Tuesday, December 28, 2021
ROBLOX - High Risk Metaverse Stock Analysis for Investing 2022 and Beyond / Companies / Metaverse
By: Nadeem_Walayat
As you know after dumping 80% of my AI stocks portfolio during the summer months I went on a high risk stocks buying spree, where ROBLOX was at the top of that list along with Western Digital and Corsair given the importance of GAMING, of which the 'metaverse. is a subdivision of. For if it is not already clear, the metaverse's are basically online gaming environments. UNFORTUNATELY, to date I have bought NO ROBLOX, for the reason that I deem the stock to be a lot higher risk than either Corsair or WDC given that it is along way from making any profits. The stock has soared to $125 on the back of Facebook's metaverse announcement and improving financials, though still makes a loss. The stock is trading on an eye watering Market cap of $64bn! That's on annual sales of $1.6 billion.
However the key metric to focus on is the number of monthly users where I am not seeing much growth during the past 3 quarters, though it looks like Roblox tends to get a spike in new users in the final quarter of the year, so Q4 should see a jump in paying users.
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Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Is the End of Transitory Inflation the End of Gold Bulls? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2021
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
The debate about the nature of inflation is over. Now the question is what the end of transitory inflation implies for gold. I offer two perspectives.Welcome, my son. Welcome to the inflationary machine. Welcome to the new economic regime of elevated inflation. That’s official because even central bankers have finally admitted what I’ve been saying for a long time: the current high inflation is not merely a transitory one-off price shock. In a testimony before Congress, Jerome Powell agreed that “it’s probably a good time to retire” the word “transitory” in relation to inflation. Bravo, Jay! It took you only several months longer than my freshmen students to figure it out, but better late than never. Actually, even a moderately intelligent chimpanzee would notice that inflation is not merely temporary just by looking at the graph below.
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Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Sheffield Peace Gardens Christmas Lights and Displays Fun 2021 / Politics / Sheffield
By: Eliza_Walayat
Here's a look at the wonderful sights and sounds at Sheffield Peace Gardens, christmas lights, and the giant bauble and gift box light displays. So do visit Sheffield and check out the light shows as well as the sights and sounds of the Christmas market and Barkers Pool amongst other shows in our other videos.
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Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Can You Get A Personal Loan if You Have Bad Credit? Find Out Here / Personal_Finance / Debt & Loans
By: Steve_Barker
So you have less-than-perfect credit. Perhaps you've been late on a few bills, or you've had to file for bankruptcy recently. Or maybe your credit has already taken a hit for other reasons and you're looking for ways to rebuild it. The good news is, there are still ways to get a loan, whether you want to buy a car or pay off some debts. However, bad credit loans are not the same as "normal" loans and often require a bit more work and research on your part to find the best option. So how do you go about getting one? This article will take a look at what all bad credit loan is, and just as importantly, whether you can qualify for one.
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Monday, December 27, 2021
Crypto's, Bitcoin on Cusp of BreakOut Trend Trigger to All Time Highs, BTC $100k Alt Coins Higher / Currencies / Bitcoin
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The crypto markets from Ethereum to Cardano to Polka dot right down to Ravencoin are at the cusps of breaking a significant trend triggers that would set them on course to new all time highs, of course led by the number 1 crypto that they are all leveraged to BITCOIN! How high could BTC go ? $100k all within a couple of months with far higher targets for the alt-coins. Find out why in my latest crypto video posted BEFORE the breakout moves take place..
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Monday, December 27, 2021
How to Change Land Rover Key Fob Battery Before Thieves Steal Your Cars Contents - Discovery Sport / Personal_Finance / Land Rover
By: HGR
There is going to come a day when your key fob stops working, stops locking and unlocking the car from the press of a button. However whilst the buttons may no longer work your car will respond for a while to the presence of the key fob. Nevertheless, here's why you don't want to chance your car being unlocked whilst you ponder changing the battery which is a much easier job to do than most imagine as this video illustrates.
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Monday, December 27, 2021
Will Santa Give Us Interest Rate Hikes for 2022? / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
By: P_Radomski_CFA
If the Fed normalizes its balance sheet and markets freak-out, it will be a bridge too far. But interest rate hikes won’t crash a strong US economy.
With Fed officials increasingly hawked up, the narrative shifted from a tapering of asset purchases to potential interest rate hikes. And now, with whispers of the Fed plotting to normalize its balance sheet, questions have arisen over the potential impact on the PMs.
To explain, I wrote on Dec. 20:
After admitting that inflation “is alarmingly high, persistent, and has broadened to affect more categories of goods and services,” Waller implored the Fed to sell some of its bond holdings.
For context, tapering means that bonds are purchased at a slower pace or not at all. However, even zero purchases result in the Fed’s nearly $8.76 trillion in bond holdings remaining constant. Conversely, if the Fed reduces its balance sheet by selling bonds to private investors, it’s akin to a taper on steroids. Waller said:
“If we start doing some balance sheet runoff by summer, that’ll take some pressure off, you don’t have to raise rates quite as much. My view is we should start doing that by summer.”
Monday, December 27, 2021
Stock Market Still More to Come / Stock-Markets / Stock Market 2021
By: Monica_Kingsley
S&P 500 Santa rally goes on, and risk-on markets rejoice. What a nice sight of market breadth improvement, and confirmation from bonds. Financials and industrials are lagging, but real estate, healthcare and tech are humming smoothly. As I told you yesterday about volatility:
(…) The VIX is calming down, now around 21 with further room to decline still – at least as far as the remainder of 2021 is concerned.
We got the lower values, and today is shaping up to look likewise constructively for the bulls across both paper and real assets. Yesterday‘s dollar decline has helped as much as well bid bonds. Inflation expectations aren‘t yet doubting the Fed, there is no more compressing the yield curve at the moment, so it‘s all quiet on the central bank front. That‘s good, the Santa rally can go on unimpeded.
Precious metals are peeking higher in what looks to be adjustment to the lower yields and dollar, and commodities upswing remains driven by energy, base metals and agrifoods. Cryptos hesitation may hint at slimmer gains today than was the case yesterday when instead of a brief consolidation, we were treated to improving returns.
Monday, December 27, 2021
Improve Your Finances with These Resolutions / Personal_Finance / Debt & Loans
By: Sumeet_Manhas
Do your personal finances need to improve? Well, the New Year is the best time to address this problem. You can make these simple New Year’s resolutions and get your finances in much better shape.
Follow a Budget
A simple financial resolution to make this year is to start following a personal budget. A personal budget will help you organize your monthly expenses, track your spending habits and work towards your savings goals. If you have a bad habit of spending beyond your means, this simple guide will keep you in line from now on.
How do you start? If you’re hoping to make this your resolution, you should download one of the best budgeting apps on your smartphone or computer. Then, all you have to do is follow the instructions. It’s that easy.
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Friday, December 24, 2021
Investing in the Best METAVERSE Tech Stocks for 2022 and Beyond / Companies / Metaverse
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Facebook hit the nail on the head by bringing forth realisation to the masses of the emerging metaverse's with their corporate name change to META, though most will soon forget what all the fuss was about and carry on their merry way until they next big metaverse story, so this aspect of the Quantum AI mega-trend will continue to trundle along in the background. However savvy investors will already be aware of the "meta-verse" and what it heralds in terms of virtual products and services as the headsets technology plays catchup so as to allow the masses to escape from an increasingly dismal economic future given the rise of machine intelligence automation that seeks to replace human labour as we have seen play out in countless movies such as Ready Player One.
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Friday, December 24, 2021
How to Put Up Outdoor CHRISTMAS Lights Mains and Battery Powered 2021 - Top Tips / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
By: Eliza_Walayat
Counting down to Christmas, it's early December and time to start putting up the Christmas lights for 2021, here's how we put up our battery powered and mains powered lights, so you too can get tips such as using a dry box to power your outdoor lights.
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Friday, December 24, 2021
Strong 2021 Demand for Physical Precious Metals, Despite Paper Prices / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2021
By: MoneyMetals
Even as Omicron casts a pall over markets and upcoming Christmas celebrations, precious metals investors are feeling at least some holiday cheer this week.
The gold market put in a modest rally on Wednesday and Thursday to erase earlier losses. The white metals, meanwhile, are outperforming gold.
Demand for physical precious metals has been strong in 2021 even though you wouldn’t know it from following the paper price of gold. In addition to robust bullion buying from investors, jewelry demand is also strengthening.
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Thursday, December 23, 2021
APPLE AR Headset Coming 2022 - Metaverse Tech Stocks Analysis / Companies / Apple
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Apple has been working on an augmented reality goggles headset for several years and there are rumours that this will make it to market during late 2022 as Apple attempts to play catchup to the success of Facebook's Oculus headsets likely built around Apples M1 processors rather than be tethered to either an Apple Mac or Iphone so is likely to be expensive when compared to the Quest headsets, probably priced at at least £999, near triple the usable Quest that costs £399 and it could be priced a lot higher than that, maybe as high as £2000!
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Thursday, December 23, 2021
What is Frosted Window Film and How Long Does It Last / Personal_Finance / Home Maintenance
By: Travis_Bard
Homeowners who are looking to improve the functionality of their windows are likely to come into contact with the phrase frosted window film, but what is frosted window film and how can it be used within a property? To help you make an informed decision on whether frosted window film is the right option for you and your property we have compiled the article below to explain what it actually is, how it can be used within commercial and residential properties and even how long you should be expecting it to last.
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Thursday, December 23, 2021
Powell Sent Gold Above $1,800 – But Only for a Short While / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2021
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Finally, Powell admitted higher inflation risks and gold jumped above $1,800. Before anyone noticed, however, it plummeted below the key level again.Who are you, Mr. Powell: a reptilian or a human? A dove or a hawk? Since we all know the answer to the first question, let’s focus on the second one. Markets decided that Powell’s last press conference was rather dovish, but a careful reading doesn’t support this view. The main dovish signal was Powell’s emphasis that quantitative easing tapering and interest rate hikes are separate issues, as the tightening cycle criteria are stricter. So, the first rate hike may not come immediately after the end of tapering, which is scheduled for mid-March.
Even if they are separate, we shouldn’t expect a long break between the end of quantitative easing and the first rate hike. This gap will definitely be shorter than in 2014-2015. In the last tightening cycle, the Fed ended asset purchases in October 2014, while the first increase in the federal funds rate occurred in December 2015. Powell himself, however, pointed out that the economy is much stronger, while inflation is much higher, so a long separation before interest rate hikes is not likely:
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Thursday, December 23, 2021
Stock Market Santa Rally Time / Stock-Markets / Stock Market 2021
By: Monica_Kingsley
S&P 500 made a first step towards the turnaround higher in the opening part of this week. Fading the rally is being countered, and yesterday‘s omicron policy response fears are being duly reversed. For the time being, Fed‘s liquidity is still being added – the real wildcard moving the markets, is corona these days. Credit markets are in the early stages of heralding risk-on appetite as returning. As stated yesterday when mentioning my 2022 outlook:
(…) Fading the FOMC rally went a bit too far – credit markets aren‘t panicking, so I doubt a fresh lasting downtrend is starting here. Chop, yes – the 4,720 area is proving a tough nut to crack, but it would be overcome. If there are two arguments in favor, it‘s the financials and HYG – the likely rebound in the former, and Friday‘s resilience in the latter. Given that Thursday‘s spurt to 4,750 evaporated so fast, I‘m not looking for a stellar year end. Positive given where we‘re trading currently, sure.
Markets are now grappling with faster Fed tapering (which has opened the way to a rate hike in Q2 2022), getting slowly more afraid of fresh corona restrictions, and dealing with inflation that‘s not going anywhere. Outpacing wage growth, with real yields being deeply negative (no, 10-year Treasury yield at even 2% doesn‘t cut it – that‘s my 2022 target, by the way), the administration would be hard pressed in the year of midterms to counter the corrosive inflation effects on poll numbers. And the Fed expects to keep tightening when the real economy is already suffering from contracting liquidity as seen also in strengthening dollar?
The central bank will have a hard time taming inflation, and in my view won‘t succeed – the persistently high inflation rates are going to be with us for years to come, and outpacing wages. … Similar to the recent high PPI reading, this is one more argument for why inflation isn‘t receding in the short run – not when demand isn‘t likewise being destroyed. As if consumer sentiment weren‘t struggling already...
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
FREETRADE - What Value FREE SHARES Can You Expect to Get When Signing Up? AMD, Apple, Microsoft? UK / InvestorEducation / Learning to Invest
By: Nadeem_Walayat
FREE TRADE is probably one of the best UK trading platforms for Stocks and shares ISA's, with it's commission free trading and fractional shares and low F/X fee of 0.45% AND they give a free share currently worth between £10 and £200 when signing up through a referral link. However what free share can people expect to get will it be an AMD? Apple, maybe a Microsoft as I show what my 7 FREE shares were that I got via referring others to FREE TRADE, so this is a good realistic expectation of what one is likely to get from FREE TRADE.
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Wednesday, December 22, 2021
TSMC and Microsoft AI Tech Stocks Analysis / Companies / AI
By: Nadeem_Walayat
TSMC $117
PE 29.9, has been stuck in a tight trading range for virtually the whole of 2021 at between $125 and $108. Therefore I am raising the buying level to an achievable $109.5.
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Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Silver: Strong and Weak at Once. How Is That Even Possible? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2021
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Gold is barely crawling up, while silver is boldly climbing the market ladder. When will its rungs turn slippery, causing the precious metal to fall?Yesterday’s session was particularly uneventful in the case of the precious metals market, as crude oil and the general stock market stole the spotlight.
Consequently, today’s analysis will focus on what’s happening in pre-market trading, as that’s what appears to be more important.
At the moment of writing these words, gold is up very modestly – less than 0.2%.
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Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Remembering Wharton: Detecting When the Fed Turns 'For or Against You' / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2021
By: The_Gold_Report
Precious metals expert Michael Ballanger remembers lessons learned years ago from a three-year course in "Stocks and Bonds 101," and how those principles still apply today.
In 1983, I was offered the opportunity to attend a three-year course in “Stocks and Bonds 101” courtesy of the Securities Industry Association. With little or no appreciation of what that course might actually do for me, I eagerly accepted because the main perk was a shingle for my office emblazoned with the title “The Wharton School” with my name just below it and signature-verified by a bunch of northeast blue bloods.
That three-year journey had a remarkable impact on my psyche. I met some of my earlier heroes like Martin Zweig, Jeremy Seigel, Julius Westheimer, and Gail Dudack, all of whom were really interesting personalities. But none were as impactive as a little-known trader called Robert Gordon. At first glance, I thought that he was the perfect image of a New Yorker – a cross between Robert DeNiro and John Travolta but, at maybe 5 feet 9 inches tall, at least a few inches taller. He was a disciple of the legendary Ivan Boesky (an arbitrageur who went to prison for insider trading in 1987), known for his understanding and skill in the art of taking advantage in inefficiencies in securities pricing.
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