Friday, February 08, 2019
Top Myths and Facts about ULIP Plans / Personal_Finance / Insurance
By: Justin_Weinger
ULIPs (Unit Linked Insurance Plans) offer you the combination of both investment and insurance components in a single entity. However, there are a plethora of myths surrounding ULIPs products due to lack of knowledge and understanding of its features & benefits. Here’s a look into some of the common myths and their counterpart reality associated with ULIPs which will help you make informed decisions:
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Friday, February 08, 2019
Intense First Time Buyer Mortage Competition Sees Average Two-year Fixed Rate Fall / Housing-Market / Mortgages
By: MoneyFacts
Despite the Bank of England base rate rise of 0.25% to 0.75% in August 2018, Moneyfacts.co.uk research has shown that the overall average two-year fixed mortgage rate has actually fallen by 0.04% from 2.53% in August 2018 to 2.49% today.
Notably, the average two-year fixed rate at the maximum 95% loan-to-value (LTV) tier has fallen by 0.54% over the same period, while at tiers such as 70% LTV the average rate has increased by 0.14%, indicating that providers may be focusing their attention at the riskier higher LTV tiers.
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Friday, February 08, 2019
A Major Stocks Bear Market in 2020? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Troy_Bombardia
As the bull market and economic expansion ages, the current economic expansion is soon going to be tied for the longest economic expansion in history. Of course economic expansions and bull markets don’t die of old age – they die when leading economic indicators deteriorate significantly.
We are seeing signs of deterioration now, but they are not significant yet.
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Friday, February 08, 2019
Gold Market Extremes Test Your Mettle / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Avi_Gilburt
This article was originally published on Sun Feb 3 for members of ElliottWaveTrader: Extremes are the hallmark of the metals market. And those that handle the extremes best are usually the ones who do best in the metals market.
Consider the extremes we experienced in August and September of 2011. Gold had days where it would rally $50 in a single day during its final parabolic move. Moreover, everyone you spoke with would express their certainty that gold would soon eclipse the $2,000 mark, on its way to much higher levels.
Yet, I remained steadfast in my analysis which suggested the $1,915 region would provide us with a top. While the market continued $6 higher than my expectation, I think we all recognize what occurred at that time.
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Friday, February 08, 2019
The Venezuela Myth Keeping Us From Transforming Our Economy / Politics / Venezuela
By: Ellen_Brown
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is getting significant media attention these days, after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview that it should “be a larger part of our conversation” when it comes to funding the “Green New Deal.” According to MMT, the government can spend what it needs without worrying about deficits. MMT expert and Bernie Sanders adviser professor Stephanie Kelton says the government actually creates money when it spends. The real limit on spending is not an artificially imposed debt ceiling but a lack of labor and materials to do the work, leading to generalized price inflation. Only when that real ceiling is hit does the money need to be taxed back, but even then it’s not to fund government spending. Instead, it’s needed to shrink the money supply in an economy that has run out of resources to put the extra money to work.
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Thursday, February 07, 2019
The Battle for Venezuela’s Gold Serves as a Lesson in Counterparty Risk / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: MoneyMetals
He who controls the gold makes the rules. That old adage applies aptly to the present crisis in Venezuela.
An international battle for control of Venezuela’s gold is currently underway. At stake is the country’s political future – and with it, the global market for its immense oil reserves.
In a desperate effort to cling to power, Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro has been depleting his country’s gold reserves.
The oil-rich nation once had gold reserves of over 160 tons. But in recent months, Venezuela has sold off dozens of tons of gold to allies such as Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Russia in exchange for euros and other globally recognized currencies.
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Thursday, February 07, 2019
What Alchemists Think about the Impact of Changes in Automotive Industry on Precious Metals? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
The new Alchemist is out. What can we learn from the latest publication of the LBMA? We invite you to read our today’s article and find out!
Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OenB) and Gold
In the previous edition of the Gold News Monitor, we have already analyzed one article from the newest Alchemist about the gold outlook for 2019. Today, we would like to return to the publication and examine the remaining ones, which are no less interesting.
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Thursday, February 07, 2019
Stock Market Topping Pattern or Just Quick Correction Before Another Leg Up? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Paul_Rejczak
Stocks slightly retraced their recent advance yesterday, as investors took some short-term profits off the table. The S&P 500 index remained above the 61.8% retracement of its September-December sell-off. Is this a topping pattern or just a correction within the uptrend?
The U.S. stock market indexes lost 0.1-0.4% on Wednesday, retracing some of their recent advance, as investors took short-term profits off the table. The S&P 500 index broke above its short-term consolidation on Wednesday a week ago and it continued higher. The market is above the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of its October-December downward correction of 20.2% (2,713.88). It has gained 390 points from the late December medium-term low, but it is still around 200 points below the September 21st record high of 2,940.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4% on Wednesday.
The nearest important resistance level of the S&P 500 index remains at 2,750-2,760, marked by some previous local highs. The resistance level is also at 2,800, marked by the early December local high. On the other hand, the support level is at 2,700-2,710, marked by the previous resistance level. The support level is also at 2,650.
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Thursday, February 07, 2019
Gold Price Breaks Lower – What Next? / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Chris_Vermeulen
The Technical Traders Ltd. research team has been on top of nearly every move in the metals markets over the past 12+ months. On February 1, we posted this article: Get Ready For The Next Big Upside Leg In Metals/Miners. In this post, we suggested that the recent peak in Gold, near $1330, would likely end and prompt a downside price rotation over the next 45+ days.
Subsequently, on January 28, we posted this article: 45 Days Until A Multi-Year Breakout For Precious Metals. In that post, we highlighted our predictive modeling systems support of a sideways price correction in the precious metals markets that would align with US stock market strength and US Dollar strength.
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Thursday, February 07, 2019
Euro, USD, AUD, CHF Trends, Trend Exhaustion and the Shifting Ground / Currencies / Forex Trading
By: Nadia_Simmons
There are times when keeping an eye on the markets is as exciting as watching paint dry. Then, there are times when great leaps literally happen faster than you can blink. You be the judge as to whether the former or the latter better applies to the euro and Australian dollar right now.
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Thursday, February 07, 2019
Eat Less Meat and Save the Planet / Politics / Climate Change
By: Raul_I_Meijer
It’s been quite a while since we last heard from Dr. D. He was probably busy growing stuff. But he’s back now, and with something dear to my heart: the craziness of our food production systems. Answers to which are not always what most people think, to put it mildly.
Dr. D:
Eat less meat to save the planet – report (1)
The new diet that could save the planet (2)
What to eat to save the planet: Report urges ‘radical changes’ to world’s diet – less meat, more veggies (3)
Thursday, February 07, 2019
Corporate Earnings Growth is Falling and Turning Negative. What this Means for Stocks / Stock-Markets / Corporate Earnings
By: Troy_Bombardia
As the stock market rallies higher and is on the verge of breaking out above its 200 day moving average, the outlook for Q1 2019 corporate earnings growth is falling. Is this bad news for the stock market?
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Thursday, February 07, 2019
The Global Economy Has Run Off a Cliff… and the Stock Markets Know It / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2019
By: Graham_Summers
Stocks continue to live in la la land.
While the media and investment herd celebrate a V-shaped stock recovery based on the Fed admitting things are far worse than previously known, more and more signals are appearing that the global economy has run off a cliff.
Germany and France are bordering on recession. Italy is definitively already in recession. Japan is on the verge of another contraction. And China is facing a systemic collapse (real GDP growth is 2%, not the ridiculous 6% they claim).
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Wednesday, February 06, 2019
Higher Interest Rates & Market Risks Require Active, Careful Investment Management / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2019
By: MoneyMetals
Welcome to this week’s Market Wrap Podcast, I’m Mike Gleason.
Coming up Axel Merk of Merk Investments joins me for a terrific conversation about gold, the Fed, stocks and the dollar. And find out why he believes investors will soon realize that it DOES matter again about where you put your money. Don’t miss my interview with Axel Merk, coming up after this week’s market update.
Gold and silver markets closed out the month of January on a high note as the Federal Reserve signaled it would back off on further rate hikes.
On Wednesday, Fed policymakers voted unanimously to leave the central bank’s benchmark interest rate unchanged. Fed chairman Jerome Powell cited recent weakness in economic growth forecasts.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2019
Global Debt: This Time Will Be Different / Politics / Global Debt Crisis 2019
By: John_Mauldin
For almost 40 years, we’ve lived in an era of low rates and easy money. It let governments and businesses worldwide run up piles of debt.
Global debt could easily reach $500 trillion in a few years. And yet everyone acts like that is normal and can continue.
Just like subprime mortgage debt triggered the last recession, corporate debt will trigger the next one. This will start a liquidity crisis and create havoc in all sorts of “unrelated” markets.
Wednesday, February 06, 2019
A Cold War with China Spells Trouble for Stocks / Politics / China US Conflict
By: John_Mauldin
Last week, George Soros said that we are in a cold war with China that could turn into a hot war. While Soros and I don’t often agree on politics, I did find my head nodding at times in his latest CNBC interview.Then Luke Gromen of Forest for the Trees wrote about change in the geopolitical climate, which is not his usual beat.
Gromen argues that US national security may be more important than risk asset performance for the first time in decades.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2019
Donald Tusk States " There is a Special Place in Hell for Brexit Campaigners" FULL Video / Politics / BrExit
By: N_Walayat
In a shocking statement, European Commission President Donald Tusk today in a press conference effectively stated that "there was a special place in hell for Brexit campaigners" as the following video of the FULL statement illustrates. The EU effectively declaring war on the people of Northern Ireland (Ulster), as it is now to be known as the Island of Ireland with no distinction between Northern Ireland and Eire.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2019
The New Cold War and Gold / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
By: Richard_Mills
In December President Trump pounded out a tweet that raised a lot of eyebrows in the Twitterverse. It had to do with America’s defense spending, perceived by Trump to be much too high. He wrote:
Didn’t Trump campaign on a stronger military, to crack down on ISIS? To make America safer again? He did, and so the head-scratching began. It was especially odd considering that Trump signed off on a HUGE increase in defense spending in August. The 2019 National Defense Spending Authorization Act has a budget of $717 billion that will raise America’s troop levels to the highest in a decade. The NDSAA allocated $616.9 billion for the Pentagon, $69 billion for overseas operations and $21.9 billion for nuclear weapons programs.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2019
Crude Oil – The Ground Is Starting to Shake / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: Nadia_Simmons
Yesterday we witnessed a good attempt to move to the downside. The sellers were partially rebutted. How did the big picture stand the test of yesterday and what are we to do about it?
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Wednesday, February 06, 2019
Olympus TG-5 Underwater Swimming Pool Video Test - Waterproof Tough Camera Review / ConsumerWatch / Technology
By: HGR
Here is our 7th REAL user video review of the Olympus Tough TG-5 Camera, where we test to see if it lives up to its primary sales pitch of being waterproof by plunging the camera into a swimming pool for the first time! So find out what the quality of the video and sound is like from the TG-5 once its been plunged under water a few times.
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