Latest Posts
-
Finance 0
“One Big Worldwide Bubble”: Cusp Of 30-Year Bear Market In Stocks And Bonds
In a Bloomberg TV interview, Milton Berg, founder and CEO of MB Advisors, says, “We’re at the cusp of a 30-year bear market in stocks and bonds.” Click here to play. Berg’s view on a 30-year bear market is on a “real inflation-adjusted basis, not a nominal basis”. This is the “most over-valued equity market in history, worldwide” …. not even a Mario Draghi “whatever it takes” action will help. “It’s all one big worldwide bubble.” I especially like Berg’s admission that he does not know how this ends. “Either deflation is going to accelerate, which is most likely, or they [central banks] will turn to real in... -
Finance 0
E Hitting A Home Run With Our SPY Put Spread
We have another home run here, a 13.02% profit in only 6 trading days. Friday the 13th seems as good a day as any to take a profit. Also, we are realizing 87.17% of the maximum potential profit in the S&P 500 SPDR’s (SPY) May, 2016 $210-$213 in-the-money vertical bear put spread. In the highly unlikely event that we have a major rally in stocks next week, we now have new dry powder to play with, having cut our net short position in the (SPY) from 40% to 20%. If you have the ProShares Short S&P 500 Short Fund ETF (SH) (click here for the prospectus), or the ProShares Ultra Short S&P 500 Short Fund 2X ETF (SDS) (click here for t... -
Finance 0
Gordon Chang: China In Big Trouble, Could Bring Global Economy Down With It
To Listen to the Podcast Audio Click Here Mike Gleason (Director of Money Metals Exchange): It is my privilege now to welcome in author, lawyer, television pundit, and Forbes columnist Gordon Chang. Gordon is a frequent guest on Fox News, CNBC, and CNN and is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese economy and its geopolitics and has written a book on the subject called The Coming Collapse of China. Gordon Chang: Thank you, and it’s a real honor to be on your show. Mike Gleason: Before we dig into some specifics here, Gordon, China’s economy is now the second largest in the world. They’ve been reporting GDP growth at 7... -
Finance 0
Hauser’s Law & The Federal Budget Deficit
On a rolling 12-month basis, the federal budget deficit hit a peak of almost $1.5 trillion in February 2010. From that dizzying height of just over 10% of GDP it fell steadily for six years, hitting a low of $402 billion last February, a mere 2.3% of GDP. It’s unlikely to get any lower than that, unfortunately, unless and until we see stronger economic growth and/or significant reform to entitlement programs. For the foreseeable future, the budget deficit is likely to get bigger; it’s already jumped to just over $500 billion as of last month. There are several culprits: weaker economic growth, weaker tax collections, and a pickup ... -
Finance 0
Bi-Weekly Economic Review
Economic Reports Scorecard The tone of the economic reports improved over the last two weeks with quite a few releases coming in better than expected. From a scorecard viewpoint, we had 6 reports better than expected versus 8 worse than expected for the reports where a consensus can be tracked and interpreted. (Note: sometimes it is hard to classify a report as “better” or “worse”. For instance, is a rise in inventories positive or negative? Depends on why of course. So I exclude reports like that in coming up with a count.) Unfortunately, I’d classify the misses as more important that the hits. A miss on the employment number, even... -
Finance 0
May 6, 2016: ECRI’s WLI Growth Index Continues Its Advance In Positive Territory
ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward advanced higher in positive territory for the seventh week – after spending the previous 34 consecutive weeks in negative territory. Current ECRI WLI Level and Growth Index: Here is this week’s update on ECRI’s Weekly Leading Index (note – a positive number indicates growth): U.S. Weekly Leading Index Ticks Down The U.S. Weekly Leading Index (WLI) ticked down to 135.0 from 135.7. The growth rate edged up to 5.7% from 5.4%. The U.S. economic slowdown is set to continue, as the latest WLI upturn is not sufficiently pronounced, pervasive and ... -
Finance 0
Thematic ETFs: Smarter Than Regular Smart Beta ETFs?
It’s been a true transformation for the ETF industry over the last few years. With a size of $3.137 trillion, the global ETF industry hit a record at the end of April 2016. The U.S. market alone boasts a size of over $2.2 trillion, derived from over 1,890 exchange traded products. While this joy-ride is something to delight in, crinkles of worries must be there on the foreheads of issuers. After all, with such gigantic and successful progress, ideas of new issuances are likely to fall short. There is always pressure for beating the benchmark, navigating tough trading times and last but not the least peer pressure. Simply put, the days of p... -
Finance 0
US Rig Count Continues To Crash
The total US rig count declined yet again this week, down 9 to 406 – a new record low. The last four times rig counts collapsed anything like this, the US economy was in recession. Oil rigs dropped 10 to a new cycle low at 318, but appear near a turning point if lagged oil prices remain any indication… Or is US production about to fall off a cliff? ... -
Finance 0
Retail Sales Do Add Up
The calendar has been playing an outsized role in economic accounts this year, from leap year adding to February and now different months for Easter. With March entertaining the holiday this year, it seems as if seasonal adjustments might have been unduly harsh with retail sales. Into April, without Easter, seasonal adjustments may have been too charitable. Unadjusted, total retail sales in April 2016 were $450.9 billion, down $9.2 billion from $460.1 billion in March. Last year, April 2015 sales were $438.2 billion, $5.9 billion less than March 2015. Instead, the seasonal adjustments tell us that the monthly adjusted change for April 2016 wa... -
Finance 0
Precious Metal Report – May 13, 2016
Ira Epstein leads us through the day’s precious metal highlights. Video Length – 00:08:43...
Top Posts
-
The Importance for Individuals to Use Sustainable Chemicals
-
Small Businesses: Finding the Right Candidate for the Job
-
How to Write the Perfect Thank You Letter After Your Job Interview
-
3 Best Large-Cap Blend Mutual Funds For Enticing Returns
-
China suspected in massive breach of federal personnel data
