Global Market Commentary, Analysis and Investments
Earlier this week our friend Barry Ritholtz, editor of The Big Picture blog and regular speaker for the Agora Financial Investment Symposium, posted a recent Dilbert cartoon writing, “I wish I had this for the Agora conference — they would have loved it!”
How right he is!
When preparing for the world’s complete financial meltdown, you can’t forget the defensive basics. You can check out the cartoon below. It came to our attention from his original post over at The Big Picture.
[Read more...]The current sugar cane crops in Brazil are falling far short of expectations, to the tune of some 50 million tons, and as a result shoppers could be facing near record high food prices… again. The latest findings come by way of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which recently released its increased food price index.
[Read more...]A headline caught my eye last week, beyond all the ink spent on European debt woes. It read, “Hungry China Shops in Argentina.” China already buys most of Argentina’s soybean exports. And now China’s largest farming company is trying to lock down acreage for more soybeans. It also unveiled a plan to grow wheat, corn, vegetables, fruit and even wine – all for export to China.
[Read more...]Continued from Part One.
According to a June 8th CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 48 percent of Americans believe that another Great Depression is likely to occur in the next year – the highest that figure has ever reached. The survey also indicates that just under half of the respondents live in a household where someone has lost a job or is worried that unemployment may hit them in the near future.
[Read more...]Everything is not all right. And things are going to get worse … much worse. The economy is on the threshold of calamity. Wars are spreading like wildfires. The world is on a razor’s edge.
Not so, say world leaders and mainstream media experts. Yes, there are problems, but the financiers and politicians are aware of them. Policies are already in place and measures are being taken to correct them.
[Read more...]Today, a new post on our friend Barry Ritholtz’s blog looks at Jack Cafferty’s new CNN Question of the Hour: What are the chances the US economy could eventually trigger violence in our country?
A few choice quotations help explain the perspective:
Stocks struggled yesterday to reverse a long series of losses. For a while, it looked like they would succeed. But by the time the bell rang, the Dow was down again – 19 points.
Oil held steady at $99. Gold closed down $4, with the euro edging up towards the $1.50 mark.
Are stocks headed down, while the major market trend remains fundamentally bullish?
[Read more...]The following interview was first published in The Edge Singapore on May 30, 2011 by Assif Shameen.
Richard Duncan, author of the seminal The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures, an international bestseller that predicted the recent global economic crisis with extraordinary accuracy, commands a lot of respect among Asian policymakers. Armed with a Master’s degree in international finance, the affable American economist is a veteran of the region.
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How Empires Really Work
Great empires, such as the Roman and British, were extractive. The empires succeeded, because the value of the resources and wealth extracted from conquered lands exceeded the value of conquest and governance. The reason Rome did not extend its empire east into Germany was not the military prowess of Germanic tribes but Rome’s calculation that the cost of conquest exceeded the value of extractable resources.
[Read more...]