Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Treasury Secretary Panics as Stock Markets Melt Down and Trump Mulls Firing Fed Chair Powell / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018

By: MoneyMetals

Wall Street didn’t take well to the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike and projection for two more to come in 2019.

Neither did the White House.

President Donald Trump slammed Fed chairman Jerome Powell yet again and reportedly asked advisors within his inner circle whether he has the legal authority to fire Powell.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Sheffield Christmas Market and Lights 2018 - City Centre from Fargate to Moorfoot / Local / Sheffield

By: Anika_Walayat

Here's a walk through Sheffield city centres Christmas Market 2018, the various sights and sounds, food stalls, light displays and general atmosphere of what it was like, even a santa's grotto, walking from the starting point in Fargate past the big wheel. Town hall christmas tree, onwards to the big santa at City Hall and then back at the peace gardens to visit santa#s grotto. Then off to see the moor displays from the big polar bear outside the Light, down past Atkinson's big christmas tree terminating at moor foot.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Jaguar Land Rover BrExit Car Crash, Steep Losses and New Year Job Cuts / Companies / Auto Sector

By: Nadeem_Walayat

The news out of Jaguar land Rover seems to go from bad to worse as it's latest results saw profits of £953mln for the period March to September for 2017 wiped out for the same period in 2018, replaced with a loss of £354mln resulting in the loss of over 1 thousand jobs and many more being put on a three day week. With rumours of plans to shed as many as 5000 jobs in the new year out of a work force of approx 38,000 that is unlikely to bring any Christmas cheer to the JLR work force as the loss making car manufacturer attempts to cut costs.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Gold Price Trend Forecast Review and Stocks Brief / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: Nadeem_Walayat

Here's a quick update of my Gold Price trend forecast.

My forecast conclusion as of early September was to expect the following trend for the Gold Price for the remainder of 2018

Monday, December 24, 2018

If The Fundamentals Are Still Bullish, Why Is The Stock Market Crashing? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018

By: Avi_Gilburt

I would not have had to invest or work at all if I had $100 for every time I heard an analyst tell me that the market is just not trading upon fundamentals at this time. In fact, when the market seems to disconnect from the fundamentals, analysts view it as the market being wrong.

But, isn't it my responsibility as an investor to align my investment account with the market rather than the "fundamentals?" So, I would much rather be wrong and profitable rather than be right and in the red.

Take a step back and think about this. When the market was hitting its low in 2009, were the fundamentals bearish or bullish?

Monday, December 24, 2018

S&P Breaks 2018 Feb Lows – What Next? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018

By: Chris_Vermeulen

The ES (S&P e-mini contracts) broke the support level from the February 2018 lows immediately after the US Federal Reserve announced a 25 bp rate hike this week. This breakdown below the February 2018 lows is concerning because it indicates that previous support is not holding and we could be in for further downside price activity.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Stock Market Waterfall Decline / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018

By: Andre_Gratian

Current Position of the Market

SPX: Long-term trend – Bullish, but correcting within the long-term bull market trend.

Intermediate trend – A bearish correction has started which could retrace as low as 2200 before it is complete

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 discusses the course of longer market trends. 

Monday, December 24, 2018

Trump Derangement International / Politics / Mainstream Media

By: Raul_I_Meijer

Dirk Kurbjuweit, deputy editor-in-chief of Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine for the past 4 years, unwittingly put his foot a mile deep in his mouth this week when he reacted to a letter written by US Ambassador to Berlin Richard Grenell. His reaction presents perhaps the most perfect example of the downfall of news, journalism, the media in general, that we’ve seen so far. Most perfect among very stiff competition.

After Der Spiegel itself this week ‘outed’ its award-winning star reporter, Claas Relotius, as someone who had made up many of his lauded articles from scratch, Grenell suggested the magazine, and especially its editorial staff, shouldn’t think they can get away with putting all the blame on just this one guy. He tweeted:

We value policy criticism. We love a free press. But @Spiegel literally fabricated stories saying people (Americans) were racist & xenophobic. They made up events, details, & lies – and no editor checked the stories. Every real journalist should be outraged by this.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Land Rover Discovery Sport 1 Year Owner Driver Mega Review - What's Good and Bad / ConsumerWatch / Motoring

By: N_Walayat

Here is my comprehensive mega review of what's good and bad about the Land Rover Discover Sport after having owned and driven a HSE Black trim for over 1 year. All of the questions answered that you need to ask before buying a Discovery Sport after having put the car through its paces for a whole year of driving, of what to expect under real world driving conditions, all that is good and bad which includes the following and more -

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Silver Price Trend Forecest 2018 Review / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: Nadeem_Walayat

This is the 1st in a series of 4 videos that concludes in a trend forecast for the Silver price 2019.

1. Silver Price Trend Forecast 2018 Review
2. Gold - Silver Ratio
3. Silver Price Trend Analysis 2019
4. Silver Price Trend Forecast Conclusion for 2019
   

Sunday, December 23, 2018

The Fed Tightens the Monetary Noose / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates

By: Steve_H_Hanke

The Fed defied President Trump’s irreverent Tweets. Indeed, the Fed did what it signaled it was going to do long before Trump pushed the “Tweet” button. Yes, the Fed—with all 10 members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voting “yes”—increased the federal funds interest rate by 25 basis points to the 2.25-2.50% range. And, as night follows day, the U.S. equity markets, currency markets, and precious metals markets took a hit.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

President Trump's Trade Rubbish / Politics / Protectionism

By: Steve_H_Hanke

The U.S. trade war rages on. With each passing day, there is news about a flare up, primarily on the front where the United States and China are confronting each other. While these flare ups rattle the markets, they don’t seem to rattle President Xi or President Trump. Indeed, neither Xi nor Trump seem inclined to give ground. For his part, Trump has recently tasked Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, to lead the U.S. in trade negotiations with China. And, Lightizer, having a long ultra-protectionist record, has a reputation for taking no prisoners in trade battles.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Can The Markets Get Any Worse? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2018

By: Anthony_Cherniawski

Supported by its Cycle Top at 21.96, VIX rallied above its Head & Shoulders neckline at 30.00 on Friday, closing above it.  It is entirely possible that it could meet its target in the next week.

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Worst December for Stock Market Since the Great Depression. What’s Next? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2018

By: Troy_Bombardia

This is officially the third worst December for the stock market since 1900. The only other 2 times the S&P fell more than -12% in December were 1930 and 1931

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Meadowhall Sheffield Shopping Mall Christmas Lights 2018 / Local / Sheffield

By: Anika_Walayat

It's Christmas at Meadowhall! One of Britain's largest shopping centres. So off we went to enjoy the mega light displays spread throughout Sheffield's indoor shopping centre.

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Stock Market Nearing Low as Gold Tests Resistance / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne

As we’ve been saying, the stock market will have great influence on Gold. It has been easy to see in recent months.

The S&P 500 has cracked, losing both its 200-day and 400-day moving averages. Gold and gold stocks have benefitted and gained in recent months even with a stable to rising US Dollar.

The past 65 years of history shows us that in almost any context (but not all) the time between the Fed’s last rate hike and first rate cut is exactly when you want to buy gold stocks.

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Markets Reject the Fed? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2018

By: The_Gold_Report

On Wednesday, the Fed raised the Fed Funds rate by a quarter point as expected. The FOMC statement was suitably "dovish" by reducing the consensus forward guidance on future rate hikes from three to two. The Fed also signalled that its Quantitative Tightening program would continue on "autopilot" as planned. The response was not what the Fed expected. Stocks fell hard and bonds soared.

Financial markets are about to revisit some important questions.

First, does QE actually work? Does it boost the real economy or does it simply drive up valuations by encouraging speculation? We think the weakest economic recovery in two generations provides the answer.

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Forget the Noise, Follow the US Dollar / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: The_Gold_Report

Sector expert Michael Ballanger examines the effects of the Federal Reserve Bank interest rate increase and plans for 2019.

"Gold is the money of kings. Silver is the money of gentlemen. Barter is the money of peasants. And debt is the money of slaves."

Here are a couple of facts one needs to remember when attempting to decipher yesterday's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcement and press conference by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell:

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Fed Gooses Gold, Miners / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018

By: Zeal_LLC

The dovish Federal Reserve lit a fire under gold and its miners’ stocks this week.  As universally expected the FOMC hiked rates for the 9th time in this cycle.  But it also lowered its 2019 rate-hike outlook bowing to the stock-market selloff.  Traders dumped gold initially thinking that wasn’t dovish enough.  But market reactions to the FOMC form over a couple days, and gold surged overnight.  Its post-Fed rally has great potential.

Gold-futures speculators dominate gold’s short-term trading action.  They punch way above their weight in capital terms thanks to the extreme leverage inherent in gold futures.  This week, the minimum margin for trading each 100-ounce contract controlling $125,000 worth of gold at $1250 was just $3400!  These traders can run crazy maximum leverage as high as 36.8x, compared to the stock markets’ legal limit of 2x.

Friday, December 21, 2018

You Will Probably Live Longer Than You Thought—But Can You Afford To? / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement

By: John_Mauldin

I have long warned that demographic changes have made Social Security unsustainable.

In 1940, the Social Security system had 159.4 workers per beneficiary. Then it went off the rails quickly. By 1945 the ratio was down to 41.9 and a decade later was in single digits.

We usually think this is a result of the Baby Boom generation turning 65, and that’s a big part of it. But rising life expectancy is equally and maybe more important.