Friday, October 25, 2019
The End of College Is Coming / Politics / Student Finances
By: Stephen_McBride
Every spring, millions of American high school kids are faced with this choice.It sounds like a no-brainer. And it used to be a no-brainer... because college used to cost a reasonable amount of money.
As recently as 1980, you could get a four-year bachelor’s degree at a public school for less than $10,000, on average. These days it’ll cost you at least $40,000… or upward of $140,000 for a private school... or well over $250,000 for a top school.
Unless a kid has rich parents or a full ride scholarship, he must borrow a ton of money to pay for the privilege of attending college.
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Friday, October 25, 2019
Gold, Credit And The Coming Financial Collapse / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Hubert_Moolman
Since 2016, the US Monetary Base has declined by about 23.68%. This is the deepest and longest decline since the Federal Reserve was formed. This should not be ignored.
The last time there was a decline close to this magnitude,there was a sharp deflationary recession. That was the one that occurred from 1920 to 1921.
Below, is a long-term chart of the Monetary base that goes back to 1918:
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
Money Printing Fuelled Stocks Bull Market Hurtling Towards Financial Crisis 2.0 / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The stock markets so far have confounded expectations for a deeper October correction by dutifully rallying for an assault on resistance, with the Dow trading to barely 0.5% of its all time high, all whilst the Trump and the Brexit chaos shows continue in the US and the UK. So how can this be? To once more iterate the general indices are on an exponential upwards curve, where deviations from the highs being buying opportunities for the fundamental reason of exponential money printing by whatever names it may go, QE, government bonds etc.. Governments of the world continue to print money that drives the exponential inflation mega-trend to which stock and other asset prices are leveraged.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Gold, the Shining Star Among Commodities / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Gold is the most effective commodity investment, yet it is under-invested, the WGC reports. What makes it special and deserving of our focus? And how to translate that focus into an appropriate allocation within one’s portfolio?
Gold is Unique Commodity. Or… Maybe Not?
Gold is often included into commodities. It seems natural, gold is a metal, after all. And just like other raw materials, it is used in the production of manufactured goods. But gold is much more than that. According to the recent report published by World Gold Council, there are six features which differentiate gold from other commodities:
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
2020 Will Bring 40+ IPOs That Could Double Your Money / Companies / IPOs
By: Stephen_McBride
Justin Spittler writes:
Many people think the initial public offering (IPO) market is dead.
If you’ve been reading my essays, you know I specialize in IPOs. And I don’t want to spoil the punchline, but... I love that this rumor has taken hold.
I love that the average guy thinks IPOs are dead. Because it means hunting for big IPO profits is “contrarian.”
And the biggest profits usually flow into the pockets of investors who can think independently of the crowd.
I can tell you with 100% certainty that not only is the IPO market alive and well... 2020 is shaping up to be the “Year of the IPO.”
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Divergence of Gold And Bitcoin – Which Represents A True Safe-Haven? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Chris_Vermeulen
Recently, Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the US Congress to discuss his new Libra project and to attempt to calm concerns related to his new global alternate currency project. It appears this project is putting global political leaders in a particularly powerful position of either accepting the Libra project as a viable future solution and implementing new laws and regulations in support of it or to shelve the idea while they consider the local and global risks associated with a project that creates a new class of global currency. (Source: https://www.bloomberg.com)
We believe the risks associated with a massive corporate and international backed Crypto/Alternate currency are far too great, at this time, for the US government to attempt to consider with only 12+ months to go before the US Presidential elections. This is almost like opening Pandora’s Box in terms of total global risks and outcomes. It becomes almost impossible for the US government, Federal Reserve or any other global central bank to be able to protect its citizens from the risks associated with any type of technology collapse, fraud, hacking or any other unknown risks associated with such an idea.
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
Stock Market New All-Time Highs By Year End - But, It May Not Be What You Expect / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Avi_Gilburt
This market has been difficult for both the longs and the shorts for months now. While it has been unwilling to break down, it has also been equally unwilling to break out.
What makes me scratch my head even more of late is that the Fed has come to the table with its “not-really-QE-4” of $60 billion a month. For those that remember, QE1 was approximately $100 billion a month on average, QE2 was $75 billion, and QE3 was $85 billion. But, to see the Fed coming forth with this type of liquidity injection when the market is hovering just below its all-time highs is a bit surprising. Yet, the market is still unable to break out.
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
Gold’s Seasonal Outlook for Q4 / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
“What is the best predictor of future behavior? Past behavior.” And while this certainly does not always hold, there is a lesson to be learned from this adage for gold investors. Yup, a saying about behavior might be important for the precious metals market. The basic idea is that behavior can be understood as history here. And so, the best predictor of future developments could be past developments. In other words, past developments might hold some indications as to the fluctuations in the market.
In particular, market patterns might repeat over time. It might just as well be the case that investors behave in a similar manner during specific times in the year. One classic example is the period after New Year – it has been argued that the investors are optimistic at the beginning of the year and that markets could rally then. Another one are the summer doldrums – the old saying is “sell in May and go away” - meaning that people tend to tune out during the summer holidays more than at other times throughout the year. New Year and the summer do not move throughout the year. But Thanksgiving does – it is not always on the same day. The same goes for the market. Some influences could be difficult to pinpoint. The one we focus on is the expiration of derivatives. Futures contracts and options do not always expire on the same day in the month. And so to account for them is slightly more complicated. Even more so if you would like to combine classic seasonal patterns with the expiration of derivatives.
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
The Duel Between Johnson and Parliament. Will Gold Win? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Boris Johnson struggles to push the Brexit agreement through the British Parliament. For it can bite back! Who wins this battle? One could hope that gold, but this is not so certain…
Johnson’s Struggle, Explained
On Thursday, the breaking news came out that the EU and the UK reached agreement on Brexit. The agreement scrapped the Irish backstop that had formed the bulk of the opposition to the former proposals. Naive who believed that it would change something! We have to admit that we thought for a while that finally the Brexit saga was coming to an end.
But the British government still has a long way to go! On Saturday, the Parliament voted for a change to the sequencing of the ratification of the deal. It means that they withheld support on Johnson’s Brexit deal until all the necessary legislation is passed. In this way, the lawmakers forced the prime minister to write a letter to the EU requesting a delay until January 31.
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
How GE Screwed Over Its Retirees / Companies / Pensions & Retirement
By: John_Mauldin
Remember “defined benefit” pensions?
That is the kind of plan in which the employer guarantees the worker a set monthly benefit for life. They are increasingly scarce except for small closely held corporations.
The same rules apply for small closely held businesses as for large corporations.
These plans can be great tools for independent professionals and small business owners. But if you have thousands of employees, DB plans are expensive and risky.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Making Money Trading Oil: A Slippery Investment or Black Gold? / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: Boris_Dzhingarov
...
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Stock Market Seasonal Trend Analysis / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Nadeem_Walayat
SEASONAL ANALYSIS
The basic stock market seasonal pattern is after a weak Jan / Feb, strong March / April, a peak in May, down into June, a Strong July / August peaking in Sept for a wobble into October that sets the scene for a strong rally into the end of the year.
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Gold Prices Stand to Rally on Brexit Delay / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Submissions
With the odds of a Brexit deal by the October 31 deadline declining, gold bulls may stand to benefit.
The price of gold has been in a narrow range over the past session with support at $1479 drawing buyers while the shiny metal continues to struggle to rally above the psychological $1500 level.
Gold prices have been held higher by a weaker dollar as of late while at the same time suppressed by positive developments in the US-China trade war and progress in Brexit. But that could change quickly.
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
What's Wrong With The Stock Market Smart Money? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Troy_Bombardia
Jason Goepfert writes: Another one bites the dust
The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index® is a popular indicator to watch for potential recessions ahead, and the latest reading shows a 2nd consecutive drop month-over-month.
The LEI hasn’t gone much of anywhere for a year, showing signs of plateauing. Its Bollinger Band has tightened to a near-record degree, showing that the index has flattened out over the past year.
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
US Stock Markets “Roll Over” On Earnings and Economic Data At Channel Highs / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Chris_Vermeulen
As we near the end of October 2019, a very interesting price setup is taking place across many of the US market sectors recently. We only have a total of about seven trading days left in October 2019 and the Financial Sector ETF is rolling over with what appears to be an Engulfing Bearish price pattern near price channel highs. Additionally, the tech-heavy NASDAQ (NQ) has been mostly weaker compared to the ES and YM.
On September 30, 2019, we published this research post that highlighted why our predictive modeling systems suggested the S&P 500 and NASDAQ market sectors would become much more volatile than the Dow Jones Industrials: MODELING SUGGESTS BROAD MARKET ROTATION IN THE NQ & ES.
We believe this research is still very valid given the current price rotation near these price channel highs and given the potential that the Dow Jones stocks may become relatively stronger alternatives than the S&P 500 and NASDAQ sector stocks.
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Yes, Gold “Just Sits There” and That’s Quite a Feat / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: MoneyMetals
The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Zweig famously referred to gold as a “Pet Rock” in 2015. He was blasted by people who understand that gold is no passing fad, and it serves some very important roles in an investment portfolio.
The valuable roles played by gold have been well covered here. It’s a hedge against both inflation and deflation, it represents true diversification for portfolios stuffed with conventional securities, and it is a way of protecting wealth during tumultuous times.
But Jason Zweig, Warren Buffett and other notable gold critics who complain about the metal “just sitting there” fail to understand the flaw in their basic assertion.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Downsizing – What to Watch Out For / Personal_Finance / US Housing
By: Submissions
If you find that your current home is now too big for you, the idea of downsizing can be very appealing. Perhaps your children have moved away and the extra space is making you miss them more. Perhaps you’re starting to struggle with getting up and down the stairs, or with keeping everything clean. Perhaps you just like the idea of having a smaller place in a more convenient location, or of freeing up money so you can live more comfortably. Downsizing isn’t always trouble-free, however. To avoid problems, give some thought to the following.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Gold Price Has Not Corrected Enough / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne
Precious Metals enjoyed a very strong move this past summer. Both Gold and gold stocks broke past multi-year resistance and showed the kind of positive momentum that has been lacking for years.
But strong momentum coupled with major technical resistance set in, along with a temporary shift in fundamentals, thus creating a roadblock and a correction. The precious metals complex has corrected some but our work argues they’ve not corrected enough.
First, let’s take a look at Gold and gold sentiment.
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Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Stock Market VIX Analysis / Stock-Markets / Volatility
By: Nadeem_Walayat
VIX
VIX is in a falling range from 26 to 13. Which should be bullish for stocks. However, the pattern is resembling that of October / November last year, which was a prelude to the Decembers steep sell off. August saw a higher high and September a high low. So we could be witnessing the calm before the storm.
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Tuesday, October 22, 2019
U-Turn or Perfect Storm? Globalization at Crossroads / Economics / Global Economy
By: Dan_Steinbock
Only 12 years ago, globalization peaked. Today, it is in the doldrums and the Trump trade wars have nullified the recovery. We are at a crossroads, where globalization may further stagnate or fall apart.According to the new IMF outlook, global growth is forecast at 3.0% for 2019. That’s the lowest since the global crisis of 2008-9. It is largely due to the US tariff wars, which have contributed to the projected slowdown in the US and China.
The IMF projects growth to pick up to 3.4% in 2020. That, however, is predicated on improvements in a number of emerging economies in Latin America, the Middle East and developing Europe, which, in turn, would require a trade recovery. Thanks to the global slowdown, world growth prospects now hover at levels where they were last in the darkest moments of 2008/9.
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