Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Portugal Government Resignation Is Potentially A Very Big Deal / Politics / Euro-Zone
Portugal has entered a phase change, with potentially huge ramifications.
After handing a parliamentary majority to a coalition of leftist (i.e., anti-austerity, anti-euro, anti-NATO) parties, and then trying to prevent them forming a government, the country now looks likely to stand back and let it happen. Here’s an update from today’s Wall Street Journal:
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
10-year US Treasury Note / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
The rate on the 10-year US Treasury Note (ticker symbol TNX) had its best week since June last week with a gain of 8.46% to close at 23.33. It even printed an engulfing bullish candlestick on Friday.
Most of the week’s gain came on Friday’s strong non-farm payroll report. The breakout from the June bear trendline would seem to open the door for a return to the June high near 24.75 but…
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Top in Bitcoin Price Might Be behind Us / Currencies / Bitcoin
In short: short speculative positions, target at $153, stop-loss at $515.
Nobel Prize winner Eugene Fama has recently expressed his views on Bitcoin in an interview with the Bitcoin Uncensored Podcast:
Read full article... Read full article...BU [Bitcoin Uncensored]: If you're carrying that much cash, you probably would want the anonymity features of bitcoin. On another note, why do we have 2% processing charges on credit cards you would say? If in fact the cost of moving money is zero.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
The Business Cycle Is Winding Down / Economics / Recession 2016
From April through October, I race a 37-foot sailboat every Thursday night. The course changes weekly, and ranges from three to seven miles long, depending on the wind.Before the race, we review the course and weather conditions and decide our strategy for the starting line. During the race, we generally enjoy the sail and competition, with only the occasional bout of yelling. We also enjoy a good beer, while on the boat and afterwards when we retire to the local Irish pub.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
One of the Greatest Deceptions of Our Time? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
This has been weighing heavily on my mind lately.Recently I've discussed how politicians don't understand the economy. They don't understand innovation – the fact that it comes out of challenge, and that without occasional crisis, the economy can't rebalance and run as it should.
So it's no coincidence that the two great innovations of modern economics both emerged out of a different kind of crisis or challenge – a revolution, a challenging of the status quo.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
The Key to Running a Successful Accounting Firm / Personal_Finance / SME
Larissa James writes: When operating an accounting firm, it’s easy to get lost in routines and habits. And while it’s obviously important to focus on changing tax laws, evolving accounting procedures, and industry trends, you can’t forget about the basics. At the very heart of a firm’s success is that firm’s ability to connect with clients, engage them, and establish trust. If you’ve forgotten or overlooked this truth, you’re missing out on a major opportunity to grow your brand.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Gold, Stocks and the Elect a President Cycle Silly Season / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
The Silly Season – the Elect a President Cycle – is upon us. We pretend the candidates matter and care about the American public and their values, we pretend the election is important, and we forget that the outcome is heavily influenced and/or controlled by Wall Street and the Military.
Hillary Clinton: “What difference does it make?”
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Political Climate Shifting Against The Oil And Gas Industry / Commodities / Crude Oil
Oil and gas companies have had a tough time over the past year trying to weather the storm of falling oil prices. But the political and financial winds are moving in the wrong direction for the industry, raising more "above ground" problems at a time that they can ill-afford it.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
One of America’s Largest Online Retailers Is Stockpiling Gold and Silver Coins to Pay Employees In Coming Crisis / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
One of America’s largest companies is preparing for problems in the banking and financial system and another financial crisis.
Online retail giant Overstock.com (OSTK), publicly stated that the company has stockpiled gold and silver coins in preparation for another U.S. financial crisis. Patrick Byrne, its founder and chief executive, is a libertarian who champions crypto currencies, bitcoin and gold and silver bullion as financial insurance against risk in the financial and monetary system.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
David Cameron's Pantomime Letter to European Council President Donald Tusk - Full Text / ElectionOracle / UK EU Referendum
David Cameron has started his pantomime act that will likely fail in negotiating anything of significance out of a European Union which will largely remain deaf, dumb and blind to Britain's demands for partial freedom from EU slavery.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
The 10-year Fixed Rate Mortgage Gamble / Housing-Market / Mortgages
With uncertain times ahead with regards to base rate, many borrowers are looking for long-term mortgage repayment security to shield them from future, unpredictable rate rises.
Ten-year fixed rate mortgages do just that, and data from Moneyfacts.co.uk shows that the number of deals available has almost doubled in just one year to meet growing demand. And in even better news, the interest rates being offered have also fallen.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Plunger’s Gold Bottom Watch / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
That’s where it appears we are now, the final drive to the bottom. Rambus’ weekend charts still show how bearish the PM charts are and it will take a lot of work to turn them around and get them pointed back up, Having said that I see the initial components we should expect to see of a bottom and turn entering into the picture. Call these pathway elements as they come before the bottom and take a bit of time to have their effect of bringing about the turn. First off what will propel the next bull leg in the PM stocks is the investment case for metal stocks. That is primary defined by the real price of gold and input costs into mines, That has been improving for over one year now. Mainly driven by the oil price, which imputes itself into all costs of a mining operation. Cheaper oil impacts not just extraction cost but costs of materials, explosives, those big expensive truck tires etc. Plus communities and governments are warming up to mining projects. Ecuador is a case in point, since oil revenue is down they need taxes from other sources and the mining sector is becoming favored again. Here is a view of the gold/oil relationship, note how the trend (30 EMA) is higher.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Gold Price Falls Through Key Technical Support, Must Hold Above $1,072 / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
It has been a rough few weeks for gold investors, as the price has experienced a waterfall decline of over $100. First, the price dropped through key support at both the 200-day and 100-day moving averages. Then it proceeded to violate the uptrend (green line) that has been in place since July and support at the September low of $1,097.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Trump vs Sanders, Establishment Rule still in Control / ElectionOracle / US Presidential Election 2016
Even if you believe that anti-establishment candidates are resonating with the general electorate, it would be a terrible mistake to think that the power exerted by the actual establishment is at a tipping point. Frankly, the system cares little what the people think and voting is nothing but an annoyance in the true culture war that is being waged and won by the money cartel and their media tools. Imagine a presidential race between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? Might make for big ratings, but will never happen within a political party structure where both Republicans and Democrats are sucking from the same venomous collectivist moo juice.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Stock Market 70 RSI Pullback For Now...No Distribution Yet.. / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
When markets get overbought they will ultimately need to pull back. The pullback can feel very bad since they can be intense due to the very overbought nature of all the key oscillators from RSI's to stochastic's to MACD's. When markets are strong and they get overbought, since the market behaved so well, most aren't prepared for the type of selling a simple overbought pullback can bring. Today surely didn't feel good. Nasty!
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Monday, November 09, 2015
The War on Cash is Real / Interest-Rates / Central Banks
Stocks have rallied over the last 10 days in part by ECB President Mario Draghi’s statement that if push comes to shove, the ECB will push interest rates even further into negative territory (NIRP).
This represents just another round in the War on Cash, first implemented by the Central Banks in 2008.
It’s a little known fact that the cause for the gut-wrenching collapsing in late September-October 2008 was due to a significant portion of investors trying to move their money out of money market funds.
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Monday, November 09, 2015
Stock Markets Discover That Higher Interest Rates Are Bad / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
US stocks opened down hard today, in part because China released some truly horrendous trade numbers over the weekend, but also because the imminence of a US interest rate increase is starting to sink in. For anyone with rudimentary math skills, higher interest rates are a clear and present danger to what is now a variable-rate (and therefore really fragile) world.
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Monday, November 09, 2015
Is Japan's Wicked Economic Winter Almost Over? / Economics / Japan Economy
Economic blossoms may bloom again in the Land of the Rising Sun
The winter season is a common metaphor for a bleak period in someone's life: Borrowing a line from Shakespeare, John Steinbeck titled his final novel "The Winter of Our Discontent."
Nikolai Kondratieff used "winter" to describe the worst part of an economic cycle. Indeed, the famous Russian economist used all four seasons as metaphors for the four natural phases of expansion and contraction that an economy goes through in 50 or 60 years.
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Monday, November 09, 2015
Retired Investors: Apply a Value Investing Strategy and Earn More Income and Higher Returns / Companies / Investing 2015
Value investing produces safe, powerful long-term results, but it is often misunderstood. This is why most of the greatest investors that have ever lived have employed some form of value investing as an integral part of their overall stock investing strategy. However, the term, concept or strategy called value investing does not necessarily universally apply. Like many financial terms and concepts, there are many nuances that pertain to the general concept of investing for value in common stocks.
On the other hand, there is some common ground that theoretically applies to all value investing approaches. At the core, value investors are looking for investment opportunities in companies that they believe the market is currently undervaluing. Additionally, most value investing strategies are attempting to exploit disconnects that occasionally occur between a company’s stock price and its true underlying fundamental value.
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Monday, November 09, 2015
U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance Turns Into the Dark Ages / Economics / US Economy
The October ISM Manufacturing Index, which has been the official barometer of the U.S. manufacturing sector since 1915, came in with a reading of just 50.1. This was a level barely above contraction.
Of the 18 industries surveyed in the Regional Manufacturing Survey, 9 reported contraction in October: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Primary Metals; Petroleum & Coal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Machinery; Transportation Equipment; Wood Products; and Computer & Electronic Products.
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