Last week, the price of gold again broke below its new base at $1,200, and the US stock market was again under strong pressure, due to a confluence of fears, most of which point to a deflationary double-dip. The fears were fanned by disappointing second quarter results, by the latest CPI reports that show inflation continuing to moderate, and by yet another poll revealing faltering consumer confidence.
[Read more...]Three Mile Island for US Oil
May 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Willie Shakespeare may have summed it up best when, borrowing the voice of King Richard III, he penned A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
History is replete with examples of how, but for the proverbial horse, kingdoms have been lost.
My reference point is an accident that will almost certainly lead to tragic miscalculations and havoc down the road. And, I might add, an exceptional opportunity for the patient and attentive investor.
[Read more...]An Insiders View of the Real Estate Train Wreck, Part II
February 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Right now there are an awful lot of banks that do an awful lot of commercial real estate lending, and for about a year now youve been telling me that you saw the first and second quarter of 2010 as being particularly risky for commercial real estate. Why this year, and what do you see happening with these loans and the banks holding them?
[Read more...]An Insiders View of the Real Estate Train Wreck
February 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The first time I spoke with real estate entrepreneur Andy Miller was in late 2007, when I asked him to serve on the faculty of a Casey Research Summit. And there was no one in the nation I wanted more than Andy to address the critical topic of real estate.
My interest in Andy was due to the fact that he has been singularly successful in pretty much all aspects of the real estate market, including financing and developing large projects such as shopping centers, apartment communities, office buildings, and warehouses from one end of the country to the other. His expertise has also allowed him to build an impressive business providing assistance to large financial institutions that need help in dealing with problem commercial real estate loans. As you might suspect, business is booming.
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Monetary Madness – Is the US Monetary System on the Verge of Collapse?
The US monetary system — and by extension, that of much of the developed world — may very well be on the verge of collapse. Falling back on metaphor, while the world’s many financial experts and economists sit around arguing about the direction of the ship of state, most are missing the point that the ship has already hit an iceberg and is taking on water fast.
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