One of my biggest disappointments with the Obama administration so far is his continued support of the ethanol boondoggle. The program was ramped up by the Bush administration to achieve energy independence by subsidizing the production of alcohol from domestically grown corn. Add clean burning moonshine (yes, it's the same alcohol - C2H5OH), whose combustion
Global Market Comments March 7, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (APRIL 19 CHICAGO STRATEGY LUNCHEON), (HERE COMES THE NEXT PEACE DIVIDEND), (AAPL), (USO), (SPX), (UUP), (TLT), (GLD), (SLV), (CU), (CORN), (SOYB) Apple Inc. (AAPL) United States Oil (USO) S&P 500 Index (SPX) PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (UUP) iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treas Bond
Come join me for lunch for the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Global Strategy Update, which I will be conducting in Chicago on Friday, April 19. A three-course lunch will be followed by a PowerPoint presentation and an extended question and answer period. I?ll be giving you my up to date view on stocks, bonds, foreign
When communications between intelligence agencies suddenly spike, as has recently been the case, I sit up and take note. Hey, you don?t think I talk to all of those generals because I like their snappy uniforms, do you? The word is that the despotic, authoritarian regime in Syria is on the verge of collapse, and
Global Market Comments March 6, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (APRIL 12 SAN FRANCISCO STRATEGY LUNCHEON), (INVESTING IN A STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM), (AFK), (GAF), (EZA), (THE LONG VIEW ON EMERGING MARKETS), (EWZ), (RSX), (PIN), (FXI) Market Vectors Africa Index ETF (AFK) SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa (GAF) iShares MSCI South Africa Index
Come join me for lunch at the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Global Strategy Update, which I will be conducting in San Francisco on Friday, April 12, 2013. An excellent meal will be followed by a wide-ranging discussion and an extended question and answer period. I?ll be giving you my up to date view on stocks,
How about a country whose leaders have stolen $400 billion in the last decade and have seen 300 foreign workers kidnapped? Another country lost four wars in the last 40 years. Still interested? How about a country that suffers one of the world?s highest AIDs rates, endures regular insurrections where all of the Westerners get
I managed to catch a few comments in the distinct northern accent of Jim O'Neil, the fabled analyst who invented the 'BRIC' term, and who has been kicked upstairs to the chairman's seat at Goldman Sachs International (GS) in London. Jim thinks that it is still the early days for the space, and that these
Global Market Comments March 5, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (THE GREAT YAWN OF 2013), (INDUSTRIES THAT YOU WILL NEVER HEAR FROM ME ABOUT)
Contrary to widespread predications, the sun rose this morning and the world did not end. The overnight reduction in our defense spending did not prompt expansionist, vengeful Mexicans to try to retake California and Texas, kicking soccer balls all the way. Cigar chomping Cuban communists did not capture Florida. Hockey stick brandishing Canadians failed to
The focus of this letter is to show people how to make money through investing in fast growing, highly profitable companies which have stiff, long-term macroeconomic winds at their backs. That means I ignore a large part of the US economy whose time has passed and are headed for the dustbin of history. According to
Global Market Comments March 4, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (MARCH 6 GLOBAL STRATEGY WEBINAR), (THE DEATH OF GOLD, PART II), (GLD), (GDX), (GDM), (FXE), (UUP), (FXB), (GBB), (USO), (CU), (THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN 2030), (TESTIMONIAL) SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) GOLD MINERS INDEX (GDM) CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE)
I have been pounding the table trying to get readers out of gold since early December. Now, my friend at stockcharts.com, Mike Murphy, has produced a stunning series of charts showing that this may be more than just a short-term dip and another buying opportunity. Mike explains that a number of traditional chart, technical, and
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 March 1, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (TRADE ALERT SERVICE CLOCKS 26% GAIN IN 2013) (A CONVERSATION WITH THE BOOTS ON THE GROUND), (DINNER WITH NOBEL PRIZE WINNER JOSEPH STIGLITZ)
The Trade Alert Service of the Mad Hedge Fund Trader has posted a 26.01% profit year to date, taking it to another new all time high. The 26-month total return has punched through to an awesome 81.06%, compared to a miserable 15% return for the Dow average during the same period. That raises the average
I have spent many hours speaking at length with the generals who ran our wars in the Middle East, like David Petraeus, James E. Cartwright, and Martin E. Dempsey. To get the boots on the ground view, I attended the graduation of a friend at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, the world's preeminent
Global Market Comments February 28, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (SUNDAY WITH PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER)
When I heard that our 39th president, former governor of Georgia, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jimmy Carter was coming to town, I moved heaven and earth to meet him. I served in the White House Press Corps as the The Economist correspondent during the latter part of his term, and was dying to get
Global Market Comments February 27, 2013 Fiat Lux Featured Trade: (WHY THE MARKETS COULD CARE LESS ABOUT SEQUESTRATION), (BE CAREFUL WHO YOU SNITCH ON)