Tuesday, December 22, 2015
BEA Revises 3rd Quarter 2015 U.S. GDP Growth Upward to 1.99% / Economics / US Economy
In their third (and "final") estimate of the US GDP for the third quarter of 2015, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that the economy was growing at a +1.99% annualized rate, down -0.08% from their previous estimate -- and down nearly 2% (-1.93%) from the second quarter.
Almost all of the revisions in this report were minor, with the largest changes again involving the especially noisy inventory data. Most of the other line items were essentially unchanged. Inventories were reported to have been contracting at a -0.71% annualized rate, a -0.12% deterioration from from the -0.59% contraction rate reported in the previous estimate. As we have mentioned a number of times before, the BEA's treatment of inventories can introduce noise and seriously distort the headline number over short terms -- which the BEA admits by also publishing a secondary headline that excludes the impact of inventories. This BEA "bottom line" (their "Real Final Sales of Domestic Product") was actually revised upward +0.04% to a +2.70% growth rate for the third quarter, from the +2.66% previously reported.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Is The BBC Global 30 Index Signalling a Stock Market Top? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
"A wise man is he who does not grieve for the thing which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." ~ Epictetus
Much the same way many experts felt that the NYSE was issuing a series of death signals, there are just as many who share the same sentiment towards the signals the Global BBC 30 Index is supposedly issuing. This index is thought to provide a more accurate reflection of what is going on in the markets as it is based on the economic data of 30 of the world's largest companies. In today's world where manipulation is the order of the day, over-reliance on such an index might not be the most prudent of actions. It has, however, confirmed that volatility levels have surged to the moon, but of course, we already knew this would occur as this was predicted well in advance by the Market volatility indicator (V-indicator).
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Stock Market Retracement Not Yet Complete / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
SPX appears to need one more probe higher to 2033.00 – 2035.00. Of note is that the Fibonacci retracement of 38.2% is at 2033.27, so this retracement appears to be quite muted, compared to earlier ones. Of course, it may go higher, so the 50% retracement is at 2041.57, just in case...
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Stock Market Reversal Day / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
Good Morning!
SPX appears to have completed an impulse from its Thursday morning high. The correction, which is nearly complete, appears to be a flat one, indicating a further decline ahead. Today is a Pivot day, suggesting a reversal may be about to take place.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Is This Interest Rate Hike Rigged? / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
It’s official.This week the Federal Reserve raised the key overnight Fed Funds rate by 0.25%. The move was discussed, debated, argued, and telegraphed to death. We all heard about it until we hoped anything else financial would happen so we could finally put the tired story to rest.
Now that the rate hike is on the books, we can start talking about outcomes, like how in the world the Fed intends to enforce the rate hike, what it means, and what comes next.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
U.S. Housing Market Warning - Don’t Sit On Your Real Estate! / Housing-Market / US Housing
I suppose you could say we have World War II to thank.Upon returning from the war, soldiers had their GI benefits to enjoy and a deep-seated desire to start a family. And so was born (quite literally) the baby boom, and an accompanying surge in home buying.
Out of the ashes of destruction arose an American middle class and the first generation able to more broadly buy homes with long-term mortgages.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Jesus Christ Second Coming Imminent, Why There Could Also be a Third Coming / Politics / Religion
The long wait for the always imminent Second coming of Jesus Christ may soon be over, and not just for the worlds 2.1 billion Christians but 1.6 billion muslims who have also waited for millennia for his return that is said would follow the destruction of the city of Damascus.
Christians - Isaiah 17:1 :
"The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap."
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Gold Price Not Signaling a Long-term Bear Market / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
Gold isn't doing anything unusual. It's not signaling a long-term bear market. It's just doing what every D-wave except one has done by retracing to test the previous C-wave top.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
UK Mortgage Interest Rates Recap of 2015 / Housing-Market / Mortgages
The year of 2015 will been seen by many as the year of the mortgage: competition increased until it reached boiling point, with all sectors of the market becoming embroiled in a fight for borrowers. As a result, rates plummeted until they eventually reached new all-time lows.
Indeed, calculations from Moneyfacts.co.uk based on the average two-year fixed rate mortgage show that a new borrower would now be £805.44* a year better off than they were a year ago.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
UK Savers - Make Sure Your Bank Deposits Are Protected / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
Most banks looking for deposits from UK consumers have a UK banking licence and deposits with them are covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for up to £85,000 per person (reducing to £75,000 per person from 1 January 2016).
However, European banks are also allowed to operate in the UK under their home country’s regulations. This is called passporting.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Jesus is the Only Way to Salvation / Politics / Religion
The meaning of the true Christmas has been obliterated in the secular society that has turned away from religion and scripture. Churches are as much to blame as the popular culture. No sane person can be confident in the future. The country is in decay and disintegrating. Morals, values and ethical mores have been abandoned or been reduced to relativism that personal responsibility is practiced by only a small segment of the population. Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of the birthday of the baby Jesus. Mournfully, you would need to take a pilgrim's journey to find any evidence that this lesson of purpose exists.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Stock Market 1993 Or Bust..... / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
We can spend forever talking about what the market will do. Will it break down or will it break out. What will be the catalyst, or will it not, and so on. Here is the bottom line folks. Until the bears can take away 1993 on the closing basis with a bit of force, the trend remains basically trend less, with a bullish bias, meaning just meandering. But the bears are unable to take control. Control is different than meandering. Since we're still in a bull market, to me, meandering within it is not bearish. It's only bearish when a critical level of support is removed in a fashion that suggests much lower prices. We have yet to see that on any level. We get that if we can push some volume in to a break down below 1993. To be completely blunt, losing 1993 on light volume would likely lead to a head fake down. When a market breaks one way or the other away from a trend that was in place prior, big money usually lets you know it's occurring.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Four Mining Stocks that Can Survive Gold $1,050 and Silver $15 / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2015
The price of gold has see-sawed since the Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Dec. 16, and market experts debate if the action is good or bad for gold. Rob Chang of Cantor Fitzgerald Canada believes that after the small rate hike doomsayers are overstating their case and that gold should sell in 2016 for about $100/oz more than today. In this interview with The Gold Report, he argues that in today's climate cash costs of $1,000/oz are the bare minimum necessary for survival. Happily, Chang highlights three gold producers and one silver producer that have what it takes.
The Gold Report: Some say the price of gold has for some time been suppressed by fear of a Federal Reserve rate hike. What do you think?
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Stock Market Headed Higher because more Americans drink Coffee than own Stocks / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
More Americans drink coffee than invest in the markets and yet many of these individuals are stunned that the market is going higher when good jobs are not as easy to find, rents and cost of everyday necessities keep rising. 61% of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis compared to the only 48% that invest in the markets. These stunning facts were published in a recent article; the article states that if the $1200 that the average American spends on coffee were invested in the market in 2009, it would have grown to $3600.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 21, 2015
Silver: May the 100 Year Force Be With You / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
What force? Some of the “forces” in our world that are supportive of higher silver prices are:
- Debt Increases: Global debt exceeds $200 Trillion and rising rapidly.
- Warfare: Syria, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, South China Sea, Chicago and others. It is a long list.
- Welfare: Bank bailouts, military contractors, Medicaid, food stamps, dozens of “programs” and so much more.
- Central bank “money printing:” Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and others are doing what they do best – devaluing their currencies. The bubbles created in the bond, stock, and currency markets must be fed and supported.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Gold Price Double Bottom and Bitcoin - Video / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
Transcript excerpt:
December 21st 2015 I'll be talking today about a prop probable or possible double
bottom in the price of gold and also about Bitcoin which is doing it been
doing quite well recently where trading around 4:40 right now we are down twenty
one dollars from from the highs 468 earlier you know earlier in the day
gold is trading at 1068 we we did get up to a thousand 74 earlier in London it's
right now almost 1 p.m. London time almost 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time New
York so the possible double bottom in gold is between it looks like reform
that you know I double bottom 2047 which was the law on the 3rd of December and
roughly the same low on the 17th of December with that in mind I've looked
at the high on the 4th of December which is a thousand and 89 and that will be
Monday, December 21, 2015
When Gold Comes Back Into Favor? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
Sasafuturestrading writes: Stocks usually change direction before commodities.
There is one market that really shines when stocks and the dollar are in bear markets together, and that market is gold.
In other words, a climate of falling stock prices, a falling U.S. dollar, and historically low interest rates don’t leave investors with a lot of investment alternatives. This is the exact type of intermarket climate that drives money to gold.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 21, 2015
Beware of Central Bank Success / Interest-Rates / Central Banks
The most important question investors will soon have to face is: "what's going to happen once central banks finally meet their inflation targets?"
For example, let's assume after years of monetizing government debt, bidding up equity prices, and forcing debt on the public by keeping borrowing costs at or below zero; that the ECB is finally able to achieve its inflation target rate of 2%. This would only occur once money supply growth becomes both robust and sustainable. It is silly to believe ECB President Mario Draghi can bring inflation to just 2% and nail it at that level. Inflation will continue to rise past 2% until the ECB raises interest rates by reducing its pace of bond buying. So, we will have the environment where inflation is rising north of 2% and the central bank will be forced to start cutting back its purchases of debt and preparing the market for eventual outright sales.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 21, 2015
Stock Market Positive Expectations Following Last Week's Sell-off, But Will It Last? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
Briefly: In our opinion, no speculative positions are justified.
Our intraday outlook is now neutral, and our short-term outlook is neutral:
Intraday outlook (next 24 hours): neutral
Short-term outlook (next 1-2 weeks): neutral
Medium-term outlook (next 1-3 months): bearish
Long-term outlook (next year): bullish
Monday, December 21, 2015
UK Savings Interst Rates Recap of 2015 / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
This year we have seen new brands enter the savings market and Government proposals to encourage people to save, either towards their first home, or to secure a higher return of interest during retirement.
Read full article... Read full article...