Wrangling Over Income Inequality: A Comprehensive Review and Critique of Robert Reich’s Book “Aftershock”

According to “Building a Better America One Wealth Quintile at a Time” by Dan Ariely and Michael I. Norton, Americans are generally misinformed about the true distribution of wealth in America. Robert Reich’s “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future” represents an insightful and creative approach to educating the reader on income inequality and potential … Read more

Time to Buy the Dips In Homebuilders

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 12, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) I last provided a comprehensive review of the housing market on September 29, 2010 in “Still Expecting Housing to Bounce Along the Bottom Until 2013.” At the time, I reiterated the … Read more

Global Economic Pressures Continue to Push the Dollar Reluctantly Higher

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 27, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) The U.S. dollar’s role as a “safety” currency has finally returned although the market has only reluctantly marched back to the dollar’s printing presses. This year’s first two market swoons sent … Read more

Chart Review: Dollar Index Surges Back Above the 200 AND 50DMAs

Surprise! The dollar’s relief rally is not quite over as I had suspected last Thursday (October 27) when the dollar plunged with resounding force below its 200-day moving average (DMA). On Monday, the dollar index surged back above its 200DMA as all of last week’s booming enthusiasm over a deal on Greek sovereign dealt rapidly … Read more

The Federal Reserve Finally Tries to Fight A Bubble…In the Price of Farmland

(Originally published in Inflation Watch) Under Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve was known to stand on the sidelines while bubbles in asset prices grew and grew. Greenspan had a lot more faith in the Federal Reserve’s ability to mop up the subsequent mess caused by a bubble’s collapse than in its ability to stop a … Read more

The Rush for Gold Intensifies

Gold is suddenly just about the only asset that is working in financial markets. This fact will likely ignite a positive feedback loop that will send gold parabolic in a matter of time. In “India Gold Imports May Reach a Record“, Bloomberg provides some great statistics from various sources that seem to add weight to … Read more

Chart Review: Silver Breaks Out Again

Finally, silver re-awakens. After a near straight-line recovery from August’s lows, silver broke out with a gap up to new highs for the month. Source: stockcharts.com The ETF for silver, iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV), is of course following a similar pattern. With silver (and gold) being one of the few assets working on the … Read more

If Gold Is Going Higher On Fear, It Is Fear of Greenspan

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} …if fear is running rampant in the gold trade, it is not fear of a recession, depression, etc… Instead, it is the fear of former chairman Alan Greenspan – better yet, it is the … Read more

Flowserve Loses All Its QE2-Inspired Gains

Late August has become a benchmark for the success of the Federal Reserve’s last money-printing campaign given at that time Chairman Ben Bernanke first floated the suggestion that another round of quantitative easing (QE2) was on its way (see speech at Jackson Hole, WY, August 27, 2010). I am also using this date as a … Read more