As Chuck wrote yesterday, the markets were feeling confident that an agreement on a second financing accord for Greece was going to be finalized yesterday. The euro (EUR) continued to rally on the news through most of the day, but the talks stumbled over the issue of pension cuts, and EU/IMF officials had to give Greece 15 more days to come up with additional cuts. The delay in an agreement caused the euro to retreat from the two-month highs against the dollar, moving back into the $1.32 handle after trading as high as $1.3313. But there is still confidence an agreement will be met, as the parties have agreed on all the issues except a 300 million euro reduction in pension benefits.
[Read more...]Trends that Won’t End
January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
U.S. taxpayers have lost $133 billion from TARP — the abominable acronym inflicted on us by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson — a new report out this morning shows.
We begin another week pulled in two directions: In one direction lie unresolved failures in policy… and the mayhem it has wrought in the financial system. In the other lie breakthroughs in energy and biotechnology.
[Read more...]How Ben Bernanke Rationalizes “Exceptionally Low” Interest Rates
January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Anything happen in the markets yesterday? To tell the truth, we forgot to check. Let’s have a look now, then…
Dow up by 80-something points. A barrel of the world’s currently-preferred energy sits pretty at $100, on the nose. Nothing much, in other words.
Ooh…but here’s something: “Gold extends post-Fed rally to 6-week high.” MarketWatch has the story…
[Read more...]When the Public Sector Debt Bubble Blows Up
January 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
What’s ahead for 2012?
We gave you a hunch yesterday. The price of gold will probably go nowhere this year.
We have a feeling that 2012 is not going to be a great year for money you get from the ground. Oddly, it will probably be a better year for the money you get from trees.
How is that possible? We all know paper money is going to be worthless. Yes…dear reader…but not necessarily in 2012. It’s just part of the curious way Mr. Market does business…and a feature of his nasty habit of ruining as many investors as possible.
[Read more...]Is Gold Washed Up?
January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A stitch in time…
Okay… We have left 2011 behind. We are rid of it forever. It won’t come back. Never. Not even if the universe lasts a million years, we will never see it again.
Or will we? One of the intriguing discoveries of 2011 came the giant particle accelerator in Switzerland. Those clever scientists set up a race, from Geneva to a finish line in Italy, 730 kilometers away. It was a race of neutrinos against light. Who do you think won?
[Read more...]When a Great Correction Doesn’t Stick to the Script
December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Darkness without a dawn…
The Dow down 167 yesterday. Gold down $48. Nothing to get excited about.
The excitement is still ahead. When the Dow cuts through the 10,000 mark and heads to 6,000. Stay tuned…
In the meantime, yesterday’s Financial Times told us that the industrialized nations will borrow $10 trillion this year. Next year, the figure should be higher.
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The Federal Reserve’s Explicit Goal: Devalue the Dollar 33%
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years. The debauch of the dollar will be even greater if the Fed exceeds its goal of a 2 percent per year increase in the price level.
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