Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Is the Malaysian Economy a Potemkin Village / Economics / Malaysia

By: Sam_Chee_Kong

Before we go on let's define what do you mean by Potemkin Village. As per Wikipedia definition,

“ In politics and economics, a Potemkin village (also Potyomkin village, derived from the Russian: потёмкинские деревни, Russian pronunciation: [pɐˈtʲɵmkʲɪnskʲɪɪ dʲɪˈrʲɛvnʲɪ] potyomkinskiye derevni) is any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village built solely to impress Empress Catherine II by her former lover Grigory Potemkin during her journey to Crimea in 1787.”

To determine whether Malaysia's economy is really a potemkin village I will bring do a study bases
on the economic data for the past 10 years. I will look into the growth of GDP, money supply, corruption
index, inflation and other indicators as well.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Land Rover Discovery Sport Rattling / Knocking Sounds From Car Pillars / ConsumerWatch / Motoring

By: N_Walayat

Here's a report on what the Land Rover Discovery Sports rattling / knocking sounds are like that emanate from one or more of the car's pillars when driving, usually at it's noisiest from the passenger side pillar C. Which given the number of comments about this issue online is coming to be known as the 'Rattle Pack'. Anyway if your thinking of buying a Disco Sport then be on alert for rattling noises when test driving, as this car was rattling from day 1! This DS is an HSE Black bought from Hunters - Inchcape Chester.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Small Business is the Mainstay of the Economy / Economics / SME

By: BATR

Business ventures are started for as many reasons as the individuals who take the risk to build their own future. Whether they openly acknowledge of not, making money is the key objective. Earning a profit keeps the enterprise in business. On a microcosm level an independent operation reflects the functions of the entire small business economy. Transnational conglomerates move the physical presence of their operations as often as hot money jumps the borders to gain a higher return on equity. Merchants invest in their own neighborhoods, become the leaders of their communities and active achievers in their own business endeavors.  

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Silver Gives Us Another Chance to Accumulate and Buy / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: Chris_Vermeulen

Our recent silver analysis could not have been more accurate.  Please take a minute to read it before you continue reading the rest of this post if you have not already done so. The Silver price breakout, to near $17.20, last week was incredible.  It established a new Fibonacci price trend, established a downward channel price breakout, coincided with a Pennant/Flag price formation breakout and the wave count of this Pennant Flag breakout was perfect.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

The Gold Manipulators Are Being Manipulated / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: Avi_Gilburt

For those that follow me regularly, you will know that I have been tracking a set-up for the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), which I analyze as a proxy for the gold market. I also believe that gold can outperform the general equity market once we confirm a long-term break out has begun, and I still think we can see it in occur in 2018. This week, I will provide an update to GLD. While I have gone on record as to why I do not think GLD is a wise long-term investment hold, I will still use it to track the market movements.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

China Takes the Long View on Gold-Silver... and So Should You / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: MoneyMetals

A cursory look at Chinese history can convince you that China should not be underestimated when it sets its sights on a particular goal.

Even before Mao Zedong took over the reins in 1949, and the first Five Year Plan began in 1953, centuries of history demonstrated that long-term planning, while not always meeting expectations, is a core behavioral trait of the Chinese psyche.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Will Kim’s Denuclearization Dethronize Gold? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: Arkadiusz_Sieron

Breaking News! North Korea has agreed to denuclearization. Great! But what does it mean for the gold market? And… why is this not true?

Gold Starts Week Badly
The yellow metal struggled on Monday. Its price declined from $1,335 to $1,320, or more than 1.1. percent, as one can see in the chart below.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Russia Buys 300,000 Ounces Of Gold In March – Nears 2,000 Tons In Gold Reserves / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: GoldCore

– Russia buys 300,000 ounces of gold in March and nears 2,000t in gold reserves
– Russia now holds just over 1,861 tonnes, more than officially reported by China at 1,842t
– Both Russia and China have the power to destabilise US dollar by dumping dollar-denominated assets
– Turkey has removed all gold held in the U.S. opting for Bank of England and BIS 
– Turkey follows trend set by both Germany, Netherlands and others to remove gold reserves stored in the United States
– Central bank decisions regarding gold reserves are examples of countries becoming nervous about the outlook for the dollar under the Trump administration

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Credit Card's Loyalty Stretched as Cash Back Rewards Culled / Personal_Finance / Credit Cards & Scoring

By: MoneyFacts

Shoppers looking to get a little back when they spend often turn to reward or cashback credit cards. Unfortunately, if customers look closely at the rewards they get when they spend, they might feel they are getting get back very little back on their spending, particularly in comparison to a few years ago.

One reason for this decline stems from a shake-up in the credit card market in 2015, when the EU interchange fee cap ruling was implemented. Its purpose was to save consumers money at the tills by capping the transaction fee for using their card. Yet, as a result, consumers are now facing a cull in the number of rewards and cashback credit card offers, as providers pull back their generosity.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Stock Market Study Shows Why You Shouldn’t “Sell in May and Go Away” / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018

By: Troy_Bombardia

You’ve probably heard of the saying “sell in May and go away”. This piece of conventional trading “wisdom” states that the stock market is seasonally weak from May to September while it’s seasonally stronger from October to April. Hence you should not own stocks from May to September. From a seasonality perspective, that is only partially true.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

CRYPTOCURRENCY MASTERCLASS #CRY90 / Currencies / BlockChain

By: TheDailyReckoning

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

UK Gambling Statistics - What the Numbers Say / Personal_Finance / Gambling

By: Varun_Kumar

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Chaos Capitalists Short Countries - How Chanos Got China Wrong / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2018

By: Dan_Steinbock

Since the 1980s, a new generation of chaos capitalists have been undermining the progress of emerging economies. Under the pretext of “efficient markets,” they seek to exploit real or perceived weaknesses.

Recently, hedge funder Jim Chanos appeared on CNNMoney’s Markets Now program that was promoted heavily on the CNN: “Chanos got China right.”

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Transportation Stocks Are Not Moving and What It Means / Stock-Markets / Sector Analysis

By: Chris_Vermeulen

Pay attention to the price movement of the transportation sector for a clearer picture of the future rally

If you have been reading and following are posts this year then you’ve seen the power of our Advanced Dynamic Learning price modeling system and how well we are able to find key market moves.  On Monday, the markets stalled, providing further evidence of the future breakout move.  The Banking Index was up 0.43%.  The $INDU was off by 0.06% while the ES, NQ and YM were mixed.  The Transportation Index was up 0.40% while the US Dollar is about to break above the $91.00 level on an attempt to move higher.  These moves are telling us that the US economy is about to break higher in an attempt to retest recent highs – just as our ADL predictive price modeling system has been warning.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Artificial Intelligence Defines the Political News Narrative / Politics / Mainstream Media

By: BATR

Understanding the reasons why mainstream political accounts express such a disconnect from facts, evidence and believability is compounded by the techniques of programmed reporting often absent of human judgment and ethics. The foremost propaganda rag for deceit,  disinformation and indoctrination, The Washington Post, is dedicated to mind control and does not even attempt to mask their publication as objective journalism. Utopia for Jeff Bezos, strives to perfect the synthetic technological revolution that inserts AI as the future of mankind. Joe Keohane in WIRED presents What News-Writing Bots Mean for the Future of Journalism.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Stock Market "Oops, They Did It Again" / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018

By: EWI

See "a classic capitulation to a rising trend"

History often repeats. So, one way to make an educated guess about the future is to look at the past.

With that in mind, let me share with you a valuable observation from our market analysts: Overseas investors tend to jump into U.S. stocks near tops, and sell heavily near bottoms. In other words, their market actions usually are a contrarian indicator.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Digital Currencies Are Reshaping Forex Markets / Currencies / BlockChain

By: Submissions

Peter Lloyd writes: For many traders and investors, the forex market has always been a shining example of what a financial exchange should be: a truly global, highly liquid and decentralized platform where the diversity of participants ranges from sovereign central banks to institutional investors and from investment banking firms to day traders.

It so happens that this view of an ideal market is being augmented by the growing interest in cryptocurrency exchange platforms, which more closely resemble a "perfect market."

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Frustrated by the Dormant Silver Price? Don’t Be, Says History, the Upsurge Is Coming / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: GoldSilver

Jeff Clark: Frustrated by the comatose silver price? Tired of it going nowhere and being held down?

Well, history has a message for you: This trading behavior is normal. Furthermore, similar scenarios from the past say the next price explosion is on the way.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Fox in the Henhouse: Why Interest Rates Are Rising / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates

By: Ellen_Brown

The Federal Reserve calls itself independent, but it is independent only of government. It marches to the drums of the banks that are its private owners. To prevent another Great Recession or Great Depression, Congress needs to amend the Federal Reserve Act, nationalize the Fed and turn it into a public utility, one that is responsive to the needs of the public and the economy.

On March 31 the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the sixth time in three years and signaled its intention to raise rates twice more in 2018, aiming for a Fed funds target of 3.5 percent by 2020. LIBOR (the London Interbank Offered Rate) has risen even faster than the Fed funds rate, up to 2.3 percent from just 0.3 percent 2 1/2 years ago. LIBOR is set in London by private agreement of the biggest banks, and the interest on $3.5 trillion globally is linked to it, including $1.2 trillion in consumer mortgages.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Stocks and Bonds, This is Not a Market / Stock-Markets / Market Manipulation

By: Raul_I_Meijer

“[Price discovery] is the process of determining the price of an asset in the marketplace through the interactions of buyers and sellers”, says Wikipedia. Perhaps not a perfect definition, but it’ll do. They add: “The futures and options market serve all important functions of price discovery.”

What follows from this is that markets need price discovery as much as price discovery needs markets. They are two sides of the same coin. Markets are the mechanism that makes price discovery possible, and vice versa. Functioning markets, that is.

Given the interdependence between the two, we must conclude that when there is no price discovery, there are no functioning markets. And a market that doesn’t function is not a market at all. Also, if you don’t have functioning markets, you have no investors. Who’s going to spend money purchasing things they can’t determine the value of? (I know: oh, wait..)