Thursday, February 13, 2020

Shipping Rates Plunge, Commodities and Stocks May Follow / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020

By: Chris_Vermeulen

An almost immediate reaction to the Coronavirus outbreak in China and throughout most of the world has sent shock-wave through the global markets – particularly seen in Shipping and Oil.  The actions within China to attempt to contain the virus spread include shutting down entire cities and setting up mass quarantine events.  It is estimated that as many as 8+ million people were quarantined within cities in China throughout the Chinese New Year.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, warned recently that the Coronavirus, and the efforts to stop it, may greatly reduce the Chinese economy over the next few months.  The Chinese President urged top officials to refrain from “more restrictive measures” to contain the virus.  It is our opinion that more restrictive measures are essential to efforts to contain the spread of this virus and that further contraction in the Chinese economy, as well as other economies, are almost set in stone at this point.

Information we’ve received from some friends living in China and Hong Kong suggest travel is very restricted, face masks are very scarce, people are staying inside their homes and surviving as family units within very close contact with one another.  They are scared, trapped and unable to do anything other than try to wait this out.  Imagine what this is doing to the local economies, shops, offices, and businesses?

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Powell says Fed will aggressively use QE to fight next recession / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2020

By: Gary_Tanashian

Today from Fed Chairman Powell…

Powell says Fed will aggressively use QE to fight next recession

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday the central bank would fight the next economic downturn by buying large amounts of government debt to drive down long-term interest rates, a strategy that has been dubbed quantitative easing, or QE.

Of course they will. The fix is always in, isn’t it? Wouldn’t want to let a system and associated economy so far out on a brittle limb weighed down by exponential debt leverage go it on its own, now would we? Wouldn’t want anything like a naturally functioning economy because until an utter and complete crash and clean out, there can be no such thing. So more debt manipulation it is!

Thursday, February 13, 2020

PALLADIUM - THIS Is What a Run on the Bank for Precious Metals Looks Like… / Commodities / Palladium

By: MoneyMetals

The explosive price action seen in palladium recently is indicative of a physical shortage.

Put simply, available inventories are failing to keep up with demand (largely from the automotive industry).

According to Refnitiv GFMS, the palladium market will be under-supplied by 883,000 ounces this year.

Stresses on the physical market are showing up in spiking lease rates, illiquidity, widening bid/ask spreads, and disconnections between quoted spot prices and actual physical prices. Most importantly, the deficit in palladium supply is manifesting in the form of rising prices.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Bitcoin: "Is it too late to get in?" Get Answers Now / Currencies / Bitcoin

By: EWI

Hi Reader,

Since December, Bitcoin and other cryptos have been on a silent tear. Silent, because you don't hear about it in the news -- yet.

But if you've spotted the rally, you may be wondering, "Is it too late for me?"

Thursday, February 13, 2020

China Coronavirus Infections Soar by 1/3rd to 60,000, Deaths Jump to 1,367 / Politics / Pandemic

By: Nadeem_Walayat

The Chinese communist regime's propaganda of the past week of having brought the Coronavirus outbreak under control by referring to daily falling infection rates from a peak of about 4,500 to 2000 has now been completely blown away following the declaration of a huge 33% jump in the number of infections (15,000) totalling 60,000 today! Also the number of deaths has jumped sharply higher to 1369 from 1115.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Crude Oil Price Action – Like a Coiled Spring Already? / Commodities / Crude Oil

By: Nadia_Simmons

Trading slightly above the $50 mark, crude oil hasn’t made a decisive move either way so far. Yesterday’s bullish session has brought us new clues. Let’s dive and examine the strength of the evolving oil move higher.

We’ll start by taking a closer look at the daily chart (charts courtesy of http://stockcharts.com).

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

China Under Reporting Coronavirus COVID-19 Infections, Africa and South America Hidden Outbreaks / Politics / Pandemic

By: Nadeem_Walayat

China continues to lock down cities in an attempt to halt the spread of Coronavirus as apparently the virus can spread as an aerosol spray which would make it far more infectious than previously thought, which if true explains why passengers quarantined in their cabins on board the Diamond Princess in Japan are continuing to become infected, with the total now at 175 infected passengers and crew.

All this whilst official Chinese infections and deaths statistics appear to have hit a plateau with China reporting a falling rate of infection (+2000). But it's not a question of whether we should believe any statistics coming out of a totalitarian state where what the government states to be the facts are to be believed to be so under threat of punishment, rather it is also likely that propaganda is being coupled with the fact that the China is hitting capacity constraints in it's ability to diagnose infected persons or the cause of deaths as a consequence of Coronavirus, where actual cases presented beyond a certain number are either being rejected by the system or literally cremated as the dead are so as to prevent the spread of the virus.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Will USD X Decline About to Trigger Precious Metals Rally? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020

By: P_Radomski_CFA

Although its decline was not yet significant, the USD Index finally declined yesterday. Given the recent breakout above the November 2019 highs, this move lower might leave one with mixed feelings.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Copper Market is a Coiled Spring / Commodities / Copper

By: Richard_Mills

As the third most-consumed metal on earth, behind iron and aluminum, copper is all around us. Found naturally in the earth’s crust, copper was among the first metals used by early humans, dating back to the 8th century, BC. 

Three thousand years later homo sapiens figured out how to smelt copper from its ore, and to alloy it with tin to create bronze. Bronze was useful for tools and weapons, making it one of the most important inventions in the history of civilization. Copper was later used in roofing, and still is, for its strength and oxidized green look, as well as in works of art. Copper, or Cu, is also essential for all living organisms.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Dow Theory Stock Market Warning from the Utilities Index / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020

By: readtheticker

Charles Dow died in 1902, and the investors should thank him for his ever lasting Dow Theory Analysis. Carrying on this blog theme looking at the Utility stocks. Previous post. Dow Jones Utility index could trade like the FANGs Formula for when the Great Stock Market Rally ends

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

How to Get Virgin Media Engineers to FIX Hub 3.0 Problems and NOT BS Customers / Personal_Finance / Internet

By: HGR

So your virgin Media Hub 3.0 stops working properly, keeps losing it's settings, and so you get an engineer to come out and fix it.

In this video a HUB 3.0 no longer holds it's settings every time it reboots either switched off or after an update. However, unbelievably and contrary to the experience of every router I had over the past 30 years, the Virgin Media Engineer starts giving me bullshit that the HUB is SUPPOSED to lose it's settings and revert to default each time it is turned off.

What a load of cods wallop!

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

China Under Reporting Coronavirus COVID-19 Infections by 66% Due to Capacity Constraints / Politics / Pandemic

By: Nadeem_Walayat

China continues to lock down cities in an attempt to halt the spread of Coronavirus as apparently the virus can spread as an aerosol spray which would make it far more infectious than previously thought, which if true explains why passengers quarantined in their cabins on board the Diamond Princess in Japan are continuing to become infected, with the total now at 175 infected passengers and crew.

All this whilst official Chinese infections and deaths statistics appear to have hit a plateau with China reporting a falling rate of infection (+2000). But it's not a question of whether we should believe any statistics coming out of a totalitarian state where what the government states to be the facts are to be believed to be so under threat of punishment, rather it is also likely that propaganda is being coupled with the fact that the China is hitting capacity constraints in it's ability to diagnose infected persons or the cause of deaths as a consequence of Coronavirus, where actual cases presented beyond a certain number are either being rejected by the system or literally cremated as the dead are so as to prevent the spread of the virus.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Is Coronavirus the Black Swan That Takes Gold To-Da-Moon? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2020

By: Arkadiusz_Sieron

Amid the worries about the coronavirus and its impact on the global economy, the US yield curve has briefly inverted again. Recession, anyone? And what exactly does the inversion imply for the gold market?

Yield Curve Inverts Again

Ooops, it happened again – the yield curve has inverted! Please take a look at the chart below. It shows that at the turn of January and February, the spread between 10-year and 3-month Treasuries has dived below zero once again. It stayed below zero only for a couple of days before moving back into the positive territory. The inversion was shallow as the level of the spread did not plunge below minus 0.4.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Stock Market 2020 – A Close Look At What To Expect / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020

By: Chris_Vermeulen

Quite a bit has changed in the global markets and future expectations over the past 4+ weeks.  Q4 2019 ended with a bang.  US/China Trade Deal, US signing the USMCA Continental Free Trade Agreement, BREXIT and now the Wuhan Virus.  On top of all of that, we’ve learned that Germany and Japan have entered a technical recession.  As Q4-2019 earnings continue to push the US stock market higher – what should traders expect going forward in 2020?

Volatility, Sector Rotation, and Continued US Stock Market Strength.

Our researchers have been pouring over our charts and predictive modeling tools to attempt to identify any signs of weakness or major price rotation.  There are early warning signs that the US Stock Market may be setting up for a moderate downside price rotation within the first 6 months of 2020, but we believe the continued Capital Shift that has been taking place over the past 24+ months will continue to drive foreign investment into the US and North American stock markets for quite a while in 2020 and 2021.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

IBM AI Mega-trend Tech Stocks Investing 2020 / Companies / AI

By: Nadeem_Walayat

The juggernaut that is Artificial Intelligence continues to rumble along towards an inexorable future, one that most still fail to grasp the magnitude of the changes that are just around the corner as humans think in linear terms whilst the AI trend is EXPONENTIAL. Where developments that even the proponents of AI thought would take several years are taking place in mere MONTHS! That is the power of the unfolding AI MEGA-TREND!

AI has already CHANGED THE WORLD! EXPONENTIALLY! You have an AI super computer right in your pocket for likely less than £1000!

Especially, when one marries AI with other big world changing tech mega-trend "Quantum Computing"! Put the 2 together and we are literally going to see an explosion in SUPER INTELLGENCE that would soon far exceed that of human intelligence, following which it won't be that many years before the AI exceeds the intelligence of the sum of ALL humans! For better or worse, that's the path we are on.

And all those who say AI can be controlled are going to be proven wrong, as new technologies tend to be first sequestered towards military aims. So whilst we focus on the benefits of AI in reality AI is a POWERFUL WEAPON and so the world is in an AI arms race, commercial, economic and military AI arms race.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

The US Dollar’s Subtle Message for Gold / Currencies / US Dollar

By: P_Radomski_CFA

Gold and the US dollar. The yellow metal and its fiat nemesis. Often, they move inversely, though the strength and even the direction of their relationship varies when examined from different time perspectives. What is the message the greenback is sending out currently?

The USD Index is moving up in a rising trend channel (all medium-term highs are higher than the preceding ones) that formed after the index ended a very sharp rally. This means that the price movement within the rising trend channel is actually a running correction, which is the most bullish type of correction out there. If a market declines a lot after rallying, it means that the bears are strong. If it declines a little, it means that bears are only moderately strong. If the price moves sideways instead of declining, it means that the bears are weak. And the USD Index didn’t even manage to move sideways. The bears are so weak, and the bulls are so strong that the only thing that the USD Index managed to do despite Fed’s very dovish turn and Trump’s calls for lower USD, is to still rally, but at a slower pace.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

What All To Do Before Opening A Bank Account For Your Business / Companies / Current Accounts

By: Sumeet_Manhas

While getting prepped up for starting a business, a lot of things need to be taken care of. What kind of business it will be, what will be the target mass, who are your competitors, and so on. But before you get down to the big stuff, there are small but crucial things that you need to assess. This includes setting up a bank account for the business. The business itself is about transactions, therefore getting done with this step is of utmost importance. So, today we will go through a few things that you might want to do before you open your business bank account.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

How and When to Enter Day Trades & Swing Trade For Maximum Gains / Stock-Markets / Stock Index Trading

By: Chris_Vermeulen

Another interesting session for stocks and commodities and it allows me to share a day trading secret with you as well. This secret not only is a gold mine for day traders but it also helps with timing your entry and exits as a swing trader.

Today stocks opened lower and during pre-market hours it was looking really bearish, but once the 9:30 opening bell rang buyers flooded the market and drove the prices higher all session forming the typical intraday price action that happens during strong trending days.

I did a video on this year ago which I’ll share the link but take a look at today’s intraday price action, then watch this video as its a day traders DREAM – FREE MONEY!

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

The Great Stock Market Dichotomy / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020

By: The_Gold_Report

Sector expert Michael Ballanger sees something "terrifying" in the charts for copper and long-term bonds.

One of the advantages of being a sexagenarian is that after forty years investing in stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies you have a pretty good idea when something is not exactly "right." If you have lived a good, normal life and you still have decent control of over your mental faculties and bodily functions, you remember moments in time that impacted your sensibilities, not unlike your first crush on a girl, or that final exam, or an authoritarian coach's dressing-down.

However, given my chosen profession, nothing gets more indelibly etched into one's psyche than a big price "move" in something one owns. Be it a loss or a win, one can recall all the inputs that created that "move" and, sometimes elatedly and sometimes sadly, one can recall all of the ramifications and repercussion from the "move." You will, later in life, regale in the joy (or sorrow) of recounting the story of the "move" until people roll their eyes in angst upon being subjected to their ninth or tenth serving.

Of course, one of the disadvantages of being a sexagenarian is that over time, one forgets (or imbues) portions of the story, usually in favor of its historical significance or personal accolade. But, alas, that is an anecdote for another day. What I wish to discuss with you all today is that my geriatric power of recall and my olfactory rot-sensor are telling me that something is definitely not "right."

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Stock Market Sector Rotation Should Peak Within 60+ Days – Part II / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2020

By: Chris_Vermeulen

The first part of this article highlighted what we believe is the start of a broad market sector rotation setup in the US and global markets.  This second part will highlight what we believe are excellent examples of sector trade setups for our friends and followers.

As China continues to pour capital into their markets to stabilize the outflow and fall of asset prices, a number of interesting components of broader sector rotation are setting up.  First, the US stock market has rolled lower in what we are calling a “first-tier” of the “waterfall event”. 

Additionally, Mid-Caps, Transportation, Energy, and Financials have all started to roll-over of already begun to rotate lower.  We believe the contraction in economic activity and global market engagement as a result of the Wuhan virus will result in a much bigger and broader downside price move than many are expecting in the coming weeks.