ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The never-ending debate about government regulations has recently inherited an intriguing level of urgency with the economy stalled and both major political parties targeting regulations as potential impediments to growth. The Obama administration announced plans to remove regulations that it estimated would save businesses $5 billion over five years. In an all too predictable partisan … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) While the stock market was oversold, I focused on accumulating beaten-down, commodity-related stocks as part of my “commodities crash” playbook as explained in “Profiting from Physical Assets in a Resource-Constrained World – Rules and Picks.” … Read more
China: The five-year plan | NPR Marketplace Five years ago, Marketplace visited China for a series of special reports. During our special two-week broadcast, we covered a wide range of stories — many involving China's rapid economic growth. Some of the topics we looked at include the hidden price of China's pace, its move toward … Read more
Today, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced it is taking additional measures to try to weaken its currency and wave off the franc’s many adoring fans. The SNB’s latest statement gets an “A” in rhetoric for amplifying its fighting words and claiming victory in one battle even as the bank warns it is prepared to … Read more
Two nations have the odd combination of near zero interest rates and extremely strong currencies: Japan and Switzerland. Japan has finally moved once again to try weakening its popular currency (click here for a description I gave on how to play the intervention). The Swiss National Bank (SNB), burned by a very unsuccessful attempt to … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) Alix Steel, a reporter for thestreet.com, discussed gold on Nightly Business Report, July 26. She claimed that gold’s low volume, summer rally is being fueled by fears of a default on U.S. debt. Nevermind that … Read more
“Fed May Launch New Round of Stimulus.” So rang the headlines. The Federal Reserve seemed poised to launch another round of quantitative easing if only it had a weak economy to generate the proper excuse. An Associate Press article about steel stocks suggested that the market’s rally was specifically about the prospect of potential stimulus: … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} This piece is a follow-up post to “Preparing for Profits in a Resource-Constrained World” (Part 1) in which I discussed the implications of Jeremy Grantham’s fundamental thesis of a new world where resources are … Read more
(Originally appeared in Inflation Watch) The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis just published an article written by James Bullard, a non-voting member of the Federal Reserve and President of the St. Louis Fed, called “Measuring Inflation: The Core Is Rotten.” It is based on a speech Bullard delivered two months ago to the Money … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Two months ago or so, a friend directed my attention to Jeremy Grantham’s GMO Quarterly Newsletter for April, 2011 titled “Time to Wake Up: Days of Abundant Resources and Falling Prices Are Over Forever.” … Read more