Good day! And a wonderful Wednesday to you! A very confusing day for yours truly yesterday. I have my beliefs, and they have been proven to be true for a long time now. But now there’s something gnawing at those beliefs now… and then a wrench gets thrown into the works. I’m telling you now, so you can listen to me later: Confusion reigns…
[Read more...]China to Show More Manufacturing Weakness?
January 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
What looked like a workable situation for Greece and private creditors has taken a turn that has the euro (EUR) vulnerable again this morning. It’s not as if the situation is unworkable. It’s just that they are struggling to come to an agreement, and since it’s not as smooth as Jiffy, then the Chicken Littles come out of the crowds… But then, quite frankly, I have been surprised by the strength the euro has displayed this week. The euro has always shown resiliency, but as I’ve said a couple of times now this year… I wouldn’t be surprised to see it fall to 1.18 and then rebound to 1.40… But we have 49 more weeks to go in 2012. There’s a lot of give and take here, so buckle up, yes, that’s right: Click it or ticket…
[Read more...]Guns vs. Guitars
September 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be travelling on, now,
’Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see.
— Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Bullying small and medium businesses, sending armed goons to American factories, confiscating private property, closing down production and harassing business owners and their employees; a curious strategy for nurturing domestic job creation, wouldn’t you say?
[Read more...]2011 Halftime Report: The Cues for Copper
July 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Copper slightly disappointed investors, ending the first half of the year with a decline of 3.50 percent. Worries about global inflation and, more specifically, the potential slowing of China’s economy weighed on copper’s price. The red metal rose 5 percent quickly in the new year, but similar to zinc, lead, palladium and platinum prices, declined sharply at the beginning of May.
[Read more...]China Opens World’s Longest Cross-Sea Bridge
July 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Qingdao BridgeWhen the new Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge opened to traffic this week in China, it made the Guinness World Records for the longest cross-sea bridge in the world. The 26.4-mile long and 110-foot wide bridge stretches across the bay, linking the Huangdao district to the city of Qingdao and Hongdao Island.
[Read more...]How Manufacturing Jobs Could be Returning Home to the US
May 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In 2010, China had been overtaking the US as the number one biggest manufacturer in the world. However, a recent study from the Boston Consulting Group entitled, The Return of US Manufacturing, suggests that a “manufacturing renaissance” may be afoot in the US.
[Read more...]The Attack on the Washing Machine
May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
You can chart the course of human progress in terms of how clean our clothing is. In early times people used animal skins, had no change of clothing, and had no soap. By Adam Smith’s day, soap had improved in quality, was produced industrially, and was becoming available to the common man.
In fact, the Industrial Revolution, which is usually discussed in terms of iron, steam, and factories, was actually all about bringing products like soap and underwear – previously only available to the rich – to the common peasants.
[Read more...]Cheap Energy: Vital Fuel for the Economic Growth Engine
May 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In our travels around the world, somewhere…somehow…we lost the re-charger to our laptop.
So…this will have to be short…we’re running out of juice!
Yesterday, the Dow fell again. Oil is still below $100. And gold is sinking.
In other words, everything is happening as it should. It’s too early to draw a conclusion or spot a near-term trend. We’ll have to wait to see.
[Read more...]
Manufacturing Growth Continues
I have to tell you what’s on my mind this morning after watching the price action again yesterday… I know, it’s just me, and no one else in the writing/analyst world will tell you this, because they have no proof… I don’t either, but that never stops me from saying what’s on my mind regarding these markets now, does it?
[Read more...]