Thursday, March 31, 2022
WARNING - Energy Price Cap 50% Rise Tomorrow, Take and Submit Gas Electric Meter Readings ASAP! / Personal_Finance / Household Bills
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Britians' energy cap is set to rise tomorrow that will probable see average standard rate tariffs hiked by over 50%! And this is no April Fools day joke! FIFTY PERCENT HIKE IN ENERGY PRICES! So having an accurate read of where customers stand WILL make a difference! Once upon a time the price cap could be ignored but not for the past 6 months as a myriad of energy firms such as Zog Energy dumped their fixed rate customers onto regulators who passed the customers onto firms such as EDF onto their variable rate tariffs that as of writing are some 60% BELOW fixed rate tariffs, so the worst thing anyone can do is to FIX their energy tariffs as even after tomorrows 50% hike, the price cap will still be lower than fixed rate deals, and likely remain so all the way into the next price price cap hike on 1st October when we could see another huge hike of as much as 30% ahead of winter 2022.
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Thursday, March 31, 2022
Commodities are Ripping Higher— Here’s my Top Way to Cash in / Commodities / Uranium
By: Submissions
Commodities are on fire.The price of oil has soared 43% since the start of the year.
Palladium—a metal most often used in catalytic converters—has increased 28% over the same period, while wheat has spiked 39%...
These are major moves. But I see commodity prices headed even higher this year.
Specifically, a huge opportunity is setting up in one of the most overlooked corners of the commodity market.
I’ll show you how to position yourself for this in a minute. But first, let’s look at why commodity stocks have been on such a tear lately.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2022
MICROSOFT Stock Short and Sharp / Companies / Microsoft
By: Nadeem_Walayat
If you blinked you missed the plunge on earnings! For most folks the best they could have got was about $277 via limit orders. I bought Microsoft in the green zone all the way down to $280, but got greedy with my big order at $274, not filled. so I remain stuck at about 18% invested of target exposure (1% of portfolio) as I still await the big buys to be triggered. Microsoft is reinforcing itself as a gaming giant by bidding $64 billion for Activision. To imagine that Microsoft is not going to have a big foot print in the meta-verse is a big mistake whilst they do have their own VR headsets however so far they are tethered to PC's apart form the augmented reality Hololens which I see as an expensive stop gap, so far behind where Facebook is.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2022
How the "Great Resignation" Ties in with a Financial Peak / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2022
By: EWI
Insights into "a peak in social optimism of monumental proportions"
Some people probably remember that country song by Johnny Paycheck from the late '70s -- "Take This Job and Shove It."
Many of those in the younger generations may not have heard of it given the song was released more than 40 years ago. However, many of them caught the spirit of it just the same as they quit their jobs in droves in what has been called the "Great Resignation."
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Wednesday, March 30, 2022
US Military Spending to Exceed Annual Deficits / Economics / US Military
By: Richard_Mills
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed.”
– President Dwight D. Eisenhower
The guns versus butter model portrays the relationship between a nation’s investment in defense and civilian goods. Because a country has finite resources, it must choose how much to spend on defense/ the military (guns), against the amount budgeted for items that are needed for non-defensive purposes (butter). Of course, it can also buy a combination of both, and most countries do.
The one nation that doesn’t have to bother with this, is the United States. Because the US holds the reserve currency, and all the exorbitant privilege that implies, it can spend on guns AND butter. Fact is, whenever the US government runs short on funds, it simply prints more money. Or borrows it, by issuing Treasury bills that are sopped up by domestic and foreign investors. The demand for Treasuries will always be resilient, so long as the dollar remains the reserve currency. This, however, may not be the case for much longer…
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Wednesday, March 30, 2022
How To Start A Business In 6 Easy Steps / Companies / SME
By: Steve_Barker
Every new business owner will tell you one or two success stories. The first one is like it 'seems to have happened overnight' where everything runs perfectly, while the second story is one of resilience and hard work that has eventually paid off. No matter which story you identify with, there are always some key steps that you can follow to get your business started on the right foot, and the story, well, in the end, you will choose how to tell it.
Starting a business can seem like a daunting task. You may feel like you need to have an idea that’s never been done before, or spend months planning and perfecting your strategy. But the truth is, there are fast and efficient solutions to do the work without the headache. Here are six easy steps to get your business off the ground.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Get More Satisfied Customers With These Simple Tricks / Companies / SME
By: Steve_Barker
The customer is always right. It’s a cliché for a reason. Putting the customer first is essential to the success of any business, whether it’s a small mom-and-pop shop or a multi-million dollar corporation. There are countless ways to organize your business in order to make the customer feel comfortable and valued that you can explore, but there are a few simple tricks that can make a big difference in customer satisfaction to get you started.
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Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Learn to Value Stocks Using the Earnings Growth Factor / InvestorEducation / Learning to Invest
By: Nadeem_Walayat
After the current panic passes I will revert to posting my primary AI stocks table as the main table for data, presently the table retains my original pre-panic buying levels as of 22nd November 2022 for comparison purposes with levels achieved in red against those that remain pending. Remember all of these levels once upon a time seemed far out of reach, who could have imagined Nvidia would fall from $336 to $236 over a couple of months! Google to $2625! Microsoft to $282, Intel to $48, okay I'll give you Intel, but many of the levels have now been achieved and then some!
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Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Who Benefits Most From the Russia-Ukraine War? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2022
By: Submissions
With the unrest in the Black Sea basin, it appears that there are two more cross-trade wars in the world. These are about energy and currency.
Crude oil prices, down most of Friday, finally ended the week higher after a huge fire broke out at oil facilities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, following attacks by Yemeni rebels.
The great winner of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is undoubtedly the United States, which now seems to be taking advantage of Europe’s moment of weakness.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Stocks: Should We Expect More Upside? / Stock-Markets / Stock Market 2022
By: Paul_Rejczak
Stocks extended their short-term uptrend on Friday, but this week we may see some more uncertainty and a possible profit-taking action.The S&P 500 index gained 0.53% on Friday following its Thursday’s advance of 1.4%. The broad stock market’s gauge extended its short-term uptrend after breaking above the 4,500 level. It gained over 380 points from the Mar. 14 local low of around 4,162. There have been no confirmed negative signals so far. However, we may see another correction and a profit-taking action at some point.
There’s still a lot of uncertainty concerning the ongoing Ukraine conflict, but investors were recently jumping back into stocks despite that geopolitical uncertainty. This morning the index is expected to open virtually flat after an overnight advance followed by its retracement.
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Monday, March 28, 2022
GOOGLE TO BE SLICIED INTO 20 PIECES! / Companies / Google
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Strong earnings growth and news of a 20 to 1 STOCK SPLIT sent GOOGLE soaring towards it's all time highs, Stocks tend to run higher into a split and fall afterwards so I plan to be fully invested by Mid June and will likely take profits on the split on 15th July. If you hold whole shares then you will get 20 new Google shares, if you hold fractional shares you will likely get $$$'s in exchange for your fractional holdings which may not be so bad given that the stock should fall after the split. Google is Numero uno! Should be at the very core of every stock portfolio, at 2.4% of my portfolio my holding is light, I want to see my holding rise to about 7% of portfolio. Again just remember if you own a fractional share then you will likely get cash instead of split shares, so if you hold say 1.8 shares right now then you definitely want to look at pepping your holding up to over 2.0, unless you want the cash.
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Monday, March 28, 2022
Volatility Retreats As Stocks & Commodities Rally / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2022
By: Chris_Vermeulen
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is a real-time index. It is derived from the prices of SPX index options with near-term expiration dates that are utilized to generate a 30-day forward projection of volatility. The VIX allows us to gauge market sentiment or the degree of fear among market participants. As the Volatility Index VIX goes up, fear increases, and as it goes down, fear dissipates.
Commodities and equities are both showing renewed strength on the heels of global interest rate increases. Inflation shows no sign of abating as energy, metals, food products, and housing continues their upward bias.
During the last 18-months, the VIX has been trading between its upper resistance of 36.00 and its lower support of 16.00. As the Volatility Index VIX falls, fear subsides, and money flows back into stocks.
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Monday, March 28, 2022
Currency Wars Center on Russia’s Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2022
By: MoneyMetals
In response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the U.S. and G-7 countries have launched a currency war against the Kremlin. Sanctions imposed on the Russian central bank have effectively blacklisted the country from the U.S. dollar-dominated global financial system.
Now the Biden administration is attempting to prevent Russia from using gold as an alternative medium of exchange.
Last week, the Treasury Department declared, “US persons are prohibited from engaging in any transaction – including gold-related transactions – involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.”
Monday, March 28, 2022
Smart Ways of Financing Commercially Viable Projects When the Cash is Scarce / Companies / SME
By: Steve_Barker
It's no secret that cash flow is often the biggest hurdle for businesses looking to get their projects off the ground. Commercial viability is key, but if you can't find a way to finance your venture, it'll never see the light of day. In this article, we'll discuss some smart ways to finance your project when money is tight.
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Sunday, March 27, 2022
High Inflation Forecast for Whole of this Decade Due to Rampant Money Printing, Recession Risk 2022 / Economics / Inflation
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK CP LIE Inflation hits 6.2%, whilst RPI that which most corporations raise their prices to has rocketed higher to 8.2% whilst real UK inflation stands at at least 15%, meanwhile across the atlantic US CP Lie inflation at 7.9 % stands on the bring of breaking above 8% with real inflation also at around 15% So much for the Pandemic deflationary depression that the clueless mainstream media had been promoting for the whole off 2020 and then sleep walked into mantra of transitory inflation of 2021, finally wakening during 2022 to what amounts to out control inflation of 2022.
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Saturday, March 26, 2022
North Korea Leader WARNS Don't Forget About Me! Launches New Nuclear Ballistic Missile - WW3 / Politics / Nuclear Power
By: N_Walayat
With Putin stealing the limelight in European, Don't You forget about me was the message from North Korea's Dear Fat leader has he donned his Sunday best, black leathers, shades and all to show off his latest boys Toy, a huge mobile intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads that could hit the Western seaboard of the United States!
Hear that Biden? Don't forget about me!
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Saturday, March 26, 2022
Buying a 'Pristine' iPhone mobile phone off Ebay, Empty Box? Did we Get Scammed? / Personal_Finance / Scams
By: Anika_Walayat
We bought a 'pristine' iPhone 11 off ebay, box has been delivered, does not weigh much, is there even anything inside of it? Did we just get scammed? Let's find out as we open the box to reveal either an expensive box or an iPhone.
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Friday, March 25, 2022
Quantum AI Tech Stocks Bear Market Buying Levels / Stock-Markets / Quantum AI Tech Stocks
By: Nadeem_Walayat
This is how I expect things to play out over the next few weeks -
The prime candidates for busting to new lows are - Nvidia, AMAT, Facebook, Tesla, LRCX, ASM, MSFT, MED,
Stocks that could hold their lows are AMD, AVGO, iNTEL, QCOM, TSM but it's 50/50.
Whilst Google and Amazon have settled into trading ranges, i.e. it is a tough ask to expect new lows given their recent powerful rallies on the back of strong earnings.
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Friday, March 25, 2022
Is There Any Gold in Virtual Worlds Like Metaverse? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2022
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Imagine all the people… living life in the Metaverse. Once we immerse ourselves in the digital sphere, gold may go out of fashion. Or maybe not?
Do you already have your avatar? If not, maybe you should consider creating one, as the Metaverse is coming! What is the Metaverse? It is a digital, three-dimensional world where people are represented by avatars, a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection, the next evolution of the internet, “extended reality,” and the latest buzzword in the marketplace since Facebook changed its name to Meta. If you still have no idea what I’m talking about, you can watch this educational video or just Spielberg’s Ready Player One.
The idea of personalities being uploaded online is an intriguing concept, isn’t it? In this vision, people meet with others, play, and simply hang out in a digital world. Imagine friends turning group chats on Messenger or WhatsApp into group meetups in the Metaverse of family gatherings in virtual homes. Ultimately, people will probably be doing pretty much everything there, except eating, sleeping, and using the restroom.
Friday, March 25, 2022
The Yield Curve flattener and a Coming Transition / Interest-Rates / Inverted Yield Curve
By: Gary_Tanashian
As the Yield Curve flattens, this inflation is different from the 2020 inflation
In 2020 an inflationary yield curve steepener was in the bag as the Fed dropped and pinned the Funds Rate and sucked up every bond it could get its hands on (in order to monetize/print). The bond market made the logical signals about the resulting inflation as the short end was pinned by a combination of Fed policy and the frightened, risk ‘off’ herds clustered in T-Bills and short-term Treasuries, relative to the long end.
Gold and then stocks picked up on it first, followed by commodities, which were tardy but are now the star performer late in the inflation cycle. Hmm…
Side Note: The most buyable looking chart in the lower panels? On this big picture, that would be gold.
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