Thursday, February 27, 2020
Trump or Sanders? Both will pile up the Debt / Politics / US Debt
By: Richard_Mills
Whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican installed in the White House this November, you can count on fiscal discipline going out the window. Neither the incumbent, President Donald J. Trump, nor the leading Democratic contender to replace him, Bernie Sanders, appears to give a hoot about shoveling more onto the enormous pile of debt that a few months ago shot past $23 trillion.
Why does this matter? Because debt impedes economic growth . And just like a business, if a country isn’t growing, it’s dying.
Keep that in mind as we explain how the real problem with the US economy, and what is driving gold prices ever higher, is not the coronavirus (though Covid-19 is certainly making things worse), but the 500-pound debt gorilla that is sitting on Uncle Sam’s chest, fattened by an all-you-can-eat buffet of dollar-denominated debt.
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
Oil Price Is Now More Volatile Than Bitcoin / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: OilPrice_Com
You know that the oil markets have truly gone to the dogs when they are suddenly riskier than one of the world’s most volatile commodities: bitcoin.
Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies are synonymous with extreme bouts of volatility. However, it’s crude oil that is now earning that dubious distinction after exhibiting price swings wilder than even the leading cryptocurrency.
On February 10, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil’s one-month realized, or historical, price volatility stood at 105.3%. In contrast, bitcoin's historical volatility clocked in at 42.3%, its lowest reading since September, according to Skew Markets.
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
A Digital “Fedcoin” May Be Coming… And It Would Be Terrifying / Currencies / BlockChain
By: MoneyMetals
Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology that allows for de-centralized peer-to-peer transactions to take place outside the government-controlled banking system.
Backers of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin tout their privacy advantages and resistance to inflation due to their strictly limited quantities.
But what if this free-market innovation were co-opted to achieve opposite ends – centralized tracking of every transaction with no possibility of escaping digital devaluations?
That’s what some central bankers are ultimately aiming for by replacing paper cash with their own digitized, monopolized currencies.
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
India's Nifty 50 Stocks: Does the Bad Jobs Outlook Spell Trouble for Stocks? / Stock-Markets / India
By: EWI
India's "employment outlook" just reached its lowest level in 14 years.
There are a lot of mouths to feed in India -- north of 1.3 billion.
That means a lot of jobs are required to put food on the table for a lot of people. But there's a problem: the jobs picture in the world's second most populous nation isn't pretty.
As far back as a year ago, the Washington Post said (Feb. 1, 2019):
**India's jobs crisis is worse than people thought ...
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
How Crypto Currencies Are Helping Players Go Private / Personal_Finance / Gambling
By: Submissions
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
Gold and Silver The Die Is Cast / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: The_Gold_Report
Sector expert Michael Ballanger charts the latest changes in the markets and prognosticates on when and why silver prices should make a move.
One of my good friends from the 1980s and 1990s was the late Ian McAvity, a superb technical analyst, a founder of Central Fund of Canada, a Bay Street Mover and, most importantly, a humble and thoroughly enjoyable man. He was the first newsletter writer that I came across in my early years as a "registered rep," totally committed to technical analysis but with an undying and near-prophetical emphasis on precious metals.
It was in the 1980s, with gold having entered what would become a 21-year bear market. Many of the newsletter-flogging gloom-and-doomsters were making outrageous claims of "$1,000, $2000, $5,000 gold!!!" in a desperate (and unsuccessful) effort to distract their patrons away from the fledgling new bull market in stocks, which went on to dominate the investment horizons until the century came to its abrupt terminus. I liked Ian's style because in the mid-1980s, his bearish technical assessment of gold turned out to be not only disappointedly spot on, but also quite a refreshingly contrarian approach.
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
US Economy Permanently Addicted to Zero Interest Rates / Interest-Rates / NIRP
By: Michael_Pento
In Fed Chair Jerome Powell's appearance before Congress on February 11th, formerly known as The Humphrey-Hawkins testimony, he asserted that the U.S. economy was, "In a very good place" and "There's nothing about this expansion that is unstable or unsustainable." But compare Powell's sophomoric declaration to what Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett's longtime right-hand-man, had to say about the market and the economy, "I think there are lots of troubles coming…there's too much-wretched excess."Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Has the Stock Market Waterfall Event Started Or A Buying Opportunity? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Chris_Vermeulen
Over the past 5+ days, a very clear change in market direction has taken place in the US and global markets. Prior to this, the US markets were reacting to Q4 earnings data and minimizing the potential global pandemic of the Coronavirus. The continued “rally to the peak” process was taking place and was very impressive from a purely euphoric trader standpoint. Our researchers found it amazing that the markets continued to rally many weeks after the news of economic contraction and quarantines setup in China/Asia.
Make sure to opt-in to our free market trend signals newsletter before you continue reading this or you may miss our next special report!
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
Advantages of Enrolling in a Retirement Plan / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Submissions
At some point in life, we all wish to have a happy old age ending in the countryside, free of city hassles and full of tranquility. Retiring is inevitable, and the earlier you start making preparations for the same, the better. Don't you want to have a peaceful home in the woods where your grandchildren would play later? Well, you can buy a home with your current earnings, but how do you ensure financial independence once you hang the boots? Remember, you'll still have bills to pay, and your children may not be around to help at all times. Moreover, they are probably looking up to you and wish they could be like daddy. So, either way, you have to set the pace, you lead first by example, then they'll follow.
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
South Korea Coronavirus Outbreak Data Analysis Warning Rate of Infection is Exponential! / Politics / Pandemic
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The latest Coronavirus / COVID19 pandemic news has South Korea effectively declaring a national emergency as the nations Coronavirus cases continue to rocket ever higher, now totaling 1261 infected and 12 deaths, this despite deploying immense resources towards containment. Meanwhile the basket case north of the border with far greater cross border travel with China apparently has zero cases, whilst reports continue of mass cremations taking place.
Therefore given the reliability of South Korea's monitoring and systems, then the outbreak in this nation is likely a more accurately reflect of what for outbreaks in the West than China's statistics, that everyone now agrees have grossly under reported the true number of infections AND deaths by several magnitudes. Where my recent in-depth analysis concluded that Chinese reported cases are under reported by at least X7, and deaths by X2.
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Gold Price Long-term Trend Analysis Forecast 2020 / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The gold bull market ended 2019 with a strong gain of 19%. The first half the year was marked with uncertainty as the price after an early year surge to $1350 gave up all of it's gains to drift lower to trade down on the year by early May. However, this was the calm before the bull market storm and that set the stage for a powerful bull run starting early June that saw the Gold price rocket higher to a early September peak of $1566, up over 25% on the year! Igniting Gold bug fever and encouraging prominent gold bugs to get carried away with headlines of Gold heading for $5000 and beyond.
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Fake Markets Are on Collision Course with Reality / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2020
By: MoneyMetals
Keeping up appearances is about to get a lot harder for the central planners trying to manage perceptions of the U.S. (and global) economy. The coronavirus is going to have a meaningful impact on global supply chains, even if stock market cheerleaders haven’t fully realized it yet.
This might be because the corporate media and ruling elites are burning a lot of what is left of their fading credibility trying to ignore or downplay the problem.
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Microsoft is Crushing the S&P 500, Secret Trait Of Stocks That Soar 1,000%+ / Companies / Microsoft
By: Stephen_McBride
Microsoft (MSFT) has been on a tear over the past year. Shares of the software pioneer have jumped 70% since last February—triple the S&P 500’s gain, as you can see:Keep in mind, Microsoft is the furthest thing from a volatile penny stock. It’s a $1.39 trillion company—the second biggest stock in the world.
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Europe's Best Ski Resorts For The Ultimate Adventure / Personal_Finance / Holidays
By: Submissions
If you are looking for the best ski resorts, with great infrastructure and especially guaranteed snow, then this article will be of great help. You can give yourself some comfort with Fast Cover Travel Insurance and then start enjoying your holidays without the worry of not having any cover. Not to mention that the following places are the best of the best when it comes to the perfect holiday spots in the snow!
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Samsung Galaxy S20+ vs Galaxy S10+ Which One to Buy? / Personal_Finance / Samsung
By: HGR
Samsung's latest high end phones the S20 range are due to ship early March (barring coronavirus supply chain disruption) with many looking to upgrade next to the S20 range. However, as an owners of a now ageing S7 edge subject to much wear and tear, the choice I and many would be upgraders face is whether to take the leap fro an S20+, and for most the S20+ will be the best fit within the S20 range, or to go for last years model the S10+?
So which one should most go for? The still excellent S10+ that can be bought for £650 (Amazon).
Or Samsung's latest and greatest S20+ that will cost £1000 ?
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Gold Is Taking on $1,700 amid Rising Coronavirus Fears / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
Gold rally goes on, reaching almost $1,700 per ounce. What the heck is just happening in the precious metals market?
Gold Rallies Above $1,680
Wow, what an escalation! On Thursday, we reported that gold jumped above $1,600. On Friday, its price surpassed $1,640, as the chart below shows. And today morning, it has rallied even further, reaching $1,684.
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Is This What Falling Through the Floor Looks Like in Stocks? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: P_Radomski_CFA
While last week brought us higher stock prices, Thursday and Friday were bad days for the bulls. And little wonder, as the technical deterioration continues to play out. Looking at both the closing prices on Friday and today’s premarket action, how close to the end in this correction are we?
Let’s check yesterday’s price action in the weekly chart’s context (charts courtesy of http://stockcharts.com).
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Gold Minsky Moment Coming / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020
By: Richard_Mills
“Minsky Moment” refers to the idea that periods of bullish speculation will eventually lead to a crisis, wherein a sudden decline in optimism causes a spectacular market crash.
Named after economist Hyman Minsky, the theory centers around the inherent instability of stock markets, especially bull markets such as the current one that has been in place for over a decade.
As Investopedia defines it, “A Minsky Moment crisis follows a prolonged period of bullish speculation, which is also associated with high amounts of debt taken on by both retail and institutional investors.”
The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College describes his seminal theory as follows:
“Minsky held that, over a prolonged period of prosperity, investors take on more and more risk, until lending exceeds what borrowers can pay off from their incoming revenues. When overindebted investors are forced to sell even their less-speculative positions to make good on their loans, markets spiral lower and create a severe demand for cash — an event that has come to be known as a ‘Minsky moment.”
There are five stages in Minsky’s model of the credit cycle:
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Why Every Student Should Study Economics / Personal_Finance / Education
By: Submissions
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Stock Market Correction Over? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020
By: Andre_Gratian
Current Position of the Market
SPX Long-term trend: Uptrend from the 2009 low continues.
SPX Intermediate trend: Uncertain. Need time to evaluate
Analysis of the short-term trend is done on a daily-basis with the help of hourly charts. It is an important adjunct to the analysis of daily and weekly charts which discuss longer market trends.
Daily market analysis of the short-term trend is reserved for subscribers. If you would like to sign up for a FREE 4-week trial period of daily comments, please let me know at anvi1962@cableone.net