When the federal deficit reaches levels the country has never before seen, politicians get excited about any possibility to raise revenues. A recent approach, one designed to reduce speculation while increasing revenue, is spreading around the world. The financial transaction tax. Read more…
It is often said that a picture speaks a thousand words. In this post, I’ll let the picture do the talking, but I’ll add just one thing. Read more…
The Chinese have been labelled as a “currency manipulator” by the United States, and now months later are working to remove the peg and allow for a freer floating currency. Read more…
US stimulus programs totaling in the billions of dollars may be better for Canada and Mexico than they are for the United States. The three interconnected NAFTA countries’ currencies are booming in tandem to each other, with each rallying to nearly the same degree. Read more…
Where there’s controversy and problems in the market you’re sure to find Goldman Sachs. This investment bank just can’t stay out of the spotlight—a problem that’s not going away any time soon. This time at least Goldman wasn’t in the wrong. Read more…
In macroeconomics, no global meetings are as powerful as G8 summits. The eight largest economic countries come together to decide economic policy, both for themselves and the world. Usually the G8 meetings come and go, with very little of anything other than pictures coming out of the world-wide talks. Read more…
At first I thought currency ETFs were rather interesting. They were the only way to get into currencies without a forex account or a brokerage account, which very few stock traders actually possess. If anything I would have expected these funds to gain a lot of traction, especially with how volatile the currency markets are right now. A look into why they’re disappearing and what may be next for currency ETFs. Read more…
Fifty million people, one-sixth of the population, will be receiving checks from the stimulus package in May. The payments go to those who do not qualify for “Making Work Pay,” a tax credit that offers $400 per person or $800 per couple. The lowdown and possible investment opportunities… Read more…
The relationship between the United States and China is best described as a love-hate. American’s love Chinese goods and the Chinese love American treasuries but the political tensions are heating up as the new Treasury Secretary is taking a similar stance of Treasury Secretary’s before him– the Chinese currency is being manipulated and kept far too undervalued. Read more…
With the deleveraging of the financial markets the dollar has soared in value against other currencies back into the same trend that occurs every few years. This is setting up an excellent forex trade going into the next few years with GBPUSD being one of the best trades. Short, short, short the dollar and long everything else. Read more…
Looking back through the past few years it seems now that we’re exactly where we began seven years ago. The stock markets were tanking, one bubble was ending and another beginning. Then it was the tech industry and after that the real estate boom, today its real estate bubble bursting and the treasury bubble beginning (and soon ending.) Read more…
This stock was the perfect bubble. Mastercard represents strong growth in foreign markets, an excitingly strong PEG ratio but is currently running the wrong business. Tight credit markets lower the amount of available credit and the amount that Mastercard users can afford to charge. Read more…
The Atom processor for Intel is flat out hot. After the MacBook Air set the precedent for smaller computing devices, the industry has been pumping out both small and light computers to meet the demands of consumers. The new laptops are nothing more than for surfing the web or word processing on the go but their low price points and seemingly high powered XP devices are catching on quickly. Read more…
It’s over for any of the big three. The huge sales declines posted recently, Kerkorian’s sell off of Ford stock, and a $25 Billion loan that has done little to prop up stock prices or seemingly influence the balance sheets of any of the automakers. The high cost of union employees, bankrupting pension programs and higher components and gas prices have virtually sealed the deal on any chance of a recovery. Read more…
Treasury secretary Paulson has addressed the credit crunch yet again, this time he is calling for the Fed and the Treasury to be allowed to buy illiquid bank assets. Not much more was stated, just that the future plan would involve the Fed and the Treasury to buy bank assets and cut through the credit crisis. This is a buyout in every sense of the word, bailout with inflation and tax dollars to save the largest financial institutions and the rapidly unwinding derivatives market. Read more…
A short term gain in the dollar which amounts to just a few percentage points has completely taken the floor under the commodity markets. Its ridiculous to think as the fundamentals that drove commodities higher exist at even greater levels. Gold and silver have fallen sharply which should add to the many reasons why investors should still favor these levels. Read more…
Watching the Dow tick away nearly 240 points today shows how much weakness still exists in today’s market. Without huge positive news, the market is slowly falling into a sell-off powered by recent profit taking. After the Dow rallied for a week, investors were already pulling the trigger and cashing in, it seems like no one wants to hold onto US equities for longer than they have to. A modest week long rally comes to a close with a slide of 240 points. Read more…
The markets as a whole have lost plenty of value as of late but it appears as though at least one index is set for a rally. The S&P 500 is off by 13% since the beginning of the year but some technical analysis looks make it seem like we’re ready for a rally. Read more…
We often hear about how the US dollar is pegged to oil as the demand for the currency is derived mostly from oil which can only be priced in US dollars. As the price for oil rises, it will take more dollars to buy the same amount of oil, thus push up the price of the US Dollar. With oil at $135 per barrel, it now takes $11,475,000,000 per day in dollars to supply the world, that’s twice as much as just a couple years ago when the word worked with $60 barrels. Read more…
Poor timing, too low price points? No, it appears that Yahoo might be avoiding a Microsoft buyout solely for sentimental reasons. Now that Jerry Yang is the CEO, it appears he’s wanting to hold onto the company he worked so hard to start back in his own college years at Stanford.
Yang owns about 4% of the company that is currently worth $1.5 Billion, his stakes are huge and he’s still drawing the infamous $1 salary that is common with many tech giants. His wealth has been derived in its entirety from the growth and capital gains he’s received as a huge shareholder in Yahoo. As CEO and a founder, it seems that his own unwillingness to sell might lay in a dislike for Microsoft and sentimental views of Microsoft rather than what shareholders want. Read more…
Bonds, ETF, Forex, Futures and Commodities, Investing, Real Estate, Round Up, Stocks
Recession worries might soon be behind us, not because of economic growth but instead, the Federal Reserve actions are now holding strong. An inflationary cycle has push all economic indicators up, giving wall street new hope and worried investors back to the markets.
In every economic recession the Federal Reserve has acted exactly the same, ease lending rates and force new credit into the financial system. Their latest actions of increasing new credit to banks, issuing $30 Billion in credit to finance the Bear Sterns buyout and Congress’s economic stimulus package of $150 Billion will soon make its way into the economy and into the pockets of Americans eager to become consumers once again. Read more…
The last week in the market has told us a lot. Investors are no longer responding to credit issues by the Federal Reserve and the rapid pullback shows us that a lot of people want out. The next few months ahead look pretty rough, especially considering the technical indicators on the Dow. Read more…
China is experiencing the same rate of inflation the United States is seeing due to its currency and its near peg to the US Dollar. Food and energy prices have gone up the at the fastest rate in the last 12 years. The consumer price index rose 8.7% since just last February. Read more…
The Federal Government certainly threw Northrop Group a bone today in the form of a $40 Billion contract to produce refueling tankers. The stock was up 6% in after-hours trading but the company still looks like a great buy. Read more…
Has the recent market fluctuations caught you off guard? For me the swoons that were occurring the past couple of months have left me with lower than expected profits. It is still possible to hedge your investments in another direction. If you need to make up your losses in the stock market a quick way to turn it around is with currency exchanges. Read more…
