Last Friday, I sent you into the weekend talking about the elections that had held the euro (EUR) hostage, which would be held in France and Greece. France got their Socialist leader — good for them. I hope they have fun with that. And Greece got a government — no wait, no they didn’t. You see, the Greeks tried to vote in anti-euro leaders, but couldn’t get enough to form a government.
[Read more...]Commodities Take Off!
January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Greek talks returned to the headlines this morning. I know I said this last Friday, and I was a little too optimistic and turned out to be wrong! But… I do expect this agreement on a private-sector involvement in Greek debt to get hammered out this weekend… It seems that the opposition from eurozone policymakers is backing off, and that has me optimistic once again.
[Read more...]What to Do In Case of Liquidation
June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 172 points last Friday – punctuating another thoroughly forgettable week for American capitalism. Friday’s loss submerged the Dow back below the 12,000 mark, while also producing a sixth straight losing week for the US stock market.
How rare is a six-week losing streak?
[Read more...]Keeping Capital in a Depression
May 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Nothing is cheap in today’s investment world. Because of the trillions of currency units that governments all over the world have created – and are continuing to create – financial assets are grossly overpriced. Stocks, bonds, property, commodities and cash are no bargains. Meanwhile, real wages are slipping rapidly among those who are working, and a large portion of the population is unemployed or underemployed.
[Read more...]Dollar Declines as Investors Move Out of Safe Havens
March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Currency investors started to move back out of their ‘safe havens’ yesterday with most of the currencies moving higher versus the US dollar. The Japanese yen (JPY) was the biggest mover, setting a post-World War II high as money was repatriated back into the country. The biggest losers were the other side of the carry trades, the New Zealand dollar (NZD) and Australian dollar (AUD). The kiwi was down over 1%, and the Aussie dollar was down just .2% versus the US dollar. Things are still a bit dicey in Japan, and it looks as if at least one of the damaged reactors is going to meltdown. The Japanese are doing everything they can to cool the reactor complex, but radiation levels continue to hamper their efforts.
[Read more...]Mixed US Data Keeps the Dollar in a Tight Range
August 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Chuck headed on a multi stop cross-country trek to get out to San Francisco today, so he left the Pfennig to me. I think he said he had to fly through Dallas to get over to San Francisco; just one of the joys of no longer being a ‘hub' airport.
There was a plethora of data releases here in the US yesterday, but the numbers offset each other keeping the markets fairly stable. Surprisingly strong industrial production data was offset by weak housing starts. Other data showed that wholesale costs in the US increased in July for the first time in four months, throwing cold water on those warning of deflation. Commodity prices were the main driver of the increases of 4.2% versus last year. The core price index (ex food and energy) was still up 1.5%, slightly higher than economists' projections. The data will quiet those who are warning about falling prices and will likely keep the boys and girls over at the FOMC on a “steady as she goes� course.
[Read more...]
Elections Throw Euro Under a Bus
Last Friday, I sent you into the weekend talking about the elections that had held the euro (EUR) hostage, which would be held in France and Greece. France got their Socialist leader — good for them. I hope they have fun with that. And Greece got a government — no wait, no they didn’t. You see, the Greeks tried to vote in anti-euro leaders, but couldn’t get enough to form a government.
[Read more...]