Archive - 2011 - Blog entry

Is it just remotely possible, that 50% of the people in the United States of America can't possibly afford to live in Bullish Projection America and that the growth that is priced into the markets is, perhaps, overly optimistic?

This is a translation of Ben Bernanke's speech today to the National Press Club. The short translation: We don't know what we are doing!

How does NFP effect a market?

Traders take note. The inflation trade is back in full effect. It is overstretched in some areas, but that state can last quite a while. And we you consider the idiocy coming our of the Fed (QE 3!?!?!) and the ECB, it’s not surprising. Until someone reigns these lunatics in, commodities will be ramping higher, trumping even stocks’ performance.

I wonder when the WSJ will eat crow? Sooner than you might think.

43 obvious signs of what everybody in central banking says is not their - Inflation. Next up: currency volatility?

Want to know how to keep internet access when your government shuts it down? Then read this article from Patrick Miller and David Daw.

The garlic eaters don’t want to repay their debts, and the beer drinkers don’t want to lend them any more money. That pretty much sums up the financial tensions that exist within Europe right now. Time to Short the Euro.

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty." Thomas Jefferson

The market was relatively quiet today as protesters in Egypt clashed with pro-government supporters (apparently one group wore plaid and another wore stripes, how gauche)...

Retail traders are notoriously wrong at picking market direction/tops and bottoms. Most retail traders very naturally seem to adopt a counter-trend stance and this offers very accurate signals for individuals looking to trade against this group. This daily report is designed to help traders focus their efforts on higher probability pairs.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he doesn’t mind breaking promises to pensioners to close a $10.5 billion budget deficit -- even if they sue...

This is just like when the British police attacked the non-violent protesters led by Gandhi, or the police in towns in the South of the United States attacked the peaceful protesters led by Martin Luther King, Jr.

What if a rating agency downgraded a country and no one listened?

With all of the news outlets focused on tensions in the Middle East, have we forgotten about the elephant(s) in the room? Ireland’s credit rating was downgraded one level to A- today by Standard & Poor’s - leaving it four levels above “junk” status. To add insult to injury, S&P said that the country remains on “credit watch with negative implications.” Nonetheless, the market barely shrugged. In fact, we remain within points of the post meltdown highs. The real kicker was the fact that Ireland’s 5-yr Credit Default Swaps FELL 4.6% today in the face of the downgrade. Perhaps the market has become numb to the rating agencies.

To my way of thinking, you only own Gold if you OWN Gold. By this I mean you have REAL ACTUAL GOLD in your hands, NOT a claim on Gold that someone else CLAIMS is exists. After all, the paper-based Gold ETFs are all run by large banks that claim to have enormous warehouses of Gold. Seeing as these institutions are all lying about the toxic debts, off-balance sheet assets, and more… what’s to stop them from lying about their bullion reserves?