It’s raining on the Eurozone leaders again this morning. To get you caught up, let me go back to what happened since I signed off on Friday morning. First of all Greek Prime Minister (PM) Papandreou, did receive a positive Confidence Vote from his Parliament, regarding the Eurozone Grand Plan… But there was a caveat to the vote… It was approved only on the understanding that Papandreou would step down, and that a new government would be formed to take them into the next election on February 19, 2012.
[Read more...]Reformed Broker’s True/False on Wall Street After Downgrade
August 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
After another 630-plus nosedive of a day for the Dow – the major market indices’ most negative day since 2008′s financial crisis — it was refreshing to see a dose of levelheadedness over at The Reformed Broker.
[Read more...]When Lenders Stop Lending
July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Dow shot up 152 points yesterday…following an announcement that Greek voters had approved more austerity measures.
So, the Greek crisis has been solved…Dominique Strauss-Kahn may not have raped that hotel maid, after all…and the Chinese are buying euros.
Whew… A close call! But now the Greek crisis is behind us. We can get back to work…and all get rich.
[Read more...]Why Greek Austerity Does Not Equal Solvency
June 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
My daughter is not Greek…but she sometimes acts like it. This observation is not meant to disparage my daughter…or the Greeks. It is simply an observation.
My daughter, Gaby, often makes promises, just before asking me for money. Yesterday evening, after she dirtied up a frying pan and a few kitchen utensils to make some pasta, I asked her to clean up the mess.
[Read more...]How Much Government Spending is Costing You Per Day
May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Look at what happened on Friday. The Dow dropped 93 points. Oil stayed below $100. But gold added $16 to close well above $1,500.
Fluke? Or trend?
Hey, you’re asking the wrong person. What do we know? No one knows.
But what we do know is that the Great Correction is continuing to do its work. All the recent reports tell us that the economy is weak…and weakening. Housing starts, manufacturing output, consumer confidence – all are pointing to a long, hot, sultry, sluggish summer.
[Read more...]Retail Sales: The Next Chapter of the Financial Crisis
April 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It was a good effort…but “federal debt held by the public would double under the President’s budget,” says the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
While we were exploring gold storage, junior miners and asset protection in Zurich, the CBO did some heavy lifting on the budget proposal advanced by Mr. Obama on Wednesday.
[Read more...]As Japan Goeth…So Goeth the US
April 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The US now finds itself in much the same fiscal boat as Japan. America’s “stimulus” efforts have become permanent, structural elements of the economy.
Since November, the Fed has injected about $4 billion a day into the economy through its QE2 program. And the federal government gives the economy almost another $5 billion worth of deficit spending a day. Together, this is $63 billion going into the economy each week.
[Read more...]Bernanke’s Choice
March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
For twelve years the US trade deficit financed the US budget deficit and held down US interest rates. From 1996 to 2008, the US trade deficit exceeded the government’s budget deficit every year. The dollars sent abroad to pay for the trade deficit were accumulated by the central banks of the trade surplus countries, who then reinvested them in US government bonds. As discussed in earlier posts, those central banks bought up the dollars entering their economies in order to hold down the value of their currencies and so perpetuate their countries’ low-wage trade advantage and their export-led economic growth.
[Read more...]
Greece Forms a New Government
It’s raining on the Eurozone leaders again this morning. To get you caught up, let me go back to what happened since I signed off on Friday morning. First of all Greek Prime Minister (PM) Papandreou, did receive a positive Confidence Vote from his Parliament, regarding the Eurozone Grand Plan… But there was a caveat to the vote… It was approved only on the understanding that Papandreou would step down, and that a new government would be formed to take them into the next election on February 19, 2012.
[Read more...]