In days of old, when congressional impasses presented themselves, the Speaker of the House, rosy-cheeked Tip O?Neil, would meet his counterpart in the Senate for a night of poker. Several bottles of Scotch later, a deal would get struck, and the two would be photographed together shaking hands the next morning, talking about the good
Global Market Comments August 13, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (THE BOND CRASH HAS ONLY JUST STARTED), ($TNX), (TLT), (TBT), (INDIA VS. CHINA), (FXI), (PIN), (INP), (TTM) 10-Year Treasury Note ($TNX) iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treas Bond (TLT) ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (TBT) iShares China Large-Cap (FXI) PowerShares India (PIN) iPath MSCI India Index
When I first visited Calcutta in 1976, 800,000 people were sleeping on the sidewalks, I was hauled everywhere by a very lean, barefoot rickshaw driver, and drinking the water out of a tap was tantamount to committing suicide. Some 35 years later, and the subcontinent is poised to overtake China?s white hot growth rate. My
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When I sat down at my table at the Namos Restaurant, I was somewhat puzzled by the handful of sand thrown on every table. Are the Greeks as untidy with their food service as they are with their national accounts? Namos is on the south beach of the Greek island of Mykonos, part of the
Global Market Comments August 9, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (AMBUSH IN AUSTRALIA), ?(FXA), (FXY), (FXE), (YCS), (NLR), (UNG), (GLD), (DBA), (REPORT FROM MILAN) CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (FXA) CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY) CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE) ProShares UltraShort Yen (YCS) Market Vectors Uranium+Nuclear Enrgy ETF (NLR) United States Natural Gas (UNG) SPDR Gold
For a lifetime central bank watcher, like myself, this was one for the record books. Reserve Bank of Australia, Glenn Stevens, said last week that he welcomed a weak Australia dollar and that it probably had further to fall. To put gasoline on the flames, he added that there was room for the RBA to
Milan, Italy appears to be a city entirely populated by fashion models riding bicycles on the city?s frenetic, cobblestone streets. That is one?s first impression coming out of the monolithic Milano Centrale train station, built by Mussolini to reaffirm faith in his state. Despite years of allied bombing during WWII, the building is as imposing
Global Market Comments August 8, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (A PERFECT STORM HITS THE GRAIN TRADE), (POT), (AGU), (DBA), (DE), (CAT), (WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE IRANIAN RIAL COLLAPSE), (USO), (UNG), (XLE) Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (POT) Agrium Inc. (AGU) PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA) Deere & Company (DE) Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) United
Grain traders have suffered a terrible 2013, a perfect storm of great news for farmers and terrible news for prices. But while farmers can make up for low prices with higher production, no such convenience exists for grain traders. In January, right out of the gate, the USDA predicted that the US would produce the
The Iranian Rial (IRR) has just suffered one of the most cataclysmic crashes in the history of the foreign exchange markets. It is off a mind numbing 90% since the beginning of 2011. One dollar now buys 24,834 Rials. Watch out Zimbabwe! When communications between intelligence agencies suddenly spike, as has recently been the case,
Global Market Comments August 7, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (MUSINGS OF A DINOSAUR), (THE INSIDE STORY ON APPLE?S STEVE WOZNIAK), (AAPL) Apple Inc. (AAPL)
I often get accused by readers of being a dinosaur, of being insensitive to the feelings of others, and of living as a relic from a previous age. Well, you all may be right. So it is with some amusement I run a piece that I have lifted from my friend, Dennis Gartman?s The Gartman
Global Market Comments August 6, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (AUGUST 9 ZERMATT, SWITZERLAND STRATEGY SEMINAR), (WHY US STOCKS ARE DIRT CHEAP), (SPX), (IWM), (AAPL), (MS), (GS), (TSLA), (USO) S&P 500 Large Cap Index (SPX) iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM) Apple Inc. (AAPL) Morgan Stanley (MS) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) Tesla Motors, Inc.
Come join me for the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Global Strategy Seminar, which I will be conducting high in the Alps in Zermatt, Switzerland at 2:00 PM on Friday, August 9, 2013. A PowerPoint presentation will be followed by an open discussion on the crucial issues facing investors today. Coffee, tea, and schnapps will be
Global Market Comments August 5, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (THE MYSTERY OF THE STRONG EURO), (FXE), (EUO), (THE LONG VIEW OF THE US ECONOMY) CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE) ProShares UltraShort Euro (EUO)
I sit here on the Carrera marble paved terrace of the Emperor?s Suite of the Imperial Hotel, in Santa Margherita Ligure on the Italian Riviera. As the sun sets into a languid Mediterranean, a distant church bell tolls, calling the evening mass. A flock of larks perform a spectacular aerobatic display overhead. A never-ending torrent
A number of analysts, and even some of those in the real estate industry, are finally coming around to the depressing conclusion that there will never be a recovery in residential real estate. Long time readers of this letter know too well that I have been hugely negative on the sector since late 2005, when
Global Market Comments August 2, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (AUGUST 9 ZERMATT, SWITZERLAND STRATEGY SEMINAR), (THE WORLD?S LARGEST SOLAR PLANT), (DINNER WITH JOSEPH STIGLITZ)
Come join me for the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Global Strategy Seminar, which I will be conducting high in the Alps in Zermatt, Switzerland at 2:00 PM on Friday, August 9, 2012. A PowerPoint presentation will be followed by an open discussion on the crucial issues facing investors today. Coffee, tea, and schnapps will be