The Financial Times – Why a Romney win is bad for gold price If it were down to gold investors to decide the US election, Mitt Romney would walk it. Gold bugs, always worried about potential currency debasement, care more than most about the US government’s indebtedness; the Republican party’s rhetoric of deficit reduction appeals… Continue reading Romney & Gold Prices
Comment Two weeks ago this was the Barron’s cover: October 15, 2012 Today’s cover is this: October 29, 2012 How would a contrarian interpret this? Barron’s – Cover: Bye-Bye, Bull? Bearishness rises among Big Money poll respondents, who see Obama winning, but think Romney would be better for stocks. High on GE, Microsoft, and IBM,… Continue reading Barron’s Covers – Bullish And Bearish
<Click on chart for larger image> The New York Times – Junk Bonds Grow More Popular and Turn Even Riskier Junk bonds are living up to their name again. Companies with junk credit ratings have been increasingly issuing bonds for riskier purposes that could hinder their ability to pay back bondholders. Demand for junk bonds… Continue reading A Junk Bond Bubble?
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – US money market funds return to eurozone US money market funds have increased their exposure to eurozone banks, in the latest sign of returning confidence in the stability of Europe’s monetary union. Exposure to eurozone banks of US prime money market funds at the end… Continue reading Money Markets Return To Europe
MarketWatch – Mark Hulbert: A contrarian take on fiscal cliff worries What are the odds U.S. will really jump off cliff? Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a Pollyanna. If the consensus on Wall Street was that the fiscal cliff was nothing to worry about, and the stock market reflected that cheery optimism, then my… Continue reading Today’s Fiscal Cliff Panic
Comment Early Sunday afternoon this was the plan: The New York Times – Bracing for Storm, New York Stock Exchange to Close Trading Floor The New York Stock Exchange plans to close its trading floor on Monday as Hurricane Sandy approaches, relying instead on electronic trading as Wall Street braces for the storm to barrel… Continue reading Should Machines Be Trusted Trading Stocks?
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Everyone’s Bailing on Commodities: ‘Into the Abyss’? Commodities prices have been in freefall in recent weeks—a victim of money fleeing risk assets, technical resistance and Federal Reserve actions that finally seem to have lost their impact. The commodity story is part of a larger narrative in which… Continue reading Bearish On Commodities
The Wall Street Journal – Ben Bernanke: Currency Manipulator Latin America is rightly worried about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. From September 2008 through the end of 2011, Mr. Bernanke’s Fed created $1.8 trillion in new money. But Fed policy makers were only warming up. In September they announced that they will engage in a… Continue reading Central Banks – Currency Manipulators
Seeking Alpha – James Grant: ‘Interest Rates Have Fallen And They Can’t Get Up’ “The Fed has somehow managed to take the income out of fixed income and the yield out of high yield,” said bond market maven James Grant at the Fixed-Income Management 2012 conference held last week in San Francisco. His topics were… Continue reading Jim Grant Speaks
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Comment FTSE100 Index – The release of the last 10 James Bond movies has pre-empted a sharp directional change in the London Blue Chip Index. The latest Bond movie, Skyfall, opens November 7.