The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled about 100 points yesterday — probably not because anyone really wanted to sell stocks, but because no one could think of any really good reason to buy them. This morning, the Dow is soaring more than 300 points — probably not because anyone really wants to buy stocks, but because no one can think of any really good reason to sell them again.
[Read more...]Did the Jobless Rate Really Fall?
December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I’ll probably be all alone when I make this statement, but, then I don’t follow the trumpeter anyway… What a crock the Jobs report was last week! When will the major media figure this all out? Probably never, because they don’t have real investigative reporters any longer… But here’s what I’m talking about, folks… The Jobs Jamboree reported that 120,000 jobs were created in November… (The previous month was revised upward from 80,000 to 100,000) So… On the outside, things looked OK… But remember, it takes far more than 120,000 jobs each month to support a strong economy.
[Read more...]More Free Money!
December 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In a highly competitive field, the story of the past week was surely the announcement by a half dozen of the world’s largest central banks to engage in, what The Daily Reckoning’s Eric Fry described as, “institutionalized money-laundering.”
[Read more...]Rate Cut Week Next Week?
December 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
OK… It’s a Jobs Jamboree Friday… (Doesn’t it seem like we just did this?) The experts are looking for the economy to have created 125,000 jobs in November… Hmmm… While that would be nice to see, I doubt it has legs to stand on… IF, we really count the jobs created correctly… Remember that in October the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) told us the total jobs created for the month was 80,000? And then I told you that 102,000 jobs were added from the Birth/Death Model… Or as I like to call them…“ghost jobs”… So, that’s what I’m talking about when I say “count jobs created correctly.”
[Read more...]Uncoordinated Coordinated Action
December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
“I don’t care what the other kids are doing,” my mother used to say, “you’re not doing it!… If the other kids jumped off a cliff, would you?”
Until yesterday, I always thought her question was rhetorical. But now I realize the correct answer should have been “Yes.”
[Read more...]Anticipating a Correction in the Global Monetary System
December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Whoa! The Dow rose almost 500 points yesterday. Whoopee! Hallelujah!
It was like the Second Coming on Wall Street. As if He walked across the East River…and announced it Himself:
“The fix is in.”
But it was not the sacred that spoke yesterday. It was the profane. The world’s central banks, to be precise. They got together. More like a meeting of mobsters than a gathering of the gods. They made it clear.
[Read more...]Understanding the True Implications of Central Bank Money Printing
November 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Big news out of the gate today is that the central banks of the world are about to do more. More what, you ask? More of what central banks do best, of course…more money printing!
They don’t call it that, obviously. They call it “swapping” or “easing” or “recapitalizing” or “saving us from the abyss.” Or they call it “bolstering financial markets,” as The New York Times breathlessly explains…
[Read more...]Central Banks Pump Dollar Liquidity into the Markets
November 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The dollar continued on its decline through most of the trading day yesterday, but fell off a cliff in very early European trading. A coordinated central bank action to lower swap rates was the reason for the dramatic moves in the currencies this morning. The FED, ECB, BOJ, SNB, BOC, and BOE all agreed to cut the cost of providing dollar funding via swap arrangements. They also agreed to make other currencies available as needed, but the primary function of these swap arrangements was to push more dollar liquidity into the markets. Swap agreements give the banks US dollars today for euros or other currency payments at some future date. It effectively pumps fresh US dollars into the markets which will be pulled back out at some point in the future. The move was seen as necessary in order to prop up the European banks which have been hard hit by the euro financial crisis. The additional liquidity was welcomed by the markets, with the European stock markets and early US markets up nicely.
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Correcting the Growth of Human History
And so, yesterday, the northern hemisphere had its shortest day of the year. In Baltimore, the sun never rose and never set. It was gray all day. Then it was night again.
And so the days dwindle down to a precious few. In astronomical terms, the year is already over. We have passed the winter solstice. From here on out the days grow longer. In terms of the Gregorian Calendar, we still have a few more days to go in 2011. Then, we face a new year. New challenges. New crises. And new opportunities. Will 2012 be the year the human race goes into a downturn…a slump…a correction?
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