Global Market Commentary, Analysis and Investments
Tutto va bene…
That was what the crew told passengers on the Costa Concordia just before it sank.
And it was what the crew of the USS America — the biggest cruise ship of all — were telling passengers last week.
Tutto va bene.
Trouble was, tutto was not going as bene as they claimed. Instead, the ship is sinking.
[Read more...]Let's see, what happened this summer? Easy question. The recovery went missing.
Ben Bernanke said so last week…or almost. He noted that the economy wasn't quite as spiffy as he had hoped and that the Fed stands ready, willing, and able to provide more help.
The stock market liked the news. After falling for many days, it rallied 164 points on Friday. Gold was flat.
[Read more...]US stocks have been teetering on the top of a wall for weeks. Someone should give them a shove!
But yesterday, the Dow rose 103 points. Gold was up $2.
This leaves investors hoping, wondering, waiting for another day. “Maybe I can make some money in the stock market, after all,? say the mom & pop mutual fund buyers. “I gotta stay in this market; it's going up,? say the pros.
[Read more...]What were they doing down by the pond?
The Dow was flat yesterday. Gold rose $9 to $1,226.
Has the dip in gold already come and gone?
We were expecting lower stock prices…and lower gold prices too. Both went down earlier in the summer. But neither went down as much as we expected…nor stayed down.
[Read more...]Bill Bonner here at The Daily Reckoning writes that Tim Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America, is the author of the now-infamous “Welcome to the Recovery? piece he wrote for The New York Times, which I meant to read, and tried to read, but I could only get part way through it before getting visibly upset with such self-serving, lying, sophomoric qualitative excuse-mongering.
[Read more...]Another week gone by. Nothing has been learned. Nothing has been proven. Nothing has been decided.
In the markets, we mean. It looks like the stock market is finally rolling over. After a big drop on Wednesday, the Dow followed up with a modest drop yesterday – down another 58 points.
[Read more...]The big news yesterday was that the Fed decided to do about what we expected – not much.
Bloomberg has the report:
Federal Reserve officials decided to reinvest principal payments on mortgage holdings into long-term Treasury securities, making their first attempt to bolster growth since March 2009 to keep the slowing US economy from relapsing into recession.
[Read more...]Too much stuff.
People come to think what they must think when they must think it. With stagnant incomes, towering debts, and no real hope of increasing their purchasing power, they're beginning to think that they don't need so much stuff.
“Rethinking the pursuit of happiness in a recession,? is a headline from The New York Times. The article talks about people who live quite happily and comfortably with little stuff and little income. One couple has an income of $24,000 per year – and no debt. They make a point of having 100 personal items – or less. They could earn more money, but they don't need to. Because they are no longer supporting so much stuff.
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Risky Investments in a Market Full of Conmen
Dow up more than 100 points yesterday. Gold up $18.
Google…Apple…what more do you need to know?
“Blah, blah, blah…don’t you feel you’re wasting your time?”
Our friend was being sympathetic. She gave us a look of pity, tightly controlling her face muscles; as if it might slide into contempt at any moment. After spending so much time with rocks, dirt, cement…cattle, grapes…doing such real things, we admitted that writing about economics and finance seemed a little light. As if there is nothing real there.
[Read more...]