It was a bit of a ‘risk off’ day today, as stocks were showing weakness from the open. AAPL was leading equities lower, based on reports of slowing orders from their supply chain. The 10 Year Treasury Yield climbed again today finishing up around 2.96. The US Dollar Index finished higher at 90.30. The stronger…
Back in the 1500s, a financial agent of Queen Elizabeth I named Thomas Gresham observed that that “bad money drives out good.” That is, if two kinds of money are circulating at the same legal value, people will spend the lower-quality money and save the higher. The latter as a result ceases to circulate. This…
After experiencing weakness in February and March, crude oil spiked to three-year highs in April due to geopolitical fears associated with the Syria bombing campaign as well as falling inventories. Earlier today, President Trump tweeted that OPEC was to blame for “artificially Very High!” crude oil prices, which he said are “No good and will not…
The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Yes, we all know that Google is dominant in the realm of search. But at the same time, the internet is also a huge place – and building a decent searching algorithm can’t be that hard, right? This week’s chart is a bit mind-boggling, because…
from the International Monetary Fund — this post authored by Francesco Grigoli, Zsoka Koczan, and Petia Topalova Population growth in advanced economies is slowing, life expectancy is rising, and the number of elderly people is soaring. Because older workers participate less in the labor market, the aging of the population could slow growth and, in many cases, threaten…
The Silver Market is setting up for one heck of a move higher as investors are waiting for the signal to start buying. While the silver price has shot up due recently, it still isn’t clear if this is the beginning of a longer-term uptrend. The reason for the quick spike in silver was likely…
A startup called Basis has raised $133 million from top venture capitalists to build a “stable cryptocurrency” (also called a “stablecoin”). A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to eliminate the high volatility associated with most coins. The goal is to smooth out the ups and downs so the stablecoin is usable as an everyday currency. Basis plans to stabilize…
This is a traders’ market. That’s why a rule-based trading strategy based on the Commodity Channel Index has gained 18% this year, despite a flat S&P 500. It is the most profitable strategy among various technical indicators Bloomberg tracks. The strategy is simple. It sells the S&P 500 when the CMCI index crosses below 100 from…
Week 15 of 2018 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) improved according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. The rolling averages growth rates are generally improving. Analyst Opinion of the Rail Data We review this data set to understand the economy. If coal and grain are removed from…
Week 15 of 2018 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) improved according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. The rolling averages growth rates are generally improving. Analyst Opinion of the Rail Data We review this data set to understand the economy. If coal and grain are removed from…
