It is the end of the school year at the University of California at Berkeley, and the unenviable task of moving my son, a senior, out of his hovel for the holidays fell to me. When I arrived, I was stunned to find nothing less than a war zone. Both sides of every street were [...]

Global Market Comments December 24, 2012 Featured Trades: (THE ENERGY CRUNCH), (NEW NUCLEAR POWER), (THE CHIHUAHUA GLUT)

I recently spent an evening with Ambassador Richard Jones, the Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency in Paris, who had some eye-opening things to say about the energy space. The IEA was first set up as a counterweight to OPEC during the oil crisis in 1974, and has since evolved into a top [...]

On my recent trip to Oregon I met with venture capital investors in NuScale Power, which is trailblazing, the brave new world of “new” nuclear. Their technology has been pioneered by Dr. Jose Reyes, dean of the School of Engineering at Oregon State University in Corvallis. This is definitely not your father’s nuclear power plant. [...]

Yesterday, I wrote about the Nevadan wrinkle in the housing crisis where distressed homeowners are letting their horses go wild to make their mortgage payment. Now neighboring California is facing a Chihuahua glut, where evicted homeowners are handing over their pets to animal shelters. The diminutive Mexican canine enjoyed a boom in popularity in recent [...]

In the event that the Mayans got it wrong, and the world does not end today, I am calling it quits for the year. And what a year it has been. Over 26 trips and 40 speaking engagements in 20 countries, I managed to log 75,000 flight miles, a distance of roughly three times around [...]

Global Market Comments December 20, 2012 Fiat Lux Featured Trades: (JANUARY 4 CHICAGO STRATEGY LUNCHEON), (WHO NEED GOLD?), (GLD), (SLV), (PPLT), (PALL) (FAREWELL TO SENATOR DANIEL INOUE) SPDR Gold Trust Shares iShares Silver Trust ETFS Physical Platinum Shares ETFS Physical Palladium Shares

I was greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Senator Daniel Inoue of Hawaii yesterday, the Senate’s longest serving member, and a close friend. After 50 years in this August legislative body has came to dominate the all powerful Ways and Means Committee, eventually becoming the President Pro Tem. He was 88. As a [...]

Global Market Comments December 19, 2012 Fiat Lux Featured Trades: (WHY I BAILED ON MY EURO SHORT), (FXE), (EUO), (THE VERY LONG VIEW ON CHINA), (FXI), (CYB), (WHY IS GOOGLE SO HOT?), (GOOG) Currency Shares Euro Trust ProShares UltraShort Euro iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan Fund Google, Inc.