Is Facebook the Rusty Hinge of the Stock Market?

Yesterday, stocks bounced…just as they should have. After two weeks of falling, they were ready to bounce. Heck, even a dead congressman will bounce, if you drop him from high enough.

The Dow rose 135 points. Not very impressive, after so many down days.

Everything has been sinking… Stocks, commodities, oil…

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Examining the Long-Term Benefits of Gold Investing

Dow down, but only by a bit. Gold off, but only by a touch. Oil lower too, but just by a smidge.

We don’t go in for daily numbers, Fellow Reckoner. They’re too volatile. Too capricious. Too whimsical. One minute, stocks are on an upward tear. The next they’re crashing down again. Then you take a step back and realize the chart you’re looking at tracks movements by the fractions of a point. It’s like watching footage from a tiny camera, strapped to the back of an ant…at an IMAX theatre. Comfortably navigable ground suddenly becomes a terrifying terrain of Himalayan proportions. Who needs the headache, the vertigo or the motion sickness?

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Examining the Long-Term Benefits of Gold Investing

Dow down, but only by a bit. Gold off, but only by a touch. Oil lower too, but just by a smidge.

We don’t go in for daily numbers, Fellow Reckoner. They’re too volatile. Too capricious. Too whimsical. One minute, stocks are on an upward tear. The next they’re crashing down again. Then you take a step back and realize the chart you’re looking at tracks movements by the fractions of a point. It’s like watching footage from a tiny camera, strapped to the back of an ant…at an IMAX theatre. Comfortably navigable ground suddenly becomes a terrifying terrain of Himalayan proportions. Who needs the headache, the vertigo or the motion sickness?

[Read more...]

Examining the Long-Term Benefits of Gold Investing

Dow down, but only by a bit. Gold off, but only by a touch. Oil lower too, but just by a smidge.

We don’t go in for daily numbers, Fellow Reckoner. They’re too volatile. Too capricious. Too whimsical. One minute, stocks are on an upward tear. The next they’re crashing down again. Then you take a step back and realize the chart you’re looking at tracks movements by the fractions of a point. It’s like watching footage from a tiny camera, strapped to the back of an ant…at an IMAX theatre. Comfortably navigable ground suddenly becomes a terrifying terrain of Himalayan proportions. Who needs the headache, the vertigo or the motion sickness?

[Read more...]

Examining the Long-Term Benefits of Gold Investing

Dow down, but only by a bit. Gold off, but only by a touch. Oil lower too, but just by a smidge.

We don’t go in for daily numbers, Fellow Reckoner. They’re too volatile. Too capricious. Too whimsical. One minute, stocks are on an upward tear. The next they’re crashing down again. Then you take a step back and realize the chart you’re looking at tracks movements by the fractions of a point. It’s like watching footage from a tiny camera, strapped to the back of an ant…at an IMAX theatre. Comfortably navigable ground suddenly becomes a terrifying terrain of Himalayan proportions. Who needs the headache, the vertigo or the motion sickness?

[Read more...]

The Permanent Portfolio…Revised

Tim writes:

My choice of investments: SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ), US Aerospace and Defense ETF (ITA), and DJ-UBS Commodity ETN (DJP).

JP Writes:

Equal allocations to the Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), MSCI Emerging Market ETF (EEM), DJ Real Estate ETF (IYR), Barclay’s 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), and SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD).

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A Closer Look at Stocks, Commodities and the US Dollar

Up…up…and away!

Stocks…commodities…the US dollar…there’s more unbridled enthusiasm being lavished upon these three investment vehicles than would be on an impromptu Victoria Secret fashion show in San Quentin.

Anything demanding that much attention must surely be worth a closer look. So grab your bifocals, Fellow Reckoners, and let’s investigate…

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Goldman Sachs is Probably Not a “Buy”

“I don’t know much about the stock market,” says Matt Taibbi, the witty critic of Goldman Sachs and other financial atrocities, “but when the O’Neills of the world start telling me what a great investment opportunity the American stock market is, I start getting the urge to buy canned food.”

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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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