Good morning.
Last year saw most asset classes take a dive. But gold managed to post a modest gain. And that gain has continued so far this year, with the metal back over $1,900 per ounce. That seems at odd with the current moves being made by the Fed to bring in inflation.
While the metal has held its own against inflation over time, most years, it’s not a big-mover in the markets. Yet central banks around the world continue to accumulate the metal, as it may prove a better store of value than the currencies of other countries.
Traders can likely still profit from this trend, given the increasingly bullish outlook. Gold mining stocks tend to have bigger percentage moves than the metal itself, and the coming months may give that space a time to shine.
Now here’s the rest of the news:
The Financial Moves Of The Top 10%
Soaring wealth-income inequality has all sorts of consequences. As many (including me) have noted, the concentration of wealth and income in the top 0.1% has enabled the few to buy political influence to… [Read Here]
January 20, 2022
Good morning.
While the stock market has largely been focused on rising interest rates in the past few weeks, the start to earnings season this week has been subdued. Many of the big banks have started to report numbers. And banks should be faring well even with higher rates of inflation going on right now.
However, bank earnings have overall been lacklustre, as many banks have reported trading losses that have offset the gains made from a big year for mergers and IPOs.
If bank earnings aren’t enough to get the markets excited and moving higher, chances are we’re in for a few more weeks of volatility. If some of the big tech names can show strong earnings that handily beat expectations, we could still see markets get a more significant rebound from here. Until then, we’re more likely stuck in a trading range, which will also increasingly feel like a bear market for investors.
Now here’s the rest of the news:
Ray Dalio Frantically Mentions How Inflation Could Get Worse
Ray Dalio, the founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, warned against transitioning away from fossil fuels too rapidly and said that cutting off the supply of finance to the industry would have a destabilizing effect as the economy teeters on disaster… [Read Here]
Peter Schiff Discusses The Most Dangerous Year Ever
With 2021 now in the rear-view mirror, I believe that future financial historians may regard it as the year of peak speculation. While history is littered with periods of irrational exuberance, none of those episodes can really match the current market for outright… [Read Here]
January 20, 2021
Good morning.
The big banks have nearly all reported earnings. And while many analysts have been concerned about how the banks can profit when interest rates are zero, those analysts are forgetting one key ingredient: The spread. When rates are zero, depositors at the bank are getting zero percent returns. The cost of capital to the bank is free, or nearly free.
On the flip side, when a bank makes a loan, even a mortgage at today’s low rates, they’re still earning a decent spread. With the yield curve for Treasuries steeply positive, banks are actually doing quite well borrowing near zero and earning a few percent. Add in the revenues from trading or last year’s record number of IPOs, and this is a sector that could be ripe for outperformance in the year ahead.
Now here’s the rest of the news:
The Unseen Costs of Government ‘Investments’ –Gary M Galles, FEE
About the only real difference from the past was increasing the number of things called investments and the number of zeros at the end of the amounts promised. [Read Here]
January 20, 2020
Morning!
The Santa Claus rally was in full swing. The Nasdaq index broke 9,000 for the first time ever. More interestingly, that index is up for the last 11 trading days in a row. What are the odds? It depends on which market theory you use … If you use the “Random Walk” theory, each day is a coin flip between a gain and a loss. The odds of flipping heads 11 times are a mere one half of one percent (0.05%). But markets have a memory, and when things are bullish, heads seem to come up often. When bearish, tails seem to come up often. That said, it’s the longest streak of up days in a row since July 2009, so expect one or two off days in the coming week to break it… even with a longer-term bull market in place.
“I hate Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and half of Fridays…”
Right-eye cataract surgery this afternoon. Took a bus there, to the Mitchell Eye Centre, waited for 3½ hours until they could get me in. I was one of the last patience of the day! Bill Jones drove in from Airdrie to pick me up and drive me home. Sure is nice to have great friends! All went very well…
“The Formula for High Performance”
The long and the short is, “we went long and got shorted.” 😉
January 20, 2019
Final Day #14 – Ends officially at 9:59 PM (MST) tonight!
Best Coffee pick me up ever! Breville® ‘the Milk Café™ [BMF600XL]
Larger capacity is great for serving more than one cup-at-a-time.- Operation is very quiet… quieter than a Microwave.
- Makes great Hot Chocolate, or Chai Tea latté, or warm milk for bedtime!
- Add cinnamon, vanilla extract or Irish Whiskey — to make it extra special.
- No overheating… EVER!!!
- Even froths milk without heating.
- ‘Cold Stir’ for that ice cappuccino.
- And … [No more ‘heating milk’ on-the-stove], ‘we’ hate burnt milk — or reheating coffee — ‘bubbling it over’ in the microwave. 😉
- Heats Soy, Almond, Skim & Organic Milk [simply] to the temperate you specify. (If I was nursing, I’d use it to warm milk for my baby’s bottle).
- Very easy to switch between Latte Frothing Disc & Cappuccino Frothing Disc, as the extra disc is magnetic & sticks on/to the back of the machine.
- The 3_Cup Stainless Steel Pitcher is dishwasher safe, but (with these large hands), very easy to rinse or clean in the sink, or under the tap.
- Simple and fun to use … ‘my wife brought me my coffee’, just the way I like it, a first…
- I’ve even taken coffee that has gone cold, and placed into the Breville for a quick warm up… Simply Delicious… I cannot say enough great things about this machine!!!
Larger capacity is great for serving more than one cup-at-a-time.PS: I posted a FB Live video: this video “found on YouTube“ is better.
Not a penny goes into my pocket ‘should you decide’ this is something you will check out. It is certainly an item on my gift-giving-list… Enjoy!
