Investment Alternatives in a No-Growth Market

Baltimore…best bet for investors?

We drove back into town on Sunday night. People moped around in front of bars. Groups walked uptown from the stadium, their shoulders down, the chins dragging. The city was dark…and unhappy.

There was no joy in Baltimore on Sunday night. Baltimore is a sports town. The Ravens — the only team we know named after a poem — had lost. They would not be going to the Super Bowl.

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Gold in the Face of Facebook

Stocks are up today. The major indexes have jumped 1%… for no obvious reason.

There’s talk of a halo effect from the pending IPO of Facebook, which could file the paperwork as early as today.

Oy… Talk about “riding on a smile and a shoeshine,” to borrow from Death of a Salesman.

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Gold in the Next Calendar Year

We’re not getting any older. Or, are we?

Yes, dear reader, it is all coming together…and falling apart.

First, this is a quiet time in the markets. The Dow barely moved yesterday. Gold, however, fell $10 to close under $1,600.

You know the drill. Sell stocks on rallies. Buy gold on dips. This formula has worked beautifully for the last 12 years. We don’t see any reason to give it up. Has anything important changed? Is there a new man at the Fed who is determined to save the dollar and the bond market? Has Congress suddenly decided to stop spending more than it takes in?

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Gold in the Next Calendar Year

We’re not getting any older. Or, are we?

Yes, dear reader, it is all coming together…and falling apart.

First, this is a quiet time in the markets. The Dow barely moved yesterday. Gold, however, fell $10 to close under $1,600.

You know the drill. Sell stocks on rallies. Buy gold on dips. This formula has worked beautifully for the last 12 years. We don’t see any reason to give it up. Has anything important changed? Is there a new man at the Fed who is determined to save the dollar and the bond market? Has Congress suddenly decided to stop spending more than it takes in?

[Read more...]

Don’t Sweat the Correction in Gold

I’ve told more than one concerned investor that when the gold price falls, they should “come back in three months” and see if they’re still worried. The idea is that the daily and monthly gyrations are nothing to fret over, that the price will recover and, in time, fetch new highs.

That advice has worked every time gold underwent any significant correction (except in late 2008, when one had to take a longer view than three months). Here’s proof.

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Chinese Gold Buying Moves Markets

Gold is knocking at the door of $1,800 for the first time in six weeks. Alas, thus far today, the solitary traveler has been refused entry.

The spot price has oscillated between $1,790 and $1,800 for the last 24 hours. Silver, meanwhile, is approaching its own round-number threshold. At last check, the bid was a few pennies below $35.

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Japan, Gold and the Euro Crisis

At last week’s Safety & Survival Summit, sponsored by Agora Financial, I discussed the great appeal of Japanese stocks. This next table below, from Symphony Financial Partners, which runs a Japan-focused fund, shows you the percentage of Japanese stocks that meet three tough valuation criteria:

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When the Logic of the Bull Market Suddenly Seems Illogical

Nothing much to talk about in the markets yesterday.

We had been expecting a bigger sell-off in the price of gold. The metal went down, about $300 if we recall correctly, but not as much as we expected.

In the last major bull market in gold, in the ’70s, the price declined by about 50% before going on to set a new record. The pullback in 1974 caused investors to question the premise of the whole bull market. Many dropped out and missed the big payoff.

[Read more...]

When the Logic of the Bull Market Suddenly Seems Illogical

Nothing much to talk about in the markets yesterday.

We had been expecting a bigger sell-off in the price of gold. The metal went down, about $300 if we recall correctly, but not as much as we expected.

In the last major bull market in gold, in the ’70s, the price declined by about 50% before going on to set a new record. The pullback in 1974 caused investors to question the premise of the whole bull market. Many dropped out and missed the big payoff.

[Read more...]