Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Could a “Greek-Style” Carry Tax on Cash Come to the US? / Interest-Rates / War on Cash
As we keep warning, India is not the “last stop” in the global financial elites’ war on cash.
Indeed, as ZeroHedge noted earlier today, officials are proposing a tax on cash withdrawals in Greece. They’re also proposing only permitting digital cash or cards for various transactions.
The claim behind this policy is that it would stop cash being used in the black market. This is similar to other claims that implementing a carry tax on physical cash or banning it altogether would stop money laundering or other illicit activities.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016
President Trump’s Economic Plan Isn’t Going to Work / Politics / US Economy
Will Donald Trump be good for the US economy?
The American people seem to think so. According to a recent survey taken by Gallup “Americans have relatively high expectations (of) the president-elect… Substantial majorities (upward of 60%) believe the Trump administration will improve the economy and create jobs. A slim majority (52%) say he’ll improve the healthcare system.”
Even more impressive, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index spiked to a 93.8 -high in November, signaling a significant improvement in overall consumer attitudes about the economy.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Stock Market Overbought Pullback Today....Could Use More... / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
Today was a day for some unwinding, and we could use more. The market sold a bit today, but did so in a way where price didn't run away from the primary oscillators. That's important in the study of pullbacks because it tells us whether the internals are turning more bearish as we see some, and, thus, tells us deeper selling is likely. We should, and could get more, but thus far nothing that says something dramatic is about to take place. If the market wanted deeper selling, we would see huge gap downs on consecutive days that run lower as the day moves along. No matter how powerful a given bull market may be, you always find a time to sell when things get too overbought for too long a period of time.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016
The US Bond Bear Market Has Begun! / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
BY JARED DILLIAN : It’s almost as if I can see the future.
In the September 22 issue of The 10th Man, I went through the math of how people would get screwed in a bond bear market.
I gave some concrete examples of what would happen if rates backed up 100 basis points. And sure enough, since the election, rates have backed up about 40 basis points.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Simple Yet Powerful Technical Trading Tools / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016
Jeffrey Kennedy discusses technical tools that support Elliott wave analysis
In this new interview, Jeffrey Kennedy gives a trading lesson on how to use trendlines, trend channels, price gaps and other technical tools in conjunction with Elliott wave analysis.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
The Sad Truth of Saving for the Future / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
Savers are no doubt aware of the struggle to earn a decent return in the current market. Interest rates are at record lows and there is little incentive for consumers to put money aside, particularly if they have a short-term savings goal. As a result, savers may be facing a savings shortfall for the future.
The latest research from Moneyfacts.co.uk shows the significant difference in the amount of interest on offer today compared to previous years, and how much savers are losing out on.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
President Trump Is Facing Lenin’s Dilemma / Politics / US Politics
George Friedman: When the Bolsheviks took power during the Russian Revolution in 1917, their intention was to create the dictatorship of the proletariat. They formed an army to fight a civil war against a counterinsurgency of monarchists who intended to destroy the Bolsheviks.
Vladimir Lenin, who led the revolution, appointed Trotsky to form the Red Army.
One problem was that he had never served in an army, let alone commanded one.
But Trotsky was chosen not because he had experience building an army. He was chosen because Lenin trusted Trotsky wouldn’t betray him.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
The US Is Undemocratic by Its Very Nature / Politics / US Presidential Election 2016
George Friedman : The final irony in an election filled with irony is the refusal of some voters to accept President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. This group includes more than mere protesters. There is a good-sized movement to persuade the Electoral College to vote for Clinton instead of Trump.
The irony is that it was Trump who said he would refuse to accept the results of the election. The Clinton camp charged that Trump was fighting against the sanctity of democracy. Now each has adopted the other’s position. Clinton herself, though, has not sought to overturn the election.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
If Trump Does This, We Will Win / Economics / US Economy
No matter who won the presidency, the economic way forward was not going to be easy. The national debt and deficit must be brought under control, or we will face a crisis.
Avoiding that crisis—even if it is 10 years out—is important. The solution doesn’t have to be implemented all at once. But there has to be a clear trajectory along the lines of the Clinton/Gingrich budget compromises. Those gave us balanced budgets and deficit reduction.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
This Looming Debt Crisis Could Ruin Many / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis 2016
We must deal with the debt if we are going to survive . We have two options: Simply stop spending or grow the economy. “Stop spending” is easier said than done. And boosting growth is going to be difficult too.
Total debt this year rose by 6.8%, almost double our growth rate. Not the right direction. After eight years of the slowest economic recovery in history, growing our debt dramatically faster than we are growing our country—even when we include inflation.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Public Infrastructure – Welcome to the World of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse / Economics / Infrastructure
Economic policy is subject to fads and fashions. The most recent economic-policy fad is public infrastructure. Its advocates include progressives on the “left” – like President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders – and populists on the “right” – like President-elect Trump. They tell us to take the chains off fiscal austerity and spend – spend a lot – on public works. They allege that this elixir will cure many, if not all, of our economic ills. Let’s take a look at their arguments and evidence.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 28, 2016
Fifty Years Later, Moore's Computing Law Holds / Politics / Technology
By Matthew Bey : Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel Corp., published his now iconic article — Cramming More Components into Integrated Circuits — in the journal Electronics on April 19, 1965. In this paper, Moore observed that the number of transistors fitting on a computer circuit board had roughly doubled each year. A decade later the time-scale was revised to 18-24 months and dubbed "Moore's Law." Following this principle, a computer purchased today would cost about half the price in two years. Processing is now down to one-sixtieth the cost it was a decade ago.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Stock Market New Record Highs, But Will The Uptrend Continue? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
Briefly: In our opinion, speculative short positions are favored (with stop-loss at 2,240, and profit target at 2,060, S&P 500 index).
Our intraday outlook is bearish, and our short-term outlook is bearish. Our medium-term outlook remains neutral, following S&P 500 index breakout above last year's all-time high:
Intraday outlook (next 24 hours): bearish
Short-term outlook (next 1-2 weeks): bearish
Medium-term outlook (next 1-3 months): neutral
Long-term outlook (next year): neutral
Monday, November 28, 2016
Fidel Castro and the American Empire / Politics / US Politics
The death of the brutal Cuban Communist dictator Fidel Castro closes the door, in some respect, on another disastrous page in US foreign policy history. For all the denunciations and criticism of Castro from conservative elements and exiled Cubans, his despotic rule was the outcome of decades of American imperialism which began with President William McKinley’s infamous decision to wage war on hapless Spain in 1898.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Watch Tuesday, Stock Market Big Move Coming! / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
The SPX is due to go down into Wednesday. I believe the 2144/45 area beckons. The June 27 low was exactly 110 TD's from the Jan 19 low. Adding 110 TD's to June 27th gives us Nov 30, the 5 month low. This should have been the low for November. The cycles are either off or we have a huge down week ahead of us. Normally, off a wedge, the first support is the 1991 area. We never got that low.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
To Really 'Make America Great Again,' End the Fed! / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
Former Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher recently gave a speech identifying the Federal Reserve's easy money/low interest rate policies as a source of the public anger that propelled Donald Trump into the White House. Mr. Fisher is certainly correct that the Fed's policies have "skewered" the middle class. However, the problem is not specific Fed policies, but the very system of fiat currency managed by a secretive central bank.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
An Elusive Stock Market Top / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
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.
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 discuss longer market trends.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
Gold Price is Oversold but Broken / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016
Last week we wrote that the 2016 bull market in Gold and gold stocks had gone off course. It had moved too far out of the historical boundaries to remain a bull market. There was also other evidence of such including but not limited to rising real yields. Gold’s last hope was to hold $1200-$1210 and rebound back to the highs. It has broken bull market support ($1200-$1210 and $1230) and could be on its way to $1050 in the next few months.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
This Past Week in Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016
Technical analyst Jack Chan charts the latest moves in the gold and silver markets.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
Europe Will Devalue Or Dissolve - Welcome To The Currency War / Interest-Rates / Eurozone Debt Crisis
No rest for the wicked. With the shockwaves from Brexit and President Trump still reverberating around the world, the established order is bracing for more bad news. Next up is a December 4 Italian constitutional referendum that might end the reign of centrist prime minister Matteo Renzi and replace him with a bunch of anti-euro iconoclasts from the Brexit/Trump part of the spectrum.
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