I am writing this in the second-class cabin of the Wales to London express train, which is packed to the gills with holiday revelers. In the adjacent seat there is a gaggle of four young ladies dressed to the, nines sporting feathers from their hats, obviously headed for a late summer wedding. They are sharing
During my recent trip to Europe, I made another startling discovery about the woeful state of America?s 19th century health care system. I needed to get refills on my prescription drugs when I was in Zermatt, so I stopped by the local pharmacy and placed an order. This was for three different drugs I take
Global Market Comments August 16, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (WHY I LOVE/HATE THE OIL COMPANIES), (XOM), (KNOWING THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING) (WHY BUFFET HATES GOLD), (GLD), (GDX), (ABX) Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX)
The first thing I do when I get up every morning is to curse the oil companies as the blood sucking scourges of modern civilization. I then fall down on my knees and thank God that we have oil companies. You?ve got to love ExxonMobil (XOM), which constantly trades places with Apple (AAPL) for being
As a fanatical follower of the price of everything, I have long been an avid viewer of the television program, Antiques Roadshow, for 14 years, and the English version of the show well before that. This is where you learn what stuff like majolica is. Many aspiring collectors come into the open appraisal events hoping
The ?Oracle of Omaha? expounded at length today on why he despises the barbarous relic. The sage doesn?t really care if the yellow metal hit an all-time high today of $1,440. He sees it primarily as a bet on fear. If investors are more afraid in a year than they are today, then you make
Global Market Comments August 15, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (CALIFORNIA MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN?) (DEATH OF THE CONSUMER), (SPX) ?S&P 500 Index (SPX)
Who was the top paid state employee in California last year? The governor? The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? How about the leader of the Senate? Nope. It was a prison psychiatrist who took home an eye popping $838,706, most of it in overtime. I love it! The state drives people insane by sending
I often get asked why I never put out ?BUY? recommendations on consumer discretionary stocks. I promptly send them in search of the latest consumer spending figures at the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which do not paint a pretty picture (click following link ?http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/pinewsrelease.htm). Since 2008, quarterly spending has come in at a scant 0.5%,
Global Market Comments August 14, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (END OF THE COMMODITY SUPERCYCLE, OR NOT?) (CU), (DBA), (USO), (FCX), (BHP), (ABX), ?(RIO), (JPM), (GS), (ECH), (EWZ), (IDX) (BRING BACK THE SMOKE FILLED ROOMS), (SPX), (TBT) First Trust ISE Global Copper Index (CU) PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA) United States Oil (USO) Freeport-McMoRan Copper &
In days of old, when congressional impasses presented themselves, the Speaker of the House, rosy-cheeked Tip O?Neil, would meet his counterpart in the Senate for a night of poker. Several bottles of Scotch later, a deal would get struck, and the two would be photographed together shaking hands the next morning, talking about the good
Global Market Comments August 13, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (THE BOND CRASH HAS ONLY JUST STARTED), ($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
Global Market Comments August 12, 2013 Fiat Lux SPECIAL MYKONOS ISSUE Featured Trade: (HOW THE EURO LOOKS FROM MYKONOS), (FXE), (EUO), (GREK) CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE) ProShares UltraShort Euro (EUO) Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (GREK)
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