Thursday, September 03, 2020
What's Driving Gold, Silver and What's Next? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: The_Gold_Report
Peter Krauth looks at the factors behind the movements in the gold and silver markets. Gold's retreated from a record high above $2,000, and silver's off its own seven-year highs near $30.
Is that cause for concern? I doubt it.
These have been dramatic surges to new levels, brought on by a combination of low interest rates, historic money-printing raising the specter of inflation, a softer U.S. dollar, and of course a global pandemic.
But that doesn't mean gold and silver have to continue higher in a straight line.
Instead, these gains have been so strong that a period of retracement and consolidation are not only expected, they're crucial to the continued health of this precious metals bull market.
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Thursday, September 03, 2020
Understanding the Fed's True Mandate / Interest-Rates / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: The_Gold_Report
Michael Ballanger interprets the motives of the Federal Reserve and their impacts on the "haves" and "have nots" in America and beyond.
This week, the financial community around the globe was handed a "new approach" by the Federal Reserve Board of the United States that essentially flipped the middle finger at savers, senior citizens on limited pensions and proponents of sound money principles. Before I expand upon this outrage, let me expound upon the background of the current Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell.
Judging from the accolades and fawning praise showered upon this man (as the S&P and NASDAQ hit record levels fueled exclusively by Fed stimuli), one might think that he hails from the academic world, a scholar with vast experience in macroeconomic theory, or at least extensive dealings in the retail banking sector. His grandfatherly deportment portrays great studiousness and wise counsel as he does his very damnedest to convey that image with perennial gray suits and trademark purple ties. If one could take this carefully crafted persona and make a snap favorable assessment of the man who controls the retirement lifestyles of millions of global citizens, one would be making a fatal error.
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Thursday, September 03, 2020
The Fed May “Cause” The Next Stock Market Crash / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Avi_Gilburt
I know many of you view the Fed as quite omnipotent, with the ability to move the market with a simple stroke of a key. In fact, this perspective is so ubiquitous that I know almost none of you will take my presentation seriously, as “common-think” has taken over most investor’s ability to see the facts presented to us by the market. However, please do recognize that my perspective is based in fact and history, rather than the supposition and fallacy upon which most perspectives in the market are based.
Moreover, I have presented many prognostications in the past which have seemed unrealistic at the time, yet almost all of which have been realized within the fullness of time. So, why not offer another? (smile)
The main premise which is universally accepted is that the Fed can simply “print” money and push it into the stock market to cause the market to rally. In this way, the Fed has supposedly supported the market, and has caused this rally we have been seeing for many years.
To this end, I will again quote a comment I received to one of my recent articles, which explains the common perception on this matter quite clearly:
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Thursday, September 03, 2020
UK Children Back to School! Covid-19 Bubbles, Masks and Hand Sanitisers the New Normal - Sheffield / Politics / Educating Children
By: N_Walayat
Finally Britain's school children are finding their way back into the classrooms of Britains, Junior and Secondary schools! Though this should have happened in Mid June! Sill better late than never as by the end of this week at least 94% of Britains' school children will be back in school full time.
Let's hope the teachers unions do not subvert the education of Britain's school children by following through with their threats of Covid fear driven strike action, that's the last thing Britain's school kids need after being abandoned by the education establishment for the past 6 months!
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Thursday, September 03, 2020
S&P 500: Revealing the "Real" Story About the Record High / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: EWI
Financial headlines do not always tell the full story
Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper than the headline to find out what really happened.
You know, like what's suggested by the television title "True Hollywood Story," or the BBC's "Real Story."
Sometimes getting the real scoop simply satisfies one's curiosity and is more entertainment than anything else. But, at other times, digging deeper into a subject can help one draw an important conclusion that may affect one's life -- or investments.
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Thursday, September 03, 2020
This Group of Wealthy Investors Hoard Cash at Unprecedented Levels / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2020
By: EWI
Yes, stocks have been in rally mode.
Even so, a group of multimillionaires appears to be shifting from an optimistic mindset to one of pessimism about the financial future.
Their solution is hard, cold cash.
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Wednesday, September 02, 2020
Stock Market Dow Jones Utilities Breaking Trend / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Chris_Vermeulen
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:
- Dow Theory suggests indices must confirm each other and volume must confirm the trend.
- The new downward trend in the Dow Utilities Index suggests indices are starting to break apart in terms of trending in unison.
- Volume recently has been trailing lower, which suggests the momentum behind these new all-time highs is weakening.
- If the Utilities Index continues to move lower and we see increased volume in the selling trend, we will consider the Dow Theory Trend component “broken” and expect a major peak/top soon after.
We know some of you are Dow Theory enthusiasts and followers. We follow the Transportation Index as a leading indicator for potential major market trends almost exclusively because of what we have learned from Dow Theory. If you are unfamiliar with Dow Theory, we suggest visiting Investopedia’s summary of this technical theory for a quick refresher. You can also learn more about the primary indicator in Dow Theory here. The two most important aspects of Dow Theory that we are researching today are two components:
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Wednesday, September 02, 2020
If this is the brave new America ... / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_T_Bucci
Shoot a Black man in the back in cold blood by a merciless Kenosha, Wisconsin cop named Rusten Sheskey and watch the city burn; watch the right-wing rise; watch President Trump and his ministers of propaganda exploit; exacerbate an already hardened “base” with incendiary and threatening tweets; give credence to armed militias.
Two bold markers need be placed on the dates of the Kenosha shootings: the one for Jacob Blake and the other for Kyle Rittenhouse. While I might claim it has been “open season” on Black men for years by killer-cops and right-wing White supremacists, that season has now been expanded to include protesters. Clearly, the message from 17-year old Kyle Rittenhouse to militias across the country—and to protestors—was delivered by his cynical act and, I predict, it won’t stop here, and hasn’t.
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Wednesday, September 02, 2020
Stock Market Short-term Trend Lines in Focus / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Andre_Gratian
Current Position of the Market
SPX Long-term trend: For now, the best guesstimate is that we are still in the bull market which started in 2009.
SPX Intermediate trend: We should be approaching an important high, with confirmation coming over the near term.
Analysis of the short-term trend is done daily 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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Monday, August 31, 2020
Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook... AI Tech Stocks Buying Levels and Valuations Q3 2020 / Companies / AI
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Here is the updated list of AI stocks buying levels for Q3 2020.
What are buying levels?
Buying levels are high probability technical levels that stocks 'could' trade down to during a stock market correction.
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Monday, August 31, 2020
Stock Market Expanding Wedge May Prompt Big Price Correction – Big Top Be Set Up? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Chris_Vermeulen
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:
- The Monthly S&P500 E-Mini Futures chart is revealing an Expanding Wedge pattern that has been setting up since Jan/Feb 2018.
- The VIX has set up a base and begun to move moderately higher over the past 7+ days – above the 20.00 point level and above the GAP created by the initial COVID-19 selloff.
- Our Custom Volatility Index chart warns of a “bull trap” set up, and we may see an 11% to 15% (or more) sell-off in the US and global markets if the Custom Volatility Index collapses below 10 over the next few weeks.
- Are These Technical Setups Warning That A Market Top Is Forming?
I want to bring this large expanding wedge pattern to your attention as my research team and I watch the markets continue to push to new all-time highs. This is a follow on to our research from our Special Alert report warning of Head-and-Shoulder patterns in some of our custom charts. We know it may sound a bit alarming to be the one to bring up a potentially devastating Bearish technical pattern at this time, but as technical traders, we must stay aware of risks even if they may not materialize. Trading is a process where we take measured risks in an attempt to generate profits over time. Risk becomes a very big issue if it is not properly managed – just as trading becomes very difficult if one doesn’t learn to take profits in good trades.
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Monday, August 31, 2020
Tips to Get Started in Stock Market Training / InvestorEducation / Learning to Invest
By: Submissions
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Sunday, August 30, 2020
3 Truths That Will Define This 3-Part US Economy / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
The economy recovery, when it comes—and it will—is going to be uneven.
In some parts of the economy, it's already starting. Other parts will be in what can only be described as a depression for quite some time. And still others are going to take off like a rocket ship.
This three-part economy won't fit compactly into the V- or U-shaped recovery that some are predicting (read: hoping) for. More likely, it will look like a "K."
Whether it's K-shaped or some other to-be-determined letter, there are three truths that will define this economic recovery:
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Sunday, August 30, 2020
FOMC Minutes Push Gold Price Down / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
July FOMC minutes hit the gold prices. But what’s next for the yellow metal?The key event last week was the publication of the minutes from the FOMC meeting in July. After their release, the U.S. dollar jumped, while the price of gold dropped, as the chart below shows. Why? Well, the Fed officials disappointed investors who expected some clues about upgrading the U.S. central bank’s forward guidance in September. In other words, the Fed failed to provide any new guidance as to the interest rate expectations.
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Sunday, August 30, 2020
Powerful Deflationary Winds" Include a "Bust in Commodity Prices / Commodities / Commodities Trading
By: EWI
Elliott Wave International's analysts have posited that the next big global monetary event will be deflation, not inflation.
The writer of an August 18 Telegraph article also sees "powerful deflationary winds."
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Saturday, August 29, 2020
12 Essentials for the Home Office / Personal_Finance / SME
By: Submissions
Now that most of us have accepted that working from home is a likely arrangement for the near future, it might be time to make sure your home space has everything it needs to run your business successfully. In order to be as productive and content as possible, we all have a certain number of lifestyle needs to be met. It is worth taking some time to ensure that the office is just right to make working from home comfortable, healthy and enjoyable.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, many business owners working from home have been struggling to make the switch to remote sales or keep pace with online demands. Many businesses would be lost without IT support to take off the pressure. For advice on this, How to Select the Best IT Support for Your Startup Company | Computers In The City is a useful guide for companies that need external assistance.
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Saturday, August 29, 2020
Digital Transformation During the Coronavirus Pandemic / Companies / Internet
By: Submissions
Digital transformation has never been so appealing for businesses affected by social distancing measures and other health restrictions. In fact, many digital practices have been the only possible option to ensure operations can continue. Organisations around the world have been forced to allow their staff members to work remotely, which has demanded a greater reliance on technology. Without the use of video conferencing, online tools and VPNs, working from home would be limited or the security compromised.
Businesses of all sizes will usually find that external assistance is needed to ensure IT systems are always running smoothly. With the help of a great managed services provider, inefficiencies can be reduced and badly timed bottlenecks avoided.
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Saturday, August 29, 2020
How to Choose Best Budgie / Parakeet Cage for Your Birds 2020 / Personal_Finance / Animals & Pets
By: N_Walayat
Apparently our existing cage is tad bit too small,. so here are the steps we went through to ensure how to get the best sized cage for your budgies / parakeets, good for your birds and your available space.
After much effort we finally narrowed our choice down to 2 cages either of which would do, both of which can be bought off Amazon.
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Friday, August 28, 2020
The US Economy Needs More Than a Vaccine / Economics / Coronavirus Depression
By: Michael_Pento
The hype and hope being promulgated by Wall Street and D.C. is that the imminent and well-advertised approval of vaccines will bring the economy back to what they characterize as its pre-pandemic state of health. However, even if these prophylactics are very efficient in controlling the pandemic and lead the economy back to “normal”, the state of the economy was anything but normal and healthy prior to the Wuhan outbreak.
The year over year change in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2020 from the trailing 12 months was just 2.3%. Admittedly, this wasn’t indicative of a terrible economy; but it also was very far from what many have portrayed as the best economy anyone has ever seen on the planet. Most importantly, to even get to that rather pedestrian level of just trend GDP growth for the year, the Fed had to slash interest rates three times in the five months prior to the start of 2020. And, please also remember that the Fed felt it necessary to return to Quantitative Easing (QE) in order to re-liquify the entire banking system and save the markets from crashing.
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Friday, August 28, 2020
Freedom and Sweden’s Constitution / Politics / Pandemic
By: Steve_H_Hanke
In most countries, the tool of choice to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic is the lockdown. Not in Sweden, which has chosen a rather laissez‐faire approach. The borders have been kept open, and Swedes are free to travel within the country, visit bars and restaurants (with some restrictions), parks, hairdressers, gyms and most other places.
The cornerstone of the Swedish response is its constitution’s most important part, the Regeringsform. Chapter 2, Article 8 states: “Everyone shall be protected in their relations with the public institutions against deprivations of personal liberty. All Swedish citizens shall also in other respects be guaranteed freedom of movement within the Realm and freedom to depart the Realm.” The Regeringsform makes exceptions only for prisoners and military conscripts, and there is no provision for a peacetime state of emergency. While the constitutions of neighboring Finland and Norway also guarantee freedom of movement, neither juxtaposes that provision with a broad protection of “personal liberty.”
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