar device later. But when? There is no way to know, but the…
My Swing Trading Approach I remain loaded up on long positions, and will make my first priority to be raising my stop-losses, to make sure I am protecting gains. Adding new positions will be considered secondary. Indicators VIX – VIX dropped 10% and flirting with a rare sub-9 move. There tends to be a lot of…
After a terrible year for insurance losses, the global reinsurance industry is now celebrating. Over the past ten years, global reinsurance rates have been pushed ever lower thanks to the low cost of capital, and demand from investors seeking improved returns on their cash. Money flooding the industry has forced down rates, and returns as well….
The National Association of Active Investment Managers (NAAIM) Exposure Index represents the average exposure to US Equity markets reported by NAAIM members. The blue bars depict a two-week moving average of the NAAIM managers’ responses. As the name indicates, the NAAIM Exposure Index provides insight into the actual adjustments active risk managers have made to client…
Global equities can do little wrong lately, with falling volatility, improving earnings, and an almost straight-line upward march in the MSCI All Countries World Index. Yet, looking at my country breadth indicators there are a couple of concerning signals showing up. The chart comes from a look at some of the latest macro and market…
Janet Yellen said “Goodbye” to us, last week, on Thursday. After studying her moves over the past 4 years, beginning as a harsh critic, I say to her now, “Goodbye Janet, it’s been good to know ya.” Here’s what Yellen said at her press conference last week, and what she has said and done before…
The broad stock market is sizzling this holiday season thanks to solid corporate earnings and improving economic fundamentals. Total earnings for the S&P 500 index are expected to be up from 0.7% growth seen in 2016 to 7.6% for 2017 and 11.6% for 2018. Meanwhile, the economy expanded at the fastest clip in three years…
