Monday, November 28, 2016
If Trump Does This, We Will Win / Economics / US Economy
No matter who won the presidency, the economic way forward was not going to be easy. The national debt and deficit must be brought under control, or we will face a crisis.
Avoiding that crisis—even if it is 10 years out—is important. The solution doesn’t have to be implemented all at once. But there has to be a clear trajectory along the lines of the Clinton/Gingrich budget compromises. Those gave us balanced budgets and deficit reduction.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
This Looming Debt Crisis Could Ruin Many / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis 2016
We must deal with the debt if we are going to survive . We have two options: Simply stop spending or grow the economy. “Stop spending” is easier said than done. And boosting growth is going to be difficult too.
Total debt this year rose by 6.8%, almost double our growth rate. Not the right direction. After eight years of the slowest economic recovery in history, growing our debt dramatically faster than we are growing our country—even when we include inflation.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Public Infrastructure – Welcome to the World of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse / Economics / Infrastructure
Economic policy is subject to fads and fashions. The most recent economic-policy fad is public infrastructure. Its advocates include progressives on the “left” – like President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders – and populists on the “right” – like President-elect Trump. They tell us to take the chains off fiscal austerity and spend – spend a lot – on public works. They allege that this elixir will cure many, if not all, of our economic ills. Let’s take a look at their arguments and evidence.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 28, 2016
Fifty Years Later, Moore's Computing Law Holds / Politics / Technology
By Matthew Bey : Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel Corp., published his now iconic article — Cramming More Components into Integrated Circuits — in the journal Electronics on April 19, 1965. In this paper, Moore observed that the number of transistors fitting on a computer circuit board had roughly doubled each year. A decade later the time-scale was revised to 18-24 months and dubbed "Moore's Law." Following this principle, a computer purchased today would cost about half the price in two years. Processing is now down to one-sixtieth the cost it was a decade ago.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Stock Market New Record Highs, But Will The Uptrend Continue? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
Briefly: In our opinion, speculative short positions are favored (with stop-loss at 2,240, and profit target at 2,060, S&P 500 index).
Our intraday outlook is bearish, and our short-term outlook is bearish. Our medium-term outlook remains neutral, following S&P 500 index breakout above last year's all-time high:
Intraday outlook (next 24 hours): bearish
Short-term outlook (next 1-2 weeks): bearish
Medium-term outlook (next 1-3 months): neutral
Long-term outlook (next year): neutral
Monday, November 28, 2016
Fidel Castro and the American Empire / Politics / US Politics
The death of the brutal Cuban Communist dictator Fidel Castro closes the door, in some respect, on another disastrous page in US foreign policy history. For all the denunciations and criticism of Castro from conservative elements and exiled Cubans, his despotic rule was the outcome of decades of American imperialism which began with President William McKinley’s infamous decision to wage war on hapless Spain in 1898.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
Watch Tuesday, Stock Market Big Move Coming! / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
The SPX is due to go down into Wednesday. I believe the 2144/45 area beckons. The June 27 low was exactly 110 TD's from the Jan 19 low. Adding 110 TD's to June 27th gives us Nov 30, the 5 month low. This should have been the low for November. The cycles are either off or we have a huge down week ahead of us. Normally, off a wedge, the first support is the 1991 area. We never got that low.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
To Really 'Make America Great Again,' End the Fed! / Politics / US Federal Reserve Bank
Former Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher recently gave a speech identifying the Federal Reserve's easy money/low interest rate policies as a source of the public anger that propelled Donald Trump into the White House. Mr. Fisher is certainly correct that the Fed's policies have "skewered" the middle class. However, the problem is not specific Fed policies, but the very system of fiat currency managed by a secretive central bank.
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Monday, November 28, 2016
An Elusive Stock Market Top / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
Current Position of the Market
SPX Long-term trend: If the market strength persists, the long-term trend may need to be re-evaluated.
SPX Intermediate trend: SPX intermediate count to 2240 may turn out to only be a minimum projection.
Analysis of the short-term trend is done on a daily-basis with the help of hourly charts. It is an important adjunct to the analysis of daily and weekly charts which discuss longer market trends.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
Gold Price is Oversold but Broken / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016
Last week we wrote that the 2016 bull market in Gold and gold stocks had gone off course. It had moved too far out of the historical boundaries to remain a bull market. There was also other evidence of such including but not limited to rising real yields. Gold’s last hope was to hold $1200-$1210 and rebound back to the highs. It has broken bull market support ($1200-$1210 and $1230) and could be on its way to $1050 in the next few months.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
This Past Week in Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016
Technical analyst Jack Chan charts the latest moves in the gold and silver markets.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
Europe Will Devalue Or Dissolve - Welcome To The Currency War / Interest-Rates / Eurozone Debt Crisis
No rest for the wicked. With the shockwaves from Brexit and President Trump still reverberating around the world, the established order is bracing for more bad news. Next up is a December 4 Italian constitutional referendum that might end the reign of centrist prime minister Matteo Renzi and replace him with a bunch of anti-euro iconoclasts from the Brexit/Trump part of the spectrum.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
Italian Bank Collapse European Sovereign Bond Carnage, Criss-Crossed Fuses & Lit Bonfire / Interest-Rates / Financial Crisis 2016
Many are the potential fuses to be lit, which would create the conflagration, the massive bonfire of the bond vanities and bank charades. Many are the fuses lying around, all criss-crossed, all exposed, all overlapping each other in highly dangerous manner. If any single fuse is lit, then several will light and the detonation arrives. It is unavoidable since the financial world is so deeply interwoven. Never in modern history has the global financial structure been so badly weakened, so totally corrupted, so thoroughly undermined by control mechanisms, so intensely defended by sanctions even war. In 2007 and early 2008, the Jackass warned of a mortgage bust that would alter the global system forever. It happened with far reaching consequences which endure to this day.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
How to Beat UK Savings Crisis with Child Junior Cash ISA, Pension's and Life-time ISA / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
Britain's spanking new Chancellor, Philip Hammond recently threw some scraps at Britain's hard pressed savers with his 2.2% savings bond due to go live early 2017 by which time the CPI Inflation will be nudging 3% and RPI 4%, which illustrates its just a smoke and mirrors exercise, and even then will be limited to a measly £3k investment fixed for 3 years.
UK inflation is set to soar as I covered in my earlier analysis. And so the chancellors announcement does nothing to prevent the inevitable stealth theft of purchasing power of peoples hard earned savings and wages.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
Castro Was Not Who You Thought He Was / Politics / GeoPolitics
Castro is dead, but he achieved his purpose, which was to aggravate the Cold War, provide a test case for communism and frighten people about incipient nuclear missile exchanges.
His passing marks the end of the first phase of the Cold War. Now it is very obvious that a second phase is being prepared.
Tensions between Russia and the US are being continually heightened… and no, they are still ongoing even with the election of Trump who, under the guidance of Henry “War Criminal” Kissinger, has pledged his full support for NATO while Putin has replied that he will crush NATO.
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Sunday, November 27, 2016
It's (sigh) President Trump / Politics / US Politics
When Sen. Barack Obama was running for the presidency and for most of his two terms, the Tea Party right-wing claimed he was born in Kenya, that he was a radicalized Muslim, and was unfit to be president. The rise of the Tea Party led to a rise of racist ideology and an increase of violence during political rallies.
After Sen. Obama’s election, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader, said the Republicans’ primary direction was solely to block whatever the new President wanted to do. Other Republicans chimed in that President Obama was out to destroy the country. The country did not destruct under the Obama Administration.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Italy: The Biggest Elephant Jeopardizing Europe and the Euro / Politics / Euro-Zone
Not just the euro, but the entire European Union may be in jeopardy next week when the Italians vote on a constitutional referendum initiated by Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi.
What a Jubilee year it has been. First Brexit, then Trump and now it appears Italy is on the cusp of also escaping the grasp of the European Union.
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Saturday, November 26, 2016
Understanding the Trump Presidency , Beyond Merkel / Politics / GeoPolitics
By Reva Goujon : We hear all the time about how the world "should" work. Self-proclaimed liberals and conservatives, Keynesians and Reaganites, humanists and hawks, globalists and nationalists have crammed the airwaves and filled our Twitter feeds with policy prescriptions, promoting their worldview while scorning others'. But after the emotionally charged year this has been, I suspect many people are growing weary of big theories and cursory character assassinations. Instead, it may be time to replace the pedantry with something more fundamental — and less divisive — in which to ground our thoughts and make sense of the world.
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Saturday, November 26, 2016
US Stocks Bull Market New All Time Highs / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
The market started the week at SPX 2182. After a gap up opening Monday the market rallied to SPX 2205 by Tuesday. Then after a pullback to SPX 2195 on Wednesday the market closed out the week at a new closing high of SPX 2213. For the week the SPX/DOW gained 1.45%, and the NDX/NAZ gained 1.40%. Economic reports were mostly positive. On the downtick: weekly jobless claims and the trade deficit both increased. On the uptick: existing home sales, durable goods, the FHFA, consumer sentiment and the WLEI. Next week’s reports will be highlighted by Q3 GDP, monthly payrolls, the PCE and the FED’s beige book. Best to your week!
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Saturday, November 26, 2016
Silver Mining Stocks Q3 2016 Fundamentals / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016
The silver miners recently finished reporting their third-quarter results, offering a hard fundamental look into this sector. This reality check is valuable given the fierce winds of bearish sentiment buffeting silver stocks in recent months. Despite their huge correction, the elite silver miners’ fundamentals remain strong. They are producing at costs far below prevailing silver levels, with profits poised to soar as silver recovers.
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