Global Market Commentary, Analysis and Investments
Well, well… it’s a “risk-off” day in the markets. Let’s look at some quick numbers:
Here’s a headline for you, Fellow Reckoner:
“Blood and spittle on pub floor, to little avail”
That was on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday. No joke. Yep, we’re back on Terra Australis. At least we were for a couple of hours. Then we hopped the Tasman for the Land of Birds and/or Long White Clouds, depending who you ask. We’ve barely slept a wink since we left on Monday.
[Read more...]Did you miss us, Dear Reader?
You won’t believe this…we hardly believe it ourselves…but after months of planning and preparation for our expedition to the high, dry mountains of Argentina, we’re still here in the city of Salta… Our project has been delayed…by floods.
[Read more...]Dow up 45 points on Friday. The 10-year T-note right on the 2% yield mark.
Almost all the news is good. It looks like recovery is finally here.
Or, are we just getting used to a punky economy…where even a little improvement looks like a boom?
As far as we know, the US economy is still in a Great Correction…with plenty more correction ahead.
[Read more...]Tired of running out of time and money? Scrimping and saving just to make ends meet?
Try moving to Harlingen, Texas. The cost of living there is only about 40% of the cost of living in Manhattan.
Here’s Real Time Economics with a report:
Obama has spoken about having the rich pay their fair share, and $250,000 is a lot of money. But to characterize those households that earn that sum as “rich” depends very much on where they live. Thanks to regional differences on costs, $250,000 does not go so far in places like New York City and Honolulu, compared with cities in Texas or Tennessee.
[Read more...]We can learn a lot from the Argentines. When it comes to messing up an economy, they’re Numero Uno. They’re Olympians of financial legerdemain and masters of the old false shuffle.
In 2001, the country was deeply in debt. The government was out of money. And the currency was losing value fast. What did the Argentines do?
[Read more...]Last week came and went. As near as we could tell, nothing was settled. The trends in motion stayed in motion… No end in sight.
On Friday, Americans were still convinced that they were never going broke. The Europeans were still squabbling about how they were going to keep from going broke And the Japanese were telling each other that going broke wouldn’t be so bad.
[Read more...]Here’s a meaningless abstraction for you, Fellow Reckoner. You ready?
US GDP grew at an annualized rate of 1.7% for 2011.
Now, what does that sentence actually tell us? What does it reveal about life or the quality of it; about the long arc of history and where we are along it; about the Heavens above us, the Hells below and our place in the present somewhere in between? What useful piece of information does this arrangement of letters and numbers divulge that has this morning’s news wires so abuzz with excitement?
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To Die and Let Live
American civilization has become much more civilized during the last hundred years. In the process, ironically, it has become much more savage toward capitalism and free enterprise.
One hundred years ago, most folks accepted adversity as an unavoidable facet of life. Childbirth was a high-risk endeavor. “Old folks” died at 50. Dysentery claimed more lives than heart attacks. Businesses failed. Governments defaulted. Currencies crumbled.
[Read more...]