Since nothing less than the fate of the free world depends on the judgment of Ben Bernanke these days, I thought I?d touch base with David Wessel, the Wall Street Journal economics editor, who has just published In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke?s War on the Great Panic. I doubted David could tell me anything
Global Market Comments August 28, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (OIL SPIKE SENDS TRADERS SCRAMBLING), (USO), (GLD), (ORDER EXECUTION 101), (THE GREAT COPPER CRASH OF 2013), (CU), (FCX) United States Oil (USO) SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) First Trust ISE Global Copper Index (CU) Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX)
Wow! That was some speech! Secretary of State, John Kerry, was certainly rattling the saber last night when he laid out the irrefutable evidence confirming the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, then upped the ante by asserting that US military forces are ?ready to go.? Oil (USO) hit a two
When Dr. Copper (CU), the only commodity with a PhD in economics, suddenly collapses from a heart attack, risk takers everywhere have to sit up and take notice. Since the 2011 top, the red metal has collapsed a shocking 35%. So called because of its uncanny ability to predict the future of the global economy,
Global Market Comments August 27, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (THE TECHNICAL/FUNDAMENTAL TUG OF WAR), (SPY), (INDU), (IWM), (AND MY PREDICTION IS?.), (TESTIMONIAL), (THERE ARE NO GURUS) SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM)
For the last few weeks, I have had two groups of analysts screaming in my ears. Fundamental researchers are asserting that at $105 per share in earnings, generating a price earnings multiple of 15, stocks are at the historic middle of a 10-22 range. Q2 earnings are over, and modestly outperformed on the upside, although
Global Market Comments August 26, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (RIDING WITH TREASURY SECRETARY JACK LEW)
I was perusing my morning email in Zermatt a few weeks ago, and spotted the familiar White House address with the .gov ending. Would I be interested in meeting with the new Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew? It was just what I needed to lure me out of my Alpine lair back to the USA. I
Global Market Comments August 23, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (HOW US JOB LOSSES WILL END), ?(FXI), (PIN), (EWY), (VNM), (OPTIONS FOR THE BEGINNER) (BRING BACK THE UPTICK RULE!) iShares China Large-Cap (FXI) PowerShares India (PIN) iShares MSCI South Korea Capped (EWY) Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM)
I was researching comparative Asian wage data the other day and was astounded with what I found. Textile workers earn $2.99 an hour in India (PIN), $1.84 in China (FXI), and $0.49 in Vietnam (VNM). This is an 18 fold increase in labor costs from ten cents an hour since Chinese industrialization launched in 1978.
I strongly urge readers of this letter to log on to Amazon and by a copy of Options for the Beginner and Beyond by W. Edward Olmstead. Options contracts offer investors a wonderful instrument for minimizing risk, while maximizing the upside, and I am going to recommend many more such strategies in the future. So,
Global Market Comments August 22, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (WHY I SOLD OIL), ?(USO), (UNG), (UUP) (SALUTING THE ?OLD BREED?) United States Oil (USO) United States Natural Gas (UNG) PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (UUP)
I think that oil peaked last week with the Egyptian Army?s ferocious and bloody attack on the Muslim Brotherhood. I hate to sound cynical here, but count the daily bodies in the street, which has been trending down sharply since Thursday?s, 1,000 plus tally. Fewer bodies mean lower oil prices. This has most likely broken
Global Market Comments August 21, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (WHY YOU SHOULD BUY THIS DIP), ?(SPX), (IWM), (INDU), (THE BIPOLAR ECONOMY), (TESTIMONIAL) S&P 500 Index (SPX) iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM) DJ Industrial Average (INDU)
There?s nothing like coming home and getting slapped in the face with a fresh mackerel the second I step off the plane. That?s what happens when you travel from a continent that is universally positive about US stocks, to one that is largely negative. Take a look at the chart below from my friends at
Corporate earnings are up big! Great! Buy! No wait! The economy is going down the toilet! Sell! Buy! Sell! Buy! Sell! Help! Anyone would be forgiven for thinking that the stock market has become bipolar. According to the Commerce Department?s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the answer is that corporate profits account for only a small
Global Market Comments August 20, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (I?M BACK!)
I sit here at Virgin Atlantic?s upper class lounge at London?s Heathrow airport, awaiting their transcontinental nonstop service to San Francisco, listening to Bach?s Sonata No.1 in G Minor on my headphones. I am returning from a two-month tour of Europe that was highly informative, exciting, and even mind expanding. The proof is the ten
Global Market Comments August 19, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (HOW THE GOVERNMENT UNDERSTATES THE ECONOMY), (HOW TO GET A FREE TRIP TO EUROPE)
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