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    On A Letter From An Expatriate

    Photo Credit: Liz West A friend I haven’t heard from in many years since he left the USA wrote me. He closed the letter in an unusual way, saying: PS — USA has gone completely bonkers these days? or what the heck is going on over there? would love to pick your mind over a glass of wine. someday! I’m not intending on writing on politics as a regular habit at Aleph Blog, and most of what I am going to say is economics-related, so please bear with me.  Hopefully this will get it out of my system. To my friend, There are a lot of frustrated people in the US.  Though you’ve been gone a long time, you used to know me pretty well; after a...
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Have Governments Always Spent More Than Taxes?

    It might surprise many that governments have routinely spent more than they take in from taxes. In ancient times, governments simply minted more coins to fund their operations, they did not generally borrow. Some Greeks borrowed from the temples to fund wars and did default. However, typically, tax revenues amounted to only about 80% of expenditure. Records have survived as well as dies from which coins were struck. Pictured here, you will see an actual Roman die from the Republican period which has survived. Each die was hand carved so we can distinguish between dies and as such, the fact that the average number of coins produced before a...
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Key Economic Data Out This Week

    Not much financial news came in over the weekend with major holidays worldwide but economists look forward to the coming week for the release of several interesting economic reports which could help U.S. stocks resume their recent winning path. Reports on Friday showed the U.S. economic growth slowdown in the fourth quarter was not as severe as previously estimated. Major indexes remain well above their 2016 lows even as stocks broke a five-week streak of gains on Thursday, their last trading day before a long holiday weekend. Gross domestic product increased at a 1.4 percent annual rate instead of the previously reported 1.0 percent pace, co...
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Buy – Royal Bank Of Canada

    My recent buying trend has been insurance and banking stocks. Oops, I did it again. The trend continues because I bought Royal Bank of Canada  (RY) stock. This purchase marks the 3rd Canadian bank stock I’ve added to my portfolio this year. Last week, I bought 25 Royal Bank of Canada shares at $57.65 a share, for a total of $1,448.20. This new holding increases my annual dividend income by $60.75 dollars. My other Canadian bank transactions this year were 50 shares of the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), and 30 shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)....
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Forex Ranking, Rating And Score For Week 13 / 27 March 2016

    This is the article “Forex Ranking and Rating list” for the coming week, the article “Forex Strength and Comparison” has also been published this weekend. When looking at the Top 10 in the Weekly Ranking and Rating list we can see that for the coming week the following stronger currencies are well represented for going long: CHF(3X) with the JPY(3X) followed by the AUD(2X). The weaker currencies are the GBP(5X) followed by the NZD(3X) with the CAD(2X). A nice combination for coming week may be e.g: GBP/JPY with the AUD/NZD GBP/CHF with the NZD/CHF GBP/AUD with the CAD/CHF NZD/JPY with the CAD/JPY These are just a f...
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Bullish USD/JPY Outlook Mired By Dovish Fed, Wait-and-See BoJ

    See how retail traders are positioning in the majors using the FXCM SSI readings on DailyFX’s sentiment page. The diverging paths for monetary policy fosters a long-term bullish outlook for USD/JPY, but the Federal Reserve’s and the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) wait-and-see approach may continue to drag on the exchange rate especially as Janet Yellen and Co. look to further delay their normalization cycle. With Fed officials now projecting two rate-hikes for 2016, the less-hawkish stance accompanied by the downward revision in the growth rate may keep the dollar under pressure even as the U.S. economy approaches ‘full-employment.’ Th...
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Do You Believe Economics’ Latest BS Explanation ‘Secular Stagnation’?

    by Rodger Malcolm Mitchell, www.nofica.com Because economics is a social “science,” it contains more bulls**t than a rodeo chute. The latest example is called “secular stagnation,” and wouldn’t you know it, right in the middle is the amazing Larry Summers, about whom you can read by clicking the link. Never heard of “secular stagnation”? Here is a description by Jacob Davidson, a news editor at Time Magazine: As a diagnosis, secular stagnation is simple: It’s the idea that the economic problems the U.S. continues to face aren’t a product of the “business cycle,” the ebb an...
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Credit Crunch In Spain: Credit Expanding At Lowest Rate In Relation To GDP Since 1970

    ECB president Mario Draghi has his work cut out for him. Not only is Draghi foolishly fighting price deflation, credit in Spain is on the deepest plunge compared to historical averages since 1970. Via translation from the El Confidencial article Credit Does Not Flow. The current weakness of lending in Spain is even more worrying if put in relation to its historical trend. If you compare the level of credit as a percentage of the economy with this trend, we are at the lowest level since data exists. The Bank of Spain notes this reality as one of the arguments for not requiring a greater capital cushion banks; that is, to argue that now there ...
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    It’s Not The Economy, Stupid; Barron’s Admits “It’s A Bullard Market”

    It appears the complete decoupling from economic reality of the so-called US equity ‘market’, combined with the collapse in a data-dependent Fed’s credibility – topics we have extensively covered – has reached the mainstream. Barron’s always-insightful Randy Forsyth exposes the ugly reality that this is a “Bullard” market and we are just living in it as the flip-flopping Fed head is “the most visible telltale of the shifting winds of Fed expectations. Investors navigating the choppy waters of the financial markets are forced to change tacks accordingly.” Only one thing matters....
    On March 27, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Forex Strength And Comparison For Week 13/27 March 2016

    This is the article “Strength and Comparison” for the coming week, the article “Ranking, Rating and Score” has also been published this weekend. For analyzing the best pairs to trade looking from a longer term perspective the last 3 months currency classification can be used in support.  This is updated on this weekend and is provided here for reference purposes: Strong: USD / JPY / CHF. The preferred range is from 6 to 8. Average: EUR, AUD, NZD. The preferred range is from 3 to 5. Weak: GBP, CAD. The preferred range is from 1 to 2. The charts are provided in the following article:  “Forex Currency Score Cl...
    On March 27, 2016 / By