Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Economic Moral Hazards of the International Criminal Court - and Philippines Withdrawal / Economics / Asian Economies
By: Dan_Steinbock
As the Philippines is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, ICC is blaming the Duterte government. In reality, the withdrawal is still another example of the erosion of the ICC’s credibility, its failure at judicial independence and gross bias against the emerging world. In February, the ICC said it was investigating allegations that the Philippines president had committed “crimes against humanity” by facilitating extrajudicial killings and other rights abuses in the war against drugs. These charges, which have often relied on flawed data, have been pushed by two Duterte critics. Known for his coup efforts, controversial senator Antonio Trillanes has spent much time in Washington and Europe to gain support, while the obscure Jude Sabio has gained notoriety as a hit man lawyer. What's not known is who funds the two and why leading Western media companies have bought their stories with hardly any source scrutiny.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Brick and Mortar Stores vs. Online Ssellers / Companies / Retail Sector
By: BATR
For consumers who watched the Wal-Mart store spread throughout the countryside saw local small retailers became an endangered species. Now, some may relish the payback with the dominance of online juggernaut Amazon, who has a prime objective of closing down what remains of the brick and mortar stores. Both in the shopping center era and today with the direct delivery to your doorstep, the low cost seller proves to be the winner. What has changed is that government subsidies are fueling the carriage costs.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Larry Kudlow vs. Vladimir Putin on Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018
By: Jason_Hamlin
The gold price is up just 1% year to date in 2018 and has advanced 5.5% from the December 2017 low. There are some bullish signs from the chart, including a number of higher highs and higher lows following the late 2015 bottom at $1,045. But it certainly hasn’t been the powerful breakout the gold bugs have been hoping to see.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Trump Builds Economy and War Machine / Politics / US Military
By: Richard_Mills
Si vis pacem, para bellum – From the Latin, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
On March 1 Donald Trump announced that his Administration would implement a 25% tariff on all steel imports and a 10% duty on aluminum. President Trump initially said the tariffs would apply to all steel and aluminum exporters but a week later, facing pressure from Republican free-traders, temporarily excluded Mexico and Canada while NAFTA talks continue.
The tariffs were needed for national security reasons, argued Trump, based upon an investigation by the US Commerce Department which found in January that cheap foreign steel was indeed a threat to America:
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
This Stock Market "Illusion" Can Destroy Once-Vibrant Portfolios / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018
By: EWI
Virtually all stock market forecasting is based on the fallacy of linear extrapolation
Those who've invested solely in the stock market during the past several years have seen the value of their portfolios increase.
As of June 30, 2017, the average 401(k) balance stood at $97,700, according to Fortune magazine. That was a 9.6% increase from a year earlier. Average IRA balances were even higher at $100,200.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Sheffield Pothole City, Atrocious Roads as City Council Fells Trees Instead of Fixing Roads / Local / Sheffield
By: N_Walayat
Sheffield's roads are in a truly atrocious state, streets littered with potholes and we are not talking about the odd one here or there but potholes that run the whole width and length of roads that are causing damaging to Sheffield's road traffic, tyres, wheels and suspension.
The Labour controlled city council signed the "Streets Ahead" PFI contract 5 years ago with Amey. And 5 years on the roads are clearly in worse overall state than before! There are even potholes appearing on newly resurfaced roads doing damage to the cities road traffic. What's worse instead of prioritising filling potholes the contractor appears to have become obsessed with the felling Sheffield's street trees, with a target recently revealed to fell HALF of Sheffield's street trees following the forced revelation of the 'secret' fellings target by the Information Commissioner.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Gold Short-term Pull Back in Progress / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018
By: The_Gold_Report
Technical analyst Jack Chan charts recent movements in the gold and silver markets.
Our proprietary cycle indicator is down.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Bitcoin, Verge, Ethereum and Ripple - The Crypto Market Conundrum / Currencies / Bitcoin
By: Avi_Gilburt
By Ryan Wilday : In my last article I stated that we had the potential for a lasting bottom in the crypto market, starting with a low in most coins on February 6th. However, in that article I also gave the conditions for that bottom to fail.
Those conditions, unfortunately, became reality. We have since seen both Ether and Verge, highlighted in that article, slide to new lows below the February 6th low. Bitcoin and Ripple did not fall below their February 6th levels, but did confirm the unlikelihood of that low marking the beginning of an impulsive wave.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Gold Awaits Mr Powell's Introduction / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
The FOMC members will gather today for a two-day meeting. It will be the most important event this week, since Powell will chair the meeting for the first time. Gold investors want to get to know him better as the uncertainty makes them a bit nervous. What should we expect from the new Fed Chair?
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Stocks Appear to be Under Pressure / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018
By: Anthony_Cherniawski
SPX has bounced off the 2-year trendline (not shown) yesterday. Overnight futures have only made a half-hearted rally, so we may see SPX remain under the mid-Cycle resistance at 2722.23. The 38.2% retracement level is at 2720.30. Should that be the case, the decline may resume after a brief probe to that level.
ZeroHedge reports, “After yesterday's violent selloff which was sparked by a series of negative tech stories including Facebook’s escalating data scandal and a fatal accident involving an Uber self-driving car, Tuesday trading has so far been relatively calm and muted with Europe bourses paring early gains and Asian stocks trading slightly lower...
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Here’s What Inflation Could Look Like in 2020, Based on Past Surges / Economics / Inflation
By: GoldSilver
Jeff Clark, Rising inflation has hit the headlines, sparking some attention from journalists. What most mainstream investors don’t realize, though, is that history shows inflation can quickly get out of control, and not just in some mismanaged third-world country. Surprise spikes in inflation have occurred right here in the US—and given the massive amount of currency dilution around the world over the past decade, a jump in inflation could easily kick in again.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Savings Interest Rates Rise as Providers Prepare for Cash ISA Season / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: MoneyFacts
As we approach a brand-new tax year, savers may be perusing the latest cash ISA deals to hit the market. However, they might be surprised by a recent surge in rate rises. This month so far, 22 providers have increased or launched new deals into the ISA market. This is promising news, as over the last year the average cash ISA rate returned just 0.97%*.
Overall, interest rates across the savings market have risen for 14 consecutive months, with the number of rises continuing to outweigh cuts, as moneyfacts.co.uk recorded 126 rate rises and 46 rate cuts in February. Around a quarter of the rises were for ISAs, with 33 rate rises. This month, the ISA market has continued to improve, as we have seen 40 rises so far.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
BEAN BOOZLED CHALLENGE! Money Saving Kids Indoors Fun Activity / / Money Saving
By: Anika_Walayat
Here is a relatively cheap way to entertain the kids in doors during a cold wintry afternoon. Anika and Sami are taking on the Jelly Belly Bean Boozled Challenge, bought from a local supermarket for just £1. We've got a bunch of gourmet jelly beans, the problem is some taste good and some taste terrible. And you can't tell the difference until you put it in your mouth! Were going to try all 10 colours to see who gets BEAN BOOZLED the most! And the loser is the first to spit their jelly bean out.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Time To Eliminate Your Wall Street Tax? / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Rudy_Avizius
As we get older, and hopefully wiser, we generally start to become more discerning on how we view the world and the problems we face. Many of us who seek to make the world a better place try to look at the problems, analyze them, and do what we can to correct them. However, because there are so many different problems facing us, this approach often overwhelms us and can instill a sense of hopelessness in our ability to create positive change.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
If Alan Greenspan is Right, Gold Prices can Soar to over $7000 Soon / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018
By: Submissions
Peter Ginelli writes: Lately we have been seeing the term “stagflation” used in many headlines, by many respected analysts as well as the former and longest serving Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in recent months.
Here are just a few samples headlines:
“Alan Greenspan says there are bubbles in both stocks and bonds” By Tae Kim, January 31, 2018, CNBC
“Stagflation, a threat to US dollar” By Andrew Masters, FX Street, February 14, 2018
“Knock, Knock - Who's There? Stagflation!” By John Peabody, Seeking Alpha, February 15, 2018
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
The Beast from the East Snow, UK Roads Driving Car Accidents / Local / Sheffield
By: N_Walayat
The 'Beast from the East' snow from Siberia that hit Sheffield a couple of weeks ago returned during the weekend on March 17th 2018. And so I decided to take a drive to a local Sheffield Morrisons supermarket in my 4X4. Unfortunately, many with less capable front wheel drive vehicles did not head the warnings to keep off the roads resulting in many abandoned cars littered on the pavements and roads and also a few accidents as this video illustrates.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Can Bitcoin Price Rally Continue After Paypal Fake FUD Attack? / Currencies / Bitcoin
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Bitcoin price has bounced back strongly after it's recent wobbly following the apparently fake PayPal 'Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt' FUD attack last Friday with the price recovering from a recent low of $7,350 to currently stand at $8,400, that has the Bitcoin community breathing a huge sigh of relief believing today's rally to mark the end of the pain of the past 3 months that has witnessed the Bitcoin price collapse from a high of $20,000 to a low of $6,600.
Monday, March 19, 2018
2018 Reversal Dates for Gold, Silver and Gold Stocks / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018
By: P_Radomski_CFA
Friday’s session in the precious metals sector was very exciting, but quite a few investors will want to agree to that, because the volatility wasn’t really big. But the dam is broken, and we saw several new cracks pointing to an incoming breakdown. It’s not the time to look away from all the signs – it’s time to take advantage of them.
In addition to showing you how we plan to proceed with the above, we’ll discuss something much bigger – the dates at which gold, silver and gold miners are likely to reverse during the course of the year based on the technique that proves to be extremely useful over and over again.
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Monday, March 19, 2018
This Tech Breakthrough Could Save The Electric Car Market / Companies / Electric Cars
By: OilPrice_Com
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Monday, March 19, 2018
Stocks Set to Open Lower, Should You Buy? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018
By: Paul_Rejczak
Stocks extended their short-term consolidation on Friday, as investors continued to hesitate following Tuesday-Wednesday move down. The broad stock market failed to continue its rebound from February 9 low last week despite technology stocks reaching new record highs. There are still two possible future scenarios. Or maybe three, but the third one is the worst.
The U.S. stock market indexes were mixed between 0.0% and +0.3% on Friday, extending their short-term consolidation, as investors were undecided after recent move down. The S&P 500 index gained 0.2% and it remained at the support level of previous Friday's daily gap up. It currently trades 4.5% below January 26 record high of 2,872.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was relatively stronger than the broad stock market, as it gained 0.3%, and the technology Nasdaq Composite was unchanged.
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