2 Horsemen
Here are the Gold-Silver ratio and Uncle Buck, riding somewhat disjointedly together. Assuming they will continue to ride together in the near term, which one is going to down correct path?
Author Archives: Darren Marchal
Why Is The US Treasury Quietly Ordering “Survival Kits̶
The Department of Treasury is spending $200,000 on survival kits for all of its employees who oversee the federal banking system, according to a new solicitation. As FreeBeacon reports, survival kits will be delivered to every major bank in the United States and includes a solar blanket, food bar, water-purification tablets, and dust mask (among other things). The question, obviously, is…
Trust, Governance & Howard Schultz
Sometimes my friend “Karma” plays the most interesting tricks on me, as she has done this week with this classic corporate “trust tug of war.” On Monday I wrote a blog post called CEOs “Suck” at Trust. Soon after, my friend Corey Dubrowa at Starbucks (SBUX) reminded me that not all CEOs are created equal, and…
Men’s Wearhouse Misses On Q3 Earnings & Revenues
The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (MW – Snapshot Report) posted its third-quarter fiscal 2014 results, wherein its adjusted earnings of 83 cents a share dropped 7.8% year over year due to higher operating expenses. Earnings also fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 87 cents. The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc – Earnings Surprise | FindTheBest Moreover, including one-time…
Iceland Unleashes Confiscatory “Exit Tax” On Wealth D
While on the one hand, Iceland’s decision to inch towards lifting its capital controls is a positive step, it appears what they give with one hand they are taking with another. Just as we predicted three years ago, the muddle-through has failed and there are only hard choices left and sure enough BCG’s envisioned ‘wealth tax’ appears to be rearing its…
An Upside Surprise For November Retail Sales
U.S. retail spending jumped substantially more than expected last month, the Census Bureau reports: up 0.7% in November vs. the previous month. That’s well above the 0.4% consensus forecast. The profile for consumption looks even stronger on a year-over-year basis. It all adds up to a strong signal for the holiday shopping season, and one that resonates…
OPEC: RIP ? Not So Fast
Many observers have proclaimed the death of OPEC. This seems to be a premature judgment, and may reflect a misunderstanding of oligopolistic practices. The decision not to cut production is not a sign of the OPEC impotence as has been argued. If OPEC would have cut output, and lost market share as a consequence, would OPEC’s…
Gold Steadies Near 7-week High
Gold prices ended lower on Wednesday, pulling back after sizable gains in the previous two sessions, as investors covered some bullish bets. The day before yesterday, the slide in equity markets dented risk appetite and pushed gold prices to their highest in seven weeks. Honestly, it is not surprising to witness some volatility in gold prices…
Retail Sales Continues Again Relatively Strong In November 2014
Retail sales improved according to US Census and well above expectations. Our analysis slightly disagrees – but the unadjusted data in this series is like riding a roller coaster. Because of the noise in this series, it is better to view the 3 month rolling average of sales growth which improved marginally (driven to a…
Deutsche, Barclays FX Algos Busted For FX Rigging
First it was humans. Now it is vacuum tubes. Having quickly learned that letting carbon-based traders engage in FX (or stock, or bond, or Libor, but not gold, never gold) rigging usually leads to said carbon-trader ultimately being fired with the bank suffering a violent slap on the wrist, banks are getting smart, and have…