Even Central Banks Are Buying Australian As the RBA Plans Higher Rates

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its minutes from its last board meeting, May 3. I reviewed these minutes curious to understand the bank’s expectations for commodity prices given the on-going sell-off in commodities. The meeting occurred just as commodities started their current sell-off, so these pressures were not salient at the time. However, … Read more

China’s Inflation Could Be Worse but Stimulus Money Is Sitting In Investments, Not Consumption

Originally posted on “Inflation Watch“… Nightly Business Report produced a short video segment describing China’s inflation woes (transcript included) called “China’s Inflation Battle.” The commentator identifies China’s RMB¥ 4 trillion stimulus program (around $585B USD at the time) as the original source of the inflation and takes us to Pengshui, 1000 miles from Beijing, to … Read more

Searching for A Corral for the Silver Stampede

What has changed in the two months it took for silver to stampede its way up $15 (a 43% gain) and back? Did the Federal Reserve raise rates? Did the Federal Reserve threaten the market with rate hikes? Did the housing market rebound sharply, generating an expectation for higher rates? Did inflation expectations adjust sharply? … Read more

links for 2011-04-29

Gold Luring Central-Bank Buyers May Extend Record Rally – Bloomberg Central banks that were net sellers of gold a decade ago are buying the precious metal to reduce their reliance on the dollar as a reserve currency, signaling demand that may extend a record rally in prices. (tags: gold monetary_policy central_banks) Adjusted For Inflation, Dollar … Read more

links for 2011-04-25

Dangerous Views of Volatility: Pay attention to the VIX, but don't just follow the crowd – Barrons.com The market remains schizophrenic. One day, stock prices tumble because Standard & Poor's questions the credit rating of the United States, and investors panic and sell and fret, and the front pages of many newspapers are apocalyptic. The … Read more