Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Will the Bitcoin Bubble Last- Some Lessons From History / Currencies / Bitcoin
Everyone is talking about bitcoin. The new cool story in the news is an interview with someone whose friend gave them ten bitcoin for a present or to pay of food or gas on a trip, who is now putting a deposit down on a house. The explosion and growth of bitcoin has caught a lot of people by surprise and has left a number of people kicking themselves they didn’t pick some up when it was considerably cheaper than its current price of around $17,000 per bitcoin. It is incredible how much it has grown and it has spawned all manner of debate about whether it is a bubble set to pop or if it will just continue to grow and grow and grow before becoming one of the most valuable possessions in the history of the world.
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Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Samsung 64GB EVO 100mbs Micro SD Card Speed Test for Galaxy Smartphone's / ConsumerWatch / Samsung
Here is a speed test for a popular micro SD card, the 64gb Samsung EVO that is rated as operating at upto 100mbs that many smartphone users in the Samsung Gallery range tend to aquire for their S6, S7 and S8's. However, are smartphone users wasting their money by paying extra for a fast 100mbs card? Find out in my speed test review of exactly what performance is likely to be achieved when used in a smartphone.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Gold and CPI and Retail Sales in November 2017 / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
Last week, the reports on U.S. consumer inflation and retail sales were released. What do they imply for the gold market?
Consumer prices jumped 0.4 percent in November, following a 0.1 percent rise in October. However, the move was driven mainly by higher costs of gasoline and fuel oil. The energy index increased 3.9 percent last month. Hence, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased merely 0.1 percent. On an annual basis, the core CPI was 1.7 percent, which means a drop from 1.8 percent in October. The overall index soared 2.2 percent, rising from 2.0 percent in October and exceeding the Fed’s target again. Therefore, there was a slight shift up in the overall index, but a minimal slowdown in core inflation, as one can see in the chart below.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Bitcoin to Hashgraph: The Crypto Revolution (Hidden Secrets of Money) - Video / Currencies / Bitcoin
Today, mankind stands at a crossroads, and the path that humanity chooses may have a greater impact on our freedom and prosperity than any event in history. In 2008 a new technology was introduced that is so important that its destiny and the destiny of mankind are inextricably linked. It is so powerful that if captured and controlled, it could enslave all of humanity.
But if allowed to remain free and flourish - it could foster unimaginable levels of peace and prosperity. It has the potential to replace many functions of Wall Street and even of government, as a tool to empower individuals. In the latest episode In the latest episode of Hidden Secrets of Money, Mike Maloney examines this technology and its incredible potential.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Bitcoin Conspiracy Theory / Currencies / Bitcoin
If you’re like me you must be wondering why there is so much media obsession around Bitcoin even though its market cap is just $300 billion, which amounts to only about 1/3 the size of Apple Inc.? And, more importantly, why the U.S. Government and Federal Reserve have become so enamored with cryptocurrencies.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Who Knows What Will Black Gold Do in Coming Week? / Commodities / Crude Oil
On Thursday, crude oil moved a bit higher as oil investors turned their attention to the North Sea supply disruption. Although the price of black gold increased, the technical picture of the commodity doesn’t bode well for oil bulls. Why? We invite you to check our Oil Trading Alert. Have a nice read.
Yesterday, crude oil came back above $57 as oil investors focused on the Forties pipeline, which carries North Sea oil to Britain. Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that the above-mentioned disruptions will physically mostly affect the North Sea region. In other words, we think that the shale drilling and the last week increase in the U.S. production (which approached the output levels of top producers - Russia and Saudi Arabia) are more important for the price of light crude. Therefore, in our opinion, it is worth waiting for today's Baker Hughes report before we get excited about yesterday's increase and its “bullish” implications. Having said that, let’s examine the technical picture of crude oil (charts courtesy of http://stockcharts.com).
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Gold’s Shooting Star and Its Implications / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
After three weeks of declines, gold finally moved higher last week. Was this move surprising? Not at all, if you read our analysis of the previous week’s huge decline in platinum. The sizable slide in the latter was likely to trigger at least a small rally and that’s what we saw last week. However, gold reversed quite clearly on Friday and shooting star candlesticks, as these sessions are called, are signs of a reversal. Did we see one?
That’s not likely. There are several reasons not to believe the shooting start in gold. Let’s take a look at yellow metal’s chart for details (charts courtesy of http://stockcharts.com).
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Balance Transfer Fees Fall to Lowest Level in Over a Decade / Personal_Finance / Credit Cards & Scoring
The quarterly Moneyfacts UK Credit Card Trends Treasury Report (recently published), which studies the UK personal finance market, highlights that the average balance transfer fee has fallen to reach the lowest level seen in over a decade.
At a time when the length of interest-free balance transfers faces scrutiny, it appears that providers are finding alternative ways to entice borrowers. As a result, the average balance transfer fee has hit 2.03%, down from 2.11% in September and 2.29% a year ago. The current average is the lowest seen since it hit 1.82% in October 2006.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
UK Used Car Christmas From Dealers Buying Discount Sales Bargains / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
A google search soon reveals that the consensus view of the best times of year to buy a used car in the UK tend to coalesce around the two plate changes of the year, i.e. 1st of March and 1st September as being the most commonly propagated online advice to buy just before and after the plate changes. Next often repeated are the dealers end of quarter sales targets for bonuses and other perks, namely by the end of March, June, Sept and December. And also often mentioned are expectations that the best used car deals tend to be in the winter months due to less consumer demand.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
How To Play The 2018 Cannabis Boom / Companies / Cannabis
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Should You Consider Investing/ Buying Gold or Bitcoin? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018
Recently, we have been asked by a number of clients about the precious metals and what our advice would be with regards to buying, selling or holding physical or trading positions in the metals. There are really only a few short and simple answers to this question and they are revolve around the concept of providing a hedge against risk, capital preservation and opportunity for returns. Let's explore the details a bit further.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Gold EFPs: Absolute Proof that the Paper Gold Price is a Fraud / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
In recent months, the issuance of gold Exchange for Physical (EFP) contracts has surged. EFPs convert a physically deliverable Comex gold contract into an LBMA or LME contract supposedly deliverable at a later date ex London and/or Hong Kong. As an incentive for Comex contract holders to accept EFPs, a cash bonus reportedly is paid. EFPs in silver are also being issued in vast quantities, but we will focus on gold for brevity.
Most gold market observers believe that EFPs are a Comex gimmick designed to prevent, or at least forestall a formal Comex delivery failure. We believe the full story behind the EFPs is more complicated and disturbing, and that it involves collusion, conspiracy, and fraud.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Explaining My Amazement About Those Turning Bullish On The Banking Sector Now / Companies / Banking Stocks
Recent price action
With the Nasdaq continuing higher this past week, it has now reached our minimum target we were looking for before a pullback may be seen. But, I think the XLF may be providing us with certain clues about how 2018 may turn out. And, it may not be as rosy as many believe. Well, at least the first half of the year.
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Monday, December 18, 2017
Gold – Technical Obfuscation, Fundamentals, Predictions / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018
It is pretty much expected today that any investment analysis with justifiable conclusions will be steeped in technical study that includes lots of charts.
This seems especially true of gold.
Which is all well and good, I suppose; except for the obfuscation:
Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent usually is connoted), and is accomplished with circumlocution (talking around the subject), the use of jargon (technical language of a profession), and the use of an argot (ingroup language) of limited communicative value to outsiders.[1]
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Sunday, December 17, 2017
Gold And Silver Futures Swing From Bearish To Bullish In Just Two Weeks / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
After holding onto huge, unprofitable long positions for months, gold and silver futures speculators are finally giving up and bailing out, while commercial traders (who take the opposite side of these trades, since every long requires an offsetting short) are closing out their shorts at a near-record pace.
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Sunday, December 17, 2017
Stock Market Final Thrust is Likely / Stock-Markets / Stock Market 2017
Current Position of the Market
SPX: Long-term trend – The bull market is continuing with no sign of a major top in sight.
Intermediate trend –Final top next week?
Analysis of the short-term trend is done on a daily basis with the help of hourly charts. It is an important adjunct to the analysis of daily and weekly charts which discusses the course of longer market trends.
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Sunday, December 17, 2017
Nader Explains the Ongoing Collapse of the Democratic Party / Politics / US Politics
"People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason. But the privileged also feel that their privileges, however egregious they may seem to others, are a solemn, basic, God-given right." John Kenneth Galbraith
The last presidential election was obviously, and by choice of the parties, a contest between the lesser of two evils. The Democratic candidate was the choice of the party insiders, and the Republican of people who had just had enough, and were willing to believe the unabashed nonsense of a conman in their desperation.
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Sunday, December 17, 2017
Bitcoin Smashes Through $18k… and Now $19k As Insane Jim Cramer’s “Kibosh” Threat All Hot Air / Currencies / Bitcoin
Many people thought that once bitcoin futures began trading on the CBOE that it would allow Wall Street to smash the price of bitcoin lower.
Or, as Jim Cramer said, “kibosh” bitcoin.
Of course, if you listen to anything Jim Cramer has to say, well chances are you’ve lost a lot of money.
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Sunday, December 17, 2017
Never Mind Tea Leaves, Here’s a Strong Signal from the Economic Dashboard / Economics / US Economy
We’ve been seeing more and more commentaries discussing bad stuff that can happen when the Fed tightens policy and, as a result, the yield curve flattens. (See, for example, this piece from Citi Research and ZeroHedge.) No doubt, the Fed’s rate hikes will lead to mishaps as they usually do—in both markets and the economy. But most forecasters expect the economy to expand through next year, believing that the Fed and the yield curve aren’t yet restrictive enough to trigger a recession.
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Sunday, December 17, 2017
As Bitcoin Breaks All-Time Highs Near $18,000 Its Future Has Never Been So Uncertain / Currencies / Bitcoin
Bitcoin has yet again hit another all-time high today of $17,645.89 on the Coindesk Price Index.
Yet, while much of the traditional financial world are piling into bitcoin, the direction of bitcoin has perhaps never been so unsure.
I’ve posited my conspiracy theory of how Blockstream and others may have surreptitiously hijacked bitcoin. But, whether that is the case or not, one thing is absolutely for sure; Bitcoin has changed dramatically in the last year from its initial intention and objectives as outlined by Satoshi’s white paper.
The title of the white paper itself, after all, was “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.”
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