Monday, December 12, 2016

Maps That Explain US Main Economic Strength Over Russia / Politics / GeoPolitics

By: John_Mauldin

BY JACOB L. SHAPIRO : Power is a relative concept. To say one nation is powerful means nothing. Power derives meaning only when assessed in comparison.

Two nations whose powers we constantly reevaluate are Russia and the United States. Much of our analysis is driven by how weak we believe the Russian Federation is.

There are different ways to evaluate this. Comparing US and Russian regional economies is particularly striking.

Monday, December 12, 2016

2017 Will Be A Pivotal Year For Europe / Politics / European Union

By: John_Mauldin

Many people in the EU disapprove of EU economic policies. Greece is by far the unhappiest with Brussels. Italy is next, with France and Spain not far behind. The UK, where people are angry enough to have voted themselves out of the EU, looks even-tempered in comparison.

That suggests to me that if you offered these other countries a chance to ditch the EU and reassured them that they wouldn’t cause the sky to fall, there are some who might take the leap.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Robot Workforce is Coming - Here’s Why It's Best for Everyone / Economics / Employment

By: John_Mauldin

BY PATRICK WATSON : Every day brings a new warning: robots are coming to take our jobs. Soon we’ll all be unemployed… and unable to buy what the robots produce.

What good are robots if all they do is make stuff we can’t afford? I don’t know. But there's no doubt automation will replace some human workers—even (gasp!) writers and editors.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Bank of Japan Has Primed the Markets For a Crash / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash

By: Graham_Summers

This is getting outright ridiculous.

The Bank of Japan is now depreciating the Yen against the $USD on an almost hourly basis.

This is the Yen carry trade. And it’s the SINGLE BIGGEST DRIVER OF THE MARKETS TODAY. As you can see, in the last two weeks, the S&P 500 is following this pair almost tick for tick.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Yield That Breaks the Trump Rally's Back / Interest-Rates / US Bonds

By: Michael_Pento

In 2012 I wrote a book called "The Coming Bond Market Collapse", in that book I predicted that the bond market would begin to collapse by the end of 2016. Clearly, this prediction has started to come true. However, in all candor, I never dreamed that the Ten-year Treasury yield would plummet to 1.3%. Neither did I ever imagine that over thirteen trillion dollars' worth of global sovereign bonds would have a negative yield, as was the case this past summer.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Agri-Commodities: Birthing a New Bull Market? / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities

By: Ned_W_Schmidt

An investment reality is that neither bear nor bull markets last forever. From high, July 2014, to low, October 2016, the Agri-Food Price Index fell 23%. Since that low, this index of 18 Agri-Commodity prices has risen 19%, and is nearing a new 52-week high. If we accept the popular notion that a 20% rise from a low signals a new bull market, Agri-Commodity prices may be birthing a new bull market. Chart below is for Agri-Food Price Index over the past year.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Euro Crisis and Contagion Almost Certain In 2017 / Currencies / Eurozone Debt Crisis

By: GoldCore

A euro crisis and contagion is almost certain in 2017, Irish economist and writer David McWilliams has warned:

“It is almost certain that there will be another euro crisis in 2017. The last time we had a euro crisis, the focus of attention was Greece; today the vortex is Italy.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Stock Market Trading At New Record Highs As Investors' Sentiment Further Improves / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016

By: Paul_Rejczak

Briefly: In our opinion, no speculative positions are justified.

Our intraday outlook is neutral, and our short-term outlook is neutral. Our medium-term outlook remains neutral, following S&P 500 index breakout above last year's all-time high:

Intraday outlook (next 24 hours): neutral
Short-term outlook (next 1-2 weeks): neutral
Medium-term outlook (next 1-3 months): neutral
Long-term outlook (next year): neutral

Monday, December 12, 2016

UK Mortgage Market Competition Ramped up in 2016 / Housing-Market / Mortgages

By: MoneyFacts

Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report data, not yet published, highlights that there has been significant improvement amongst the lenders who have 80%* share of the mortgage lending.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Buying Gold Into A Fed Hike: As Dumb As It Sounds? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016

By: Bob_Kirtley

The Fed will hike rates this week. The US Dollar is strengthening. Fiscal policy is about to ignite economic growth. The ECB has reduced its rate of QE purchases. It doesn’t sound like now is the time to be buying gold, does it? And yet, the setup is remarkably similar to this time last year, before the yellow metal put in a near 30% rally. What matters most is not what will happen, but what will happen relative to expectations. It is fair to say that the market has some lofty expectations built in at present, which is why it could be a case of buying the rumour and selling the fact over coming months.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Corporations Getting In Bed With The Government / Politics / Social Issues

By: James_Quinn

The recent deal to keep Carrier jobs in the United States is not at all unusual. It only received so much press because Trump made it a campaign issue and saw an opportunity to record a big early PR victory before he even took office. Government and corporations cooperate, negotiate deals, scratch each others backs, kickback ill-gotten gains, and function as a career advancement funnel for corrupt politicians.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Tech Breakthrough Could Make This The Biggest Winner Of OPEC’s Cut / Commodities / Oil Companies

By: OilPrice_Com

As far as the markets are concerned, OPEC’s 32.5-million bpd output cut deal agreed to two weeks ago could go either way, and the uncertainty makes it anyone’s guess—but MCW Energy, the pioneer of breakthrough clean oil sands extraction in Utah, is not concerned:

If oil prices remain low, its production costs are dramatically reduced, and in any scenario, its breakthrough technology makes everything from Utah’s vast oil sands to the Permian Basin’s massive offerings easier to extract.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Gold and Gold Stocks Setup for Post-Fed Rally / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016

By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne

Gold and gold mining stocks have been very oversold but have struggled to rally. The sector looked to be starting a rebound until Friday's decline which pushed Gold to a new low. However, positive divergences remain in place as gold stocks and Silver remain above their recent lows. While the Federal Reserve could say something hawkish next week, the setup continues to favor a rebound in the precious metals sector rather than an immediate decline to new lows.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Stock Market Extreme Greed Reading / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016

By: Andre_Gratian

Current Position of the Market

SPX Long-term trend: If the market strength persists, the long-term trend may need to be re-evaluated.

SPX Intermediate trend: SPX intermediate count to 2240 may turn out to only be a minimum projection. This will be determined by market action over the next couple of weeks.

Monday, December 12, 2016

War on 'Fake News' Part of a War on Free Speech / Politics / Propaganda

By: Dr_Ron_Paul

A major threat to liberty is the assault on the right to discuss political issues, seek out alternative information sources, and promote dissenting ideas and causes such as non-interventionism in foreign and domestic affairs. If this ongoing assault on free speech succeeds, then all of our liberties are endangered.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

2007 All Over Again, Stock Market Valuations Enter “Crash” Territory / Stock-Markets / Stock Market Crash

By: John_Rubino

The Trump Christmas stock market rally has taken valuations beyond a point that in the past has signaled trouble, which in turn has generated a lot of cautionary press like the following:

Market indicator hits extreme levels last seen before plunges in 1929, 2000 and 2008

Sunday, December 11, 2016

More Thoughts on Trump’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan / Politics / Infrastructure

By: Ellen_Brown

To stimulate the economy, create new jobs and generate new GDP requires an injection of new money. Borrowing from the bond markets or off-balance-sheet in public/private partnerships won’t do it. If Congress won’t issue money directly, it should borrow from banks, which create money on their books when they make loans.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

US Congress Passes Measure Opposing Speech and Media Freedoms / Politics / Censorship

By: Stephen_Lendman

First Amendment rights are America’s most precious. Without them, all others are endangered.

Post-9/11, police state laws destroyed fundamental US constitutional rights, remaining ones eroding toward elimination altogether.

Fascism operates this way. Americans are fooled by government and media propaganda, claiming compromised freedoms provide greater security, not realizing they’re losing both.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

End of the World History Stock Chart… / Stock-Markets / Tech Stocks

By: Rambus_Chartology

I try to show this long term monthly chart for the $COMPQ which I call the “End of the World History Chart” at least once a year or if something interesting takes place. When you look at the 1987 crash it felt like the end of the world at the time but that ended up being the second reversal point in the green bullish rising channel. How many remember the months leading up to the first Gulf war in 1991? No one knew at the time how that conflict would play out as the US was going up against the 5th largest army in the world. On the first night of bombing it was very clear that the conflict would be over quickly and the stock markets took off the very next day which made the fourth reversal point in the green bullish rising channel.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

TESCO CRISIS - Customer Experience (E1) / Companies / Tesco

By: Nadeem_Walayat

Its now over 3 years since I first started warning that there is something seriously going wrong at Tesco, Britains supermarket giant and that stock investors should take note and sell out, at what was then a stock price trading near its all time high of £3.83, at the time I was criticised for basing my views purely on anecdotal evidence. However, as an experienced investor I WELL UNDERSTOOD that to truly know how a company is performing then one has to experience its service and products first hand as a consumer!