Sunday, July 26, 2015
The Number One Lesson From Greece / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
There’s arguably nothing that’s been more hurtful -in more ways than one- to Greece and its Syriza government over the past six months, than the lack of support from the rest of Europe. And it’s not just the complete lack of support from other governments -that might have been expected-, but more than that the all but complete and deafening silence on the part of individuals and organizations, including political parties.
It’s no hyperbole to state that without their loud and clear support, Syriza never stood a chance in its negotiations with the Troika. And it’s downright bewildering that this continues to get so little attention from the press, from other commentators, and from politicians both inside Greece and outside of it.
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Sunday, July 26, 2015
Stock Market Primary III Inflection Point / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
By: Tony_Caldaro
The week started off at SPX 2127. After a rally to SPX 2133 on Monday, completing eight straight days of higher highs/lows, the market headed lower for the rest of the week, with four straight days of lower highs/lows. For the week the SPX/DOW were -2.55%, the NDX/NAZ were -2.25%, and the DJ World index was down 2.0%. On the economic front positive reports edged out negative reports in a quiet week. On the uptick: existing home sales, the FHFA, leading indicators and weekly jobless claims improved. On the downtick: new home sales and the WLEI. Next week will be highlighted by the FOMC meeting, the first look at Q2 GDP, and the Chicago PMI.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
$1.5 Quadrillion Derivatives Time Bomb / Stock-Markets / Derivatives
By: STRATFOR
When investing becomes gambling, bad endings follow. The next credit crunch could make 2008-09 look mild by comparison. Bank of International Settlements(BIS) data show around $700 trillion in global derivatives.
Along with credit default swaps and other exotic instruments, the total notional derivatives value is about $1.5 quadrillion - about 20% more than in 2008, beyond what anyone can conceive, let alone control if unexpected turmoil strikes.
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Saturday, July 25, 2015
10 Stock Market Sectors Most Vulnerable to Cyberattacks / Companies / Cyber War
By: Investment_U
Anthony Summers writes: Target (NYSE: TGT). Home Depot (NYSE: HD). Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). EBay (Nasdaq: EBAY). Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).
These are just a few names on the growing list of companies that have experienced major data breaches in recent years. Both the public and private sectors are seeking better ways to confront cyberthreats as they become more common.
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Saturday, July 25, 2015
Immigrants Aren’t the Only Ones Who Shouldn’t Be Voting / Politics / Social Issues
By: MISES
Ryan McMaken writes: Much of the current immigration debate in the United States centers around the issue of “amnesty,” which is a vague term that may mean anything from “we won’t deport you” to “let’s fast-track you to citizenship and voting rights.”
From a laissez-faire perspective, the deportation aspect of amnesty — an increase in federal inaction — is one thing. The extension of voting privileges, though, is something else entirely.
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Saturday, July 25, 2015
Central Banks and Our Dysfunctional Gold Markets / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: MISES
Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna writes: Many investors still view gold as a safe-haven investment, but there remains much confusion regarding the extent to which the gold market is vulnerable to manipulation through short-term rigged market trades, and long-arm central bank interventions. First, it remains unclear whether or not much of the gold that is being sold as shares and in certificates actually exists. Second, paper gold can theoretically be printed into infinity just like regular currency — although private-sector paper-gold sellers have considerably less leeway in this regard than central banks. Third, new electronic gold pricing — replacing, as of this past February, the traditional five-bank phone-call of the London Gold Fix in place since 1919 — has not necessarily proved a more trustworthy model. Fourth, there looms the specter of the central bank, particularly in the form of volume trading discounts that commodity exchanges offer them.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Gold And Silver - The US Dollar Does Not Exist, Part II / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: Michael_Noonan
Truth does not exist in the world of politics.
It is reasons such as these, below, that drives the importance of owning and holding physical silver and gold. The fundamental reasons everyone already knows exists but do not apply are important, but the power of the elites to rule over all [at least Western] governments, write the laws, deceive everyone, and now with the evidence of how much influence the bankers can exert over the manipulation of PM prices, is why you need to protect yourself from the evil nature of their control.
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Saturday, July 25, 2015
How Wall Street Put Apple Stock in Animal House / Companies / Apple
By: ...
MoneyMorning.com
Michael A. Robinson writes:I bet you don’t know about the connection between tech investing and that 1978 comedy classic Animal House.
It has something to do with the very recent history of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock.
And for investors like you, there’s a very powerful lesson to be learned.
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Saturday, July 25, 2015
Corporate Earnings No Help.... Stock Market Breadth On The Decline / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
By: Jack_Steiman
Last night we saw a strong move higher out of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), everyone's favorite, all-time froth stock. They reported earnings. Yes, it can happen. The stock blasted higher, and so did the futures, but that wasn't the only reason the stock futures shot up. There were other solid reports wrapped around one bad report from TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP). Visa Inc. (V), Starbucks Corporation (SBUX), and others were great, so the combination of good reports had the Nasdaq futures exploding higher by nearly fifty points. Everything was set up to reverse the recent move lower on the indexes off the top. The futures held somewhat overnight, but started to give it up some when biotechnology leader, Biogen Inc. (BIIB), came in with a dud for their report on earnings.
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Friday, July 24, 2015
How to Trade Markets Using the Stochastic Oscillator - Video / InvestorEducation / Learn to Trade
By: EWI
A lesson from EWI's Jeffrey Kennedy
The stochastic oscillator is a technical tool that was popularized by George Lane. It is a momentum indicator based on the idea that in an uptrending market the close tends to be near the high of the price bar, and in a downtrending market the close tends to be near the low of the price bar.
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Friday, July 24, 2015
Don’t Be Fooled by the “Quiet Season” for Biotech Stocks / Companies / BioTech
By: EWI
Marc Lichtenfeld writes: My favorite time to work is on weekend mornings before the rest of the house gets up.
I wake up, quietly go down the stairs and turn on the computer. While I’m waiting for it to boot up, I enjoy the peaceful scenery of the marsh outside my living room window. There are always amazing birds out there like sandhill cranes and egrets that are just a few feet from my window.
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Friday, July 24, 2015
A Bond Market Crisis Is Coming... Here's What to Do / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
By: DailyWealth
Dr. David Eifrig writes:
Wall Street is already sending warning signals about the next financial cataclysm. Analysts are using phrases like "liquidity crunch" and "crisis situation."
It could happen next week... or next month...
Predicting exactly how a crisis will happen is difficult. Predicting exactly when is impossible.
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Friday, July 24, 2015
Why There's Resistance to the Iran Nuclear Deal / Politics / Iran
By: ...
MoneyMorning.com
Dr. Kent Moors writes: Years ago, when I was doing monthly analysis on Iran's oil and gas industry, one of the biggest quandaries was trying to make market sense out of what came from the leadership in Tehran.
Well, the past 72 hours and the July 14 Iran nuclear deal have brought me back to those days.
Back then, it was not unusual for Iran's religious and political heads to shoot themselves in the foot economically every time they opened their mouths on policy matters. And Iran remains one of the most convoluted webs of power relationships and brokerages anywhere.
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Friday, July 24, 2015
Does Jewelry or Central Bank Demand Drive the Gold Price? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
We have already shown that neither mining production, nor technological demand drives gold prices, since gold – thanks to its uniquely high stock-to-flows – resembles an asset rather than commodity. Before we look at the drivers of gold investment demand, we have to analyze the role of jewelry demand and central bank buying in the gold price formation. These two categories are often considered as important drivers for the gold price, but are they really? Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 24, 2015
Absurd Gold Stock Levels / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2015
By: Zeal_LLC
Gold stocks suffered a full-blown panic this past week! This exceedingly-rare magnitude of selloff was triggered by extreme futures shorting intentionally executed to force a flash crash in gold. After gold’s major multi-year support failed in this Machiavellian onslaught, gold stocks plummeted. The levels of fear were so epic that this entire sector was slammed much deeper into fundamentally-absurd price territory.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Not Your Father’s Inflation / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis 2015
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
“Profound ignorance masquerading as wisdom - all the worse from the mouths of the prestigious, the PhD, the Nobel Prize winner….” - UnknownIt’s time to revisit British economist Peter Warburton’s April 2001 classic tome “The debasement of world currency: It’s inflation but not as we know it“.
Our friend from GATA, Ed Steer brought it to attention once again.
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Friday, July 24, 2015
Gold Mining Stocks Nearing Rebound / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2015
By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne
Recently we've been writing about the downside potential in precious metals and the danger for precious metals bulls. The gold miners and Silver have led the rout while Gold finally cracked support ($1140-$1150/oz) last week. That led to a severe selloff across the complex. As we pen this on Thursday evening it appears Friday could be a nasty day if Gold breaks below $1080/oz. Nevertheless, the odds now favor a rebound in the weeks ahead and especially in the gold miners.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Gold Stock Carnage Continues Unabated / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2015
By: Dan_Norcini
There is still no sign of any serious buying occurring in the gold mining sector. The HUI continues to plummet lower and has fallen to levels last seen in October and November of 2002! This is simply astonishing for its ferocity.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Misperceptions Create Significant Bond Market Value / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
By: John_Mauldin
In today’s Outside the Box, my good friend Lacy Hunt of Hoisington Investment Management reminds us that since the 1990-91 recession, the 30-year Treasury bond yield has dropped from 9% to 3%, a downward move nearly identical to the decline in the rate of inflation, which fell from just over 6% in 1990 to 0% today. Therefore, Lacy says, “(I)t was the backdrop of shifting inflationary circumstances that once again determined the trend in long-term Treasury bond yields.”
Friday, July 24, 2015
Commodities Distressed Investing / Commodities / Investing 2015
By: John_Mauldin
When most people think of distressed investing, they think of buying CCC-rated bonds at 20 or 30 cents on the dollar, then maybe sitting in bankruptcy court to divvy up the capital structure, making healthy risk-adjusted returns in the end. You just need to hire a few lawyers.
Distressed investors are a different breed of cat. It’s one of those countercyclical businesses, like repo men, who do well when everyone else is getting hammered.
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