Saturday, December 26, 2020
Can Gold Price Shine Again With Dovish Powell? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Fed Chair Jerome Powell sounded dovish during his press conference on December 16, where he gave a market update after the Fed’s monetary policy meeting. The Fed will remain accommodative for a long time, which should support gold prices.Last week was full of important events. First, both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines received emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration . In consequence, the first COVID-19 vaccination in the United States has already taken place, which is great news for America, as it marks the beginning of the end of the pandemic.
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Saturday, December 26, 2020
Tackling US Infrastructure and Unemployment Crises: The “American System” Solution / Economics / Government Spending
By: Ellen_Brown
A self-funding national infrastructure bank modeled on the “American System” of Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt would help solve not one but two of the country’s biggest problems.
Millions of Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed, and government relief checks and savings are running out; meanwhile, the country still needs trillions of dollars in infrastructure. Putting the unemployed to work on those infrastructure projects seems an obvious solution, especially given that the $600 or $700 stimulus checks Congress is planning on issuing will do little to address the growing crisis. Various plans for solving the infrastructure crisis involving public-private partnerships have been proposed, but they’ll invariably result in private investors reaping the profits while the public bears the costs and liabilities. We have relied for too long on private, often global, capital, while the Chinese run circles around us building infrastructure with credit simply created on the books of their government-owned banks.
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Saturday, December 26, 2020
Wishing All a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! / Personal_Finance / Holidays
By: N_Walayat
Merry Christmas to ALL from Walayat Family and our Budgies, especially the Green Budgie that links to sing on the Christmas Tree.
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Friday, December 25, 2020
Stock Market Dow Quick Take / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Nadeem_Walayat
My pre election forecast was for a relatively mild sideways trend into the end of the year awaiting a stream vaccine good news during January 2021.
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Thursday, December 24, 2020
Seeing Stock Market New Highs Through the Prism of AI / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Stock markets are soaring on the back of vaccines that herald the end game to the Covid nightmare that as I speak is hitting new highs in the US and fast worsening second peaks across Europe. However, much as was for the March crash, the vaccines, covid-19 are all mere blips in the long-term trend trajectory that is being driven by AI and it's full spectrum application. For instance these are the key areas that I identified to focus upon some 5 years ago, though the number is always expanding as AI encroaches on every aspect of our lives which is why my focus is on core AI itself rather than derivatives of AI.
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Thursday, December 24, 2020
Gold and Miners Are Not in Santa's Bag / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2020
By: P_Radomski_CFA
Do you feel the Christmas spirit when it comes to the yellow metal and miners? Because we don’t. Multiple signs over the past few days point to bearish weeks ahead for gold and the gold miners. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) - the most liquid vehicle for investors and traders to gain exposure to gold mining companies – is indicating that things are only about to go downhill from here and a lack of action from options traders only serves to confirm that.
Despite rallying by 8.7% over a three-day stretch, the GDX traded sharply lower on Friday (Dec. 18), and yet again, failed to recapture its 50-day moving average (unlike gold). Moreover, GDX also closed below its early-December intraday high, while the GLD ETF remained above its analogous price level.
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Thursday, December 24, 2020
Will President Biden Trigger Inflation for Gold? / Commodities / Global Debt Crisis 2020
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to increase further government spending. For this and also other reasons, there is a risk that inflation under Biden’s presidency could be higher than under Trump’s. That would be great news for gold.Let’s face it, Biden won’t have an easy presidency. And I’m not referring to the fact that he will be sworn in as the oldest president in U.S. history or that he will have to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and the process of vaccine distribution across the country. I’m referring to Biden inheriting an economy with slow growth and too much public debt . Given the debt burden, it should be clear that under Biden’s presidency, real interest rates will remain at ultra-low levels. This is how a debt trap works – the more the debt grows, the less the economy (Treasury) can afford higher interest rates .
Moreover, Biden will have to face the risk of inflation . Actually, some analysts say that the new POTUS could contribute to the rise of prices. Is it true? Will we finally see an acceleration in the inflation rate? Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Festive Budgie Sings "Jingle Bells" Whilst sat on a Christmas Tree / Personal_Finance / Animals & Pets
By: Eliza_Walayat
Our Amazon Green and Blue budgies are getting into the festive spirit by carving out their perches on the Christmas tree. Whilst the Green enjoys singing as soon as he lands on tree. Here he sings one of christmas favourite songs "Jingle Bells" on Christmas Eve. With many more to come.
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Thursday, December 24, 2020
Silver Price Launches Toward Major Technical Breakout / Commodities / Global Debt Crisis 2020
By: MoneyMetals
Precious metals markets are on the move this week.
They got a boost following Wednesday’s Federal Reserve policy statement. Fed officials kept their benchmark interest rate near zero and vowed to continue injecting $120 billion per month into the bond market.
The central bank seemed unconcerned about bubble-like conditions in equity markets. Nothing seems likely to deter it from pursuing more stimulus for the foreseeable future.
The ultra-dovish Fed helped nudge the U.S. Dollar Index down. It broke below 90 on Thursday to record a new low for the year.
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Thursday, December 24, 2020
Nvidia’s Chips Have Powered Nearly Every Major AI Breakthrough / Companies / AI
By: Stephen_McBride
“Within 20 years, machines will be capable of doing anything man can do.”
Take a stab at when this quote is from. It wasn’t this year, 2010, or even during the ‘90s tech boom. It’s from one of America’s top computer scientists: in 1960.
You’ve surely heard about Artificial Intelligence (AI) before. “AI” often conjures up images of intelligent robots taking over the world. You’ll often read that it’s only a matter of time before AI steals all our jobs.
But the idea of humanoid machines is nothing new. It began with the “heartless” Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. By the 1950s, a generation of scientists and engineers were convinced we’d soon co-exist with clever robots.
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Thursday, December 24, 2020
US Fed Recommits to Misleading the Public About Inflation / Economics / Inflation
By: MoneyMetals
Did the Federal Reserve just usher in the next phase of the U.S. dollar’s decline?
On Wednesday, the central bank recommitted to leaving its benchmark interest rate near zero for the foreseeable future.
Fed officials also vowed to keep pumping cash into financial markets.
Following Fed chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks, the wavering U.S. Dollar Index turned down – hitting a fresh new low for the year. Gold gained modestly on the day while silver got a bigger boost to close solidly above $25/oz, promptly heading to $26/oz the day following.
Precious metals markets have been basing out over the past several weeks. They are struggling to attract safe-haven demand amid record runs in stocks and Bitcoin.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Upgrade Old PC System for New? GTX 1650 vs GTX 970 , 3600x vs 4790k, Cinebench r20, R15 Scores / Personal_Finance / Computing
By: HGR
Is it worth upgrading your old PC to a new PC, as we put an ageing 6 year old PC 4 core 4790k, GTX 970 up against a system bought just a few months ago from Overclockers UK comprising a 6 core 3600x, GTX 1650 that cost £1000. Will the difference between the two systems justify the expense of buying a new system?
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Poundland Budget Chirstmas 2020 for Just £20! / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
By: Eliza_Walayat
Like most european countries the UK economy fell off the edge of a cliff in March and looks set to take another economic hit following the second lockdown and ahead of a third which looks set to see Britains 1.2 million pre wuhan chinese virus unemployment rate to double to over 2.5 million as illustrated by thousands of job losses in the retail and hospitality sectors announced each week.
However, with belts tight here we show how you could have got your christmas decorations shop done for Under £20! All thanks to Poundland which unlike most shops remained open during the first and second lockdowns.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020
U.S. Money Reserve on Protecting Your Retirement When Changing Jobs / Personal_Finance / Employment
By: Sumeet_Manhas
The days when an employee stuck with one company throughout their career are largely gone in the U.S. Instead, many workers switch jobs every few years, seeking new opportunities for professional development and salary increases. While a focus on one’s career mobility can be positive, one aspect of such a change is too often neglected—retirement savings. For guidance on how to help protect the savings you have worked hard to earn, we turn to some helpful information via U.S. Money Reserve.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Silver Is Still Following Bitcoin Higher / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: Hubert_Moolman
Previously, I have shown how Bitcoin is leading silver higher, and vice versa. .
This makes perfect sense in these time, since it is all about the US dollar. Assets that offer a “safehaven” from US dollar meltdown will go higher in some sort of related pattern.
Here is an update on that analogue where Bitcoin is leading silver higher (you can find the analogue where silver is leading Bitcoin higher in the previous update):
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Global Speculation Gone Amok - Stocks Buffett Indicator and Bitcoin / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2020
By: The_Gold_Report
Sector expert Michael Ballanger employs the Buffett Indicator and Bitcoin in his latest analysis of the precious metals markets.
"Gambling is a venture without calculation; speculation is a venture with calculation." — Dickson G. Watts
Being a self-professed speculator in the junior mining space for the past forty-odd years, I used to include that quote in every client letter and in every research piece as a means of reminding readers that the art of speculation involves weighing many different but converging data points. That quote was the brainchild of Dickson G. Watts, an exceedingly successful speculator from the late 1800s and former president of the New York Cotton Exchange, whose book "Speculation as a Fine Art and Thoughts on Life" is a must-read for anyone involved in the financial markets.
With today's credit markets trading on the razor's edge of leverage, never has there been a greater need for us to understand a number of critical realities: 1) that the credit markets are the ultimate arbiter of valuation and risk and stocks merely follow; and 2) that historical measurements used to carry predictive value have today been rendered ineffective due to central bank interventions.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
How Your Smartphone Can Fix America’s Healthcare Crisis / Companies / Healthcare Sector
By: Stephen_McBride
At 30,000 feet in the air, a passenger was suddenly crippled by severe chest pains. The flight attendant called over the loudspeaker, “Is there a doctor on board?” A tall man rose from seat 6C. And the first thing Dr. Eric Topol reached for was his iPhone.
He plugged a credit card-sized heart monitor into the phone and placed it on the woman’s chest. The doctor didn’t need fancy machines to diagnose the problem. An iPhone app showed she was on the verge of a major heart attack.
Topol recommended the pilot make an emergency landing. The passenger was rushed to the hospital and survived.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Alarming Developments in GLD ETF Reaffirms Need to Own PHYSICAL Gold / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: MoneyMetals
The world’s largest gold exchange traded fund (ETF) seems to be having a lot of trouble when it comes to accounting.
The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) recently appointed its 6th chief financial officer since 2014. And the problem of finding and keeping executives who are willing to certify the Fund’s accounting does not appear to be the only reason for concern at GLD.
The timing of the most recent CFO departure is particularly troubling. Laura Melman left one day prior to the Fund’s financial year end.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Final Test For The Stock Market Before Year End / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Avi_Gilburt
For the almost decade that I have been writing publicly, I have implored you to recognize the importance of market sentiment in determining the direction and turning points in the market.
Yet, I still shake my head when I read articles, or even the comment section to my own articles, as most analysis and comments are so hyper-focused on what the news or other factors will do to the market. And, no matter how many times the market moves opposite to those expectations, the analyst or commenter seems to develop selective amnesia, as they continue on their merry way to yet again analyze the market based upon the same failed perspectives.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Maximizing Returns with Minimal Investment / Currencies / Forex Trading
By: Sumeet_Manhas
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