Global Market Commentary, Analysis and Investments
Okay, President Obama is a real, native-born citizen.
Whew! That’s cleared up.
But we never could figure out what the fuss was about. It didn’t make any difference to us where he was born. After all, you don’t have to be born in the USA to mess up an economy. Plenty of foreigners have done it. Plenty of Americans too.
[Read more...]Bernanke spoke!
Yes, he held a press conference. Why would the world want a press conference from a central banker? Ah…good question. Because he’s a celebrity… He’s powerful. He moves and he shakes. He’s as popular as William and Kate put together.
In the past, a central banker was meant to be anonymous…quiet…hidden away somewhere so far in the background that the ordinary man wouldn’t know his name or recognize his face.
[Read more...]What were we talking about yesterday? Oh yes…something about a big, nasty bird…and Japan.
First, let’s report the news from yesterday…then we’ll come back to this subject. To give you a preview, Japan is using quantitative easing – money printing – to cover the holes in its budget. With the need to rebuild its economy and its infrastructure, our guess is that it’s going to do a lot more of it.
[Read more...]More problems. More fixes.
The latest from AP:
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks fell sharply Tuesday as the nuclear crisis in Japan weighed on global markets.
The stock market dropped at the start of trading on news that dangerous levels of radiation were leaking from a crippled nuclear plant. The plant was damaged in last week’s earthquake and tsunami. Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, accounts for 10 percent of US exports.
[Read more...]The poor recovery. It seemed to be doing so well. And now look at it. Fallen on hard times. Down on its luck. Worn out.
“Unusually uncertain,? is how Ben Bernanke explains the situation.
What he means by that is that he doesn't have any more idea of what is going on than he did three years ago or two years ago…or one year ago.
[Read more...]The latest from the G20 meeting in Toronto. As you recall, the meeting was billed as a showdown between the Germans and the Americans…that is, between the deficit cutters and the big spenders…
That is, between the people without a hope and the people without a clue.
TORONTO (AP) – World leaders must work together to make sure the global recovery stays on track, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Saturday.
[Read more...]What happened to the recovery? This report from AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sales of previously occupied homes dipped 2.2 percent in May, signaling that a boost from home-buying tax credits is fading sooner than expected.
Last month's sales fell from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Analysts who had expected sales to rise expressed concern that the real estate market could tumble once the benefit of the federal incentives is gone entirely, starting next month.
[Read more...]The lies that bind…
News Flash:
WASHINGTON (AP) Consumer spending rose in March by the largest amount in five months but the gains were financed out of savings, which fell to the lowest level in 18 months. A slight rise in incomes added to concerns that the recovery could weaken unless income growth increases more rapidly.
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Investing in Areas With Rapid Growth Potential
Dow up 80…oil still below $100…gold still below $1,500….
Oil has a long way to get back to its 2008 high. But it’s still 3 times what it was in 2005 and 5 times its price in 2001.
In the battle between inflation and deflation, it’s not clear to us who’s winning. Prices are rising, but in the context of a general deflationary funk. Try as they might, the feds just can’t shake the Great Correction. It leaves them struggling to loosen monetary policy to free-up the economy…and succeeding only in tightening the noose around the consumer’s neck. Here’s the AP report:
[Read more...]