The Greek talks returned to the headlines this morning. I know I said this last Friday, and I was a little too optimistic and turned out to be wrong! But… I do expect this agreement on a private-sector involvement in Greek debt to get hammered out this weekend… It seems that the opposition from eurozone policymakers is backing off, and that has me optimistic once again.
[Read more...]Brazil Quietly Scraps its Tax on Foreign Investment
December 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Today is our country’s first day of infamy… Pearl Harbor Day… I hope to visit Pearl Harbor some day, and pay my respects to those American soldiers and sailors who were attacked when we weren’t even at war with the Japanese… A day for us all to stop and think about what happened that day.
[Read more...]China Still Finding Ways to Gain Wider Renminbi Distribution
December 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday, I told you the currencies were range trading, with the euro (EUR) better bid, after Friday’s Jobs Jamboree crock… Well, about mid-morning, we received word that German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and French President Sarkozy, had reached an agreement on how to handle rogue Eurozone members going forward. They ironed out a new Eurozone Treaty, which will be presented to the Head of the Eurozone on Wednesday, and then on for a vote on Friday… This news was well received by the markets, and they happily marked up the euro, with the other currencies following along.
[Read more...]Continue to Buy Gold on Dips
November 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well… There I was, in a room full of CFAs — people with minds that don’t work like mine, or should I say mine doesn’t work like theirs! And at the podium was James Bullard, President of the St. Louis Fed… And it hurts me to talk, and I would not have been able to talk loud enough for him to hear my question… Oh, the things that happen to me!
[Read more...]China Contemplates More Investment
September 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well… The death watch for Greek debt continues… I saw one pundit say yesterday that a Greek default wasn’t a question of “if” but “when”… The markets are convinced that Greece and the European Union have no way out of this but to default. The Eurozone leaders are still trying to hang on to the 10% chance that Greece won’t default, and good for them… It would do no one any good for them to throw in the towel when there’s still a chance… Unfortunately, the chances are slim and none…and slim left town!
[Read more...]Global Manufacturing Takes a Hit
September 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday morning I told you that with the day being the last of the month, we could very well see some currency weakness, as traders square their books, and close out short positions in the dollar. And that’s exactly what I think we saw yesterday… The bias switched from dumping dollars to buying them, but not at breakneck speed, just a gentle flow…
[Read more...]US Dollar Reverses Losses After Jobs Report
July 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well… Friday was quite interesting with the Jobs Jamboree falling flat on its face, and watching the dollar get sold…and then bought again as the day went on… The dollar holds the hammer again this morning, as now the media and market observers are going after Italy… So the offset to the dollar, the euro (EUR), is slip-sliding away… Slip-sliding away, the nearer your destination, the more you’re slip-sliding away…
[Read more...]US Trade Deficit Takes on a Life of its Own
June 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The week of “non-data” here in the US continued on Wednesday, with the markets searching for a clue as to which direction to go, and the only news they had to work with was from Greece, which didn’t bode well for the currencies, yesterday.
But the lack-o-data ends today, with the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, and… The April US trade deficit… This trade deficit has taken on a life of its own, in that we had a recession (I call an ongoing depression) and a financial meltdown, which one would think would bring this trade deficit in line… But NOOOOOOO! That’s not happening, folks, and why? Ahhh grasshopper, this has been discussed so many times in the past, but the point here is that the manufacturing in this country has gone the way of the Pony Express… Sure, it still exists, and in some countries would be great! But for a country our size, it has wasted away in Margaritaville! And it’s not enough to offset the imports…
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Greece Disappoints Again!
Here we are… The last couple of days of January… So the first month of 2012 is just about over, and already, we’ve heard the Fed push their rate forecast for near zero rates out further, and the Fed laying the groundwork for another round of QE… But… When we began the month/year, everyone was pounding their chests, and talking about what a great year 2012 would be (economic-wise)… Talk about deflating the balloon in the first month of the year!
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