Sunday, August 20, 2017
Here’s Why Amazon Is Not a Monopoly / Companies / Amazon
By: Charles_Sizemore
I recently Google searched the term “Amazon monopoly.” It returned over 4 million results.Now, a couple of those hits were links to the Amazon.com product page for the Monopoly board game we all grew up playing as kids.
(I was delighted to see there’s a Game of Thrones edition, complete with a direwolf token and King’s Landing as Boardwalk.)
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Sunday, August 20, 2017
The Peak of Globalization and The Reason Trump Won / Politics / Global Economy
By: Harry_Dent
Fareed Zakaria just put out a special show on why Trump won: He got the rural white vote in unprecedented margins – like 80% plus. Even before Election Day, we put out an infographic explaining why Trump could win despite the polls. Still, even I was a little surprised when he won!I bring this up again now, not to bash Trump, but to highlight the demographic and cyclical explanation behind his victory. And to show that the events that brought Trump into power aren’t done stirring things up. There’s a lot more to come. Trump is only the beginning…
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Sunday, August 20, 2017
Cash-Strapped Saudi Arabia Is Willing To Give Up Its Influence To Iran / Politics / Saudi Arabia
By: John_Mauldin
BY XANDER SNYDER : Saudi Arabia’s strategy in the Middle East has for years focused on throwing money at majority Sunni states and groups in the region to counter Iranian influence. But its fiscal constraints started to limit its ability to project power even in the Arabian Peninsula.
Funding Sunni jihadist groups has not had the desired outcome. The rise of the Islamic State is evidence that this strategy can have unintended results. In fact, Saudi Arabia’s attempt to expand its influence regionally may have actually reduced Saudi power both domestically and on the peninsula.
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Sunday, August 20, 2017
Whoever Gets Appointed to the Fed, Expect Negative Rates and QE in the Next Crisis / Interest-Rates / Negative Interest Rates
By: John_Mauldin
Janet Yellen’s current turn at the chair expires in February.
Who will be running the Fed next year, and will it matter? How will new leadership change anything?
Trump could renominate her but hasn’t yet announced a decision or even given a hint.
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Sunday, August 20, 2017
Will the Electric Car Revolution Sink Platinum and Palladium? / Commodities / Platinum
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Everyone has probably heard about the upcoming electric car revolution whose vanguard is Tesla Motors led by Elon Musk. The electric car is actually nothing new – the first vehicles were produced as long ago as in the 1880s. However, the mass production of cheaper gasoline vehicles triggered by Henry Ford put electric cars into limbo for decades. But this can change quickly thanks to the rapidly falling costs.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
EIA Weekly Report and Crude Oil / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: Nadia_Simmons
Although the EIA weekly report showed a larger-than-expected decline in crude oil inventories, the price of the commodity declined sharply after news that U.S. crude oil production increased. Thanks to these circumstances, light crude lost 1.62% and closed the day under important support. What does it mean for the black gold?
Yesterday, the Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories dropped by over 8.9 million barrels in the week ended Aug 11, easily beating expectations of a draw of around 3 million barrels. Despite these bullish numbers (and the fact that it was the seventh straight week of declines in crude oil inventories), the report also showed that gasoline inventories rose by 22,000 barrels and distillate stockpiles rose by 702,000 barrels, missing analysts’ forecasts of a draw. On top of that, the EIA also showed that crude oil production increased to 9.502 million barrels per day, which renewed worries over the supply glut and pushed the price of light crude below $47 and important support. What does it mean for the black gold?
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Saturday, August 19, 2017
AUDUSD Rebounded From Trend Line Support / Currencies / Austrailia
By: Franco_Shao
AUDUSD rebounded strongly to 0.7960 area after approaching the bullish trend line on its daily chart, suggesting that the pair remains in the uptrend from 0.7328 and the pullback from 0.8065 could be treated as consolidation of the uptrend.
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Saturday, August 19, 2017
Bitcoin Cash Skyrockets… Is There Something To It? / Currencies / Bitcoin
By: Jeff_Berwick
Friday was mostly a down day for the cryptocurrencies with one big exception.
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Saturday, August 19, 2017
4 Insights for Adjusting Your Portfolio in a Rate-hike Environment / Stock-Markets / US Interest Rates
By: Boris_Dzhingarov
The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised interest rates twice this year already and it plans to increase interest rates five or six more times next year. An environment in which interest rates are rising steadily could be a double-edged sword for different classes of investors. For older investors, a rate hike could provide another chance to book decent returns from conservative assets such as money-market funds and CDs. For 'younger' investors the rate hike could slice through retirement accounts like hot knife through butter.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Gold Direction Indicator / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
By: Peter_Degraaf
The last time our ‘ Gold Direction Indicator’ was as positive as today, gold rose from $1220 to $1280. The date was July 12th and we wrote an article titled: “The Gold Direction Indicator Just Turned Positive”. Less than three weeks later price had advanced by $60. Well here we are, and the GDI just turned up from 52% to 79% (fully bullish). Following are some charts that support a Rising Precious Metals Scenario.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Historical Inevitability and Gold and Silver Ownership / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
By: Michael_J_Kosares
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial writer, Daniel Henninger, registers some very important observations in the wake of the troubling events in Charlottesville. Charlottesville, he attempts to point out, is symptomatic of something much deeper ingrained in the American psyche. “Some may say,” writes Henninger, “the Charlottesville riot was the lunatic fringe of the right and left, with no particular relevance to what falls in between. But I think Charlottesville may be a prototype of a politics that is drifting away from traditional norms of behavior and purpose.” Aptly, the editorial is titled, “The Politics of Pointlessness.”
Saturday, August 19, 2017
You Are Being Lied To About “Low” Gold Demand / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
By: GoldSilver
Jeff Clark : I don’t like to use inflammatory language, such as the title of this article, but the message from the mainstream media about gold demand is a lie misleading.
Yes, coin purchases in North America are down compared to last year (a record-setting year, by the way). It’s been soft at a few other Mints as well, such as Perth.
But Eagle and Kangaroo purchases aren’t the whole market. You and I don’t buy paper gold products, for example, but throw in demand from this part of the industry and a very different picture emerges from the dour headlines you see from gold haters mainstream sources.
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Saturday, August 19, 2017
This is Why Cocoa's Crash Was a Perfect Setup / Commodities / Cocoa
By: EWI
Perfect from an Elliott wave perspective, that is. The other day, I went paddle-boarding for the first time and was struck by a familiar feeling; one that comes from, of all things, speculating in the markets.
See, when your board is in line with the current and the wind is at your back, the board moves effortlessly, gliding along the top of the water with no strain at all. This is the equivalent of trading with a market's trend.
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Saturday, August 19, 2017
Gold, Silver Consolidate On Last Weeks Gains, Palladium Surges 36% YTD To 16 Year High / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
By: GoldCore
– Gold and silver rise as stocks fall sharply after Barcelona attack
– Gold, silver 0.6% higher in week after last weeks 2%, 5% rise
– Palladium +36% ytd, breaks out & reaches 16 year high (chart)
– Gold to silver ratio falls to mid 75s after silver gains last week
– Perfect storm of financial and geopolitical tensions is driving safe haven demand and should see higher prices
– Weekly close over $1,300 could see gold quickly test $1,400
– Palladium at 16 year highs today; gold, silver in coming months?
Friday, August 18, 2017
Marc Faber: In the Age of Cyber-Terrorism, Every Investor Must Own Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017
By: HAA
Shannara Johnson writes: Take it from “Dr. Doom”: own some physical gold and keep it out of the banking system.
Dr. Marc Faber, a legendary investor and the editor/publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, is well known for his contrarian investing style.
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Friday, August 18, 2017
The World May Soon Split in Two Trading Blocs—Here’s How to Position Your Portfolio / Politics / Global Economy
By: John_Mauldin
BY PATRICK WATSON : What do freight trains, oil supertankers, and the Trump administration’s trade plans have in common? Once they get going, they’re pretty much unstoppable.
Trump wants to punish nations he thinks treat US companies unfairly. And China is first on his list.
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Friday, August 18, 2017
North Korea Is Far From Being Irrational… It Has A Plan / Politics / North Korea
By: John_Mauldin
BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN : The United States has several thousand operational nuclear missiles. It has a large fleet of strategic bombers, an enormous navy, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and marines. The US could bomb, blockade, and invade North Korea if it chose to incur the cost.
Yet North Korea is threatening to fire missiles at Guam, a US island territory in the Western Pacific where a substantial portion of the American strategic forces are now stationed. The North Koreans are also insisting that they intend to complete intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike the US.
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Friday, August 18, 2017
US Civil War - FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATES TRYING TO ERASE HISTORY / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
“True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same.” ― Robert E. Lee
I consider myself a student of history. I’ve always been fascinated by the personalities who drove events throughout history. I probably would have been a history major in college if I didn’t feel the need to make enough money to support myself and my family. I chose a business major and decided studying history would be my hobby. Over the years I’ve taken a particular interest in the Civil War. You could even call me a Civil War buff.
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Thursday, August 17, 2017
USDCAD Broke Above Bearish Trend Line / Currencies / Canadian $
By: Franco_Shao
After breaking below the May 2016 low of 1.2460 support, USDCAD rebounded strongly from 1.2413 and moved above the bearish trend line on its daily chart. However, the bounce from 1.2413 would possibly be consolidation of the downtrend from 1.3793, another fall towards 1.1500 is still possible after the consolidation.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High Over $4,400 As It Catches Paypal In Total Market Cap / Currencies / Bitcoin
By: Jeff_Berwick
One year ago today, bitcoin was trading at $570 USD.