Posts Tagged ‘Fed’
>
On one hand, one has professional stock bubble top-tickers (of the variety that would benefit from some error-checking)-cum-amateur precious metal pundits claiming that the gold bubble is unmistakable. On the other, there are those who have made hundreds of millions of dollars for their investors actually investing in precious metals, such as in this case Sprott’s John Embry, who states that there is no bubble in either gold or silver. “Jim Rogers, who is one of the world’s leading authorities on commodities, dealt with the bubble issue recently by recounting an interesting anecdote. While addressing a group of high-end money managers, he inquired as to how many of them held gold or silver in their accounts, and remarkably, 75% replied they had never owned either precious metal. When gold is trading at several multiples of the current price at some point in the future, you can be assured that every single person at a similar gathering would be long and then discussion of a bubble might be legitimate. In my considered, opinion we are many years and thousands of dollars away in price from that debate.” Whom does one believe? That’s obviously rhetorical. Amusingly, Embry takes a stab at the Financial Times, which he dubs a conduit for the establishment: “The FT has been speaking much less disparagingly about gold recently. The paper consistently denigrated gold and its change in tone might be instructive.” Of course, a variety of second-rate media outlets are more than happy to step in and fill the “goldbug” bashing void in the FT’s absence.
Full recent thoughts from Embry (pdf):
>
BMO seems to think so…
|
Figure 1: S&P Global 1200 and Sovereign Default Risk
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Figure 3: Credit Default Swap Section of Equity Screening By. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Figure 4: Bank of America Equity/CDS Overlay
|
||
|
|
|||
>As The Dollar Falls… Everything else rises
—
The MasterBlog
http://the-masterblog.blogspot.com
>
The global implications of QE2
—
By Gavyn Davies
—
Gavyn Davies on the global effects of another round of quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve
Read the full article at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4e74bd74-cfb9-11df-a51f-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss
Sent from my iPad
On Tomorrow’s Secret Meeting To Plot The End Of High Frequency Trading
The SEC’s “definitive”(ly worthless) report on what happened on May 6th was a dud, and was nothing more than a distraction-based smear campaign against Waddell and Reed (an experiment in which we can only hope W&R participated involuntarily): a firm which did something that was completely in its right to do. But is this unexpected? After all had the SEC confirmed that it is indeed HFT who is responsible for a broken market structure, it would have effectively destroyed itself: if and when the SEC does indeed confirm that the entire market topology over the past 5 years has been hijacked by young and pustular math Ph.D.’s with fast computers, the implications to fair markets would be orders of magnitude worse than the fallout associated with the Madoff scandal, and could serve as grounds for the unwind of the SEC itself, which would have to explain why it has been avoiding calls against HFT impropriety for years. So in a sense Mary Schapiro’s conclusion is nothing less than a lass desperate act of self preservation. Which however means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Tomorrow, as the WSJ [1]reported a week ago, the Investment Company Institute, better known to Zero Hedge readers as the guys who track the now permanent weekly outflows from capital markets, is holding a secret meeting in which some of the participants “are determined to push for a plan to restrict high-frequency trading” (furthermore, the ICI was rather pissed about this particular leak, implying that things are really serious). While the SEC may have declared a market structure truce, and is peddling its usual worthless solution of circuit breakers (more on this below), actual market participants have had enough of seeing their profits plunge and seeing HFT extract more capital out of the market than the much maligned ten years ago market makers and specialists ever did.
Read the rest of the story here:
The MasterFeeds: On Tomorrow’s Secret Meeting To Plot The End Of Hi…
You log on to your brokerage account for the third time that day and see your precious metal portfolio has doubled from last week. Gold and silver stocks have been screaming upward for weeks. Everyone around you is panicking from runaway inflation and desperate to get their hands on any form of gold or silver. It’s exhilarating and frightening in the same breath. Welcome to the mania.
Daily gains of 20% in gold and silver producers become common, even expected. Valuations have been thrown out the window – this is no time for models and charts and analysis. It’s not greed; it’s survival. Get what you can, while you can. Investors clamor to buy any stock with the word “gold” in its title. Fear of being left behind is palpable.
The shares of junior exploration companies have gone ballistic. They double and triple in days, then double and triple again. Many have already risen ten-fold. You have several up 10,000%. No end is in sight. Your portfolio swells bigger every day. Your life is changing right in front of you at warp speed.
Every business program touts the latest hot gold or silver stock. It’s all they can talk about. Headlines blare anything about precious metals, no matter how trivial. Weekly news magazines and talk-radio hosts dispense free stock picks. CNBC and Bloomberg battle to be first with the latest news. Each tick in the price of gold and silver flashes on screen, and interruptions offering the latest prediction seem to happen every fifteen minutes. Breathy reporters yell above the noise on the trade floor about insane volume, and computers that can’t keep up. Entire programs are devoted to predicting the next winner. You watch to see if some of your stocks are named. You can’t help it.
The only thing growing faster than your portfolio is the number of new “gold experts.” It’s a bull market in bull.
You can feel the crazed mass psychology all around you. Your co-workers know you bought gold some time ago and pepper you with questions seemingly every hour, interrupting your work. They ask if you heard about the latest pick from Fox Business. They want to know where you buy gold, who has the best price, and, by the way, how do I know if my gold is real? They all look at you differently now. Women smile at you in the hallway. You worry someone may follow you home.
Your relatives once teased you but now hound you with questions at family get-togethers – what stocks do you own? What’s that gold newsletter telling you? Where can I keep my bullion? You don’t want to be the life of the party, but they force it – it’s all anyone wants to talk about. Your brother tells you he dumped his broker and is trading full-time. Another relative shoves his account statement in front of you and wants advice. You sense someone will ask for a loan. You don’t know what to tell people. The attention is discomforting, and you feel the urge to escape.
At first it was exciting, then breathtaking. Now it’s scary. You’re drowning in obscene profits but are becoming increasingly anxious about how long it can last. Worry replaces excitement. You don’t know if you should sell or hold on. Nobody knows what to do. But the next day, your portfolio screams higher and you feel overwhelmed once again.
You grab the local paper and read the town’s bullion shop had a break-in last night. They hired a security company and have posted several guards outside and inside the store. Premiums have skyrocketed, but lines still form every day. The proprietor hands out tickets when locals arrive: your number will be called when it’s your turn… the wait will be long… please have your order ready… yesterday we ran out of stock at 11am.
You begin to worry about the security of your own stash of bullion – those clever hiding spots don’t feel quite as secure as you first thought they’d be. Is the bank safe deposit box really secure? Shouldn’t they hire a security guard? Should I move some of it elsewhere? Is there anywhere truly safe? You find yourself checking gun prices online.
And it’s all happening because the dollar is crashing and inflation has scourged every part of life. You curse at those who said this couldn’t happen and mock past assurances from government. Cash is a hot potato, and spending it before it loses more purchasing power is a daily priority. Everyone is clamoring to get something that can’t lose value, but mostly gold and silver.
Your wife calls and says the $100 you gave her that morning isn’t enough to buy groceries for dinner. Prices change often on everything. She urges you to get some bread and milk before the stores raises the price again. You suddenly remember you’re low on gas and make plans to leave work early to beat others to the filling station. Restaurants and small businesses post prices on a chalkboard and update them throughout the day. Employers scramble to work out an “inflation adjustment” for salaries.
On your way home, the radio broadcaster reports the government has convened an emergency summit of all heads of state. They’re working urgently on the problem, and all other agendas have been tabled. Outside experts have been called in. We’re going to solve this rampant flood of inflation for the American people, they say. In your gut you know there’s nothing they can do.
You change the channel and hear about the spike in arrests of U.S. citizens at the Canadian border. Scads of people are caught trying to sneak bullion and stock certificates out of the country – from airports to rail stations. Violence at borders has escalated, and stories of bloodshed are getting common. The White House ordered heightened security at all U.S. borders, with the media reporting it can take days to cross. Foreign governments offer meaningless help, others mock U.S. leaders for their shortsightedness. Their countries are suffering, too.
You think about the gains in your portfolio and wince at the taxes you’ll pay when you sell. Nothing has been indexed to inflation, so everyone has been pushed into higher tax brackets. Citizens are furious with government. Agencies have been swarmed with bitter taxpayers and revolting benefit recipients. One government office was set on fire. A riot erupted in Washington, D.C. last week and martial law was temporarily declared. It’s too dangerous to travel anywhere.
As crazy as things are, it’s hard not to smile. You’re in the middle of a mania. Your life has changed permanently. You’re part of the new rich. You can quit work, live off your investments. Your wife is ecstatic, and you both feel as if it’s your second honeymoon. Your kids are amazed and gaze at you with the same awe they did when they were children.
You’re thankful you bought gold and silver before the mania, along with precious metal stocks. You daydream of where you might go, what you might buy. New options open up daily. You realize you’ll need to meet with your accountant, maybe hire a second one to protect your sudden wealth. You wonder what you’ll invest in next. You ponder what charities are worthwhile. Better meet with the attorney to redraft the will.
As night settles and your house quiets, you log on to your brokerage account one last time. Even though you’re ready for it, your mouth drops when you see your account balance. It is truly overwhelming. You think of others who own gold and silver stocks and wonder if any have sold yet. Has Doug Casey exited?
You stare at the blinking screen, hand on the mouse, the cursor hovering on the sell button…
By Albert Edwards, Société Générale, London
The current situation reminds me of mid 2007. Investors then were content to stick their heads into very deep sand and ignore the fact that The Great Unwind had clearly begun. But in August and September 2007, even though the wheels were clearly falling off the global economy, the S&P still managed to rally 15%! The recent reaction to data suggests the market is in a similar deluded state of mind. Yet again, equity investors refuse to accept they are now locked in a Vulcan death grip and are about to fall unconscious.
The notion that the equity market predicts anything has always struck me as ludicrous. In the 25 years I have been following the markets it seems clear to me that the equity market reacts to events rather than pre-empting them. We know from the Japanese Ice Age and indeed from the US 1930’s experience, that in a post-bubble world the equity market merely follows the economic cycle. So to steal a march on the market, one should follow the leading indicators closely. These are variously pointing either to a hard landing or, at best, a decisive slowdown. In my view we are poised to slide back into another global recession: the data is slowing sharply but, just like Japan in its Ice Age, most still touchingly believe we are soft-landing. But before driving off a cliff to a hard (crash?) landing we might feel reassured when we pass a sign that reads Soft Landing and we can kid ourselves all is well
Read the rest of the story here > > >
________________________
The MasterBlog
The MasterBlog- We’ve Moved!
- The #UN, with special mention to @UN_HRC #HumanRights Council, has outdone itself this year. Thanks @UNWatch
- The Chutzpah!! #Iran foreign min goes all-out against #SaudiArabia as fomenter of extremism
- 31 INCREDIBLE FACTS ABOUT #GOLD
- #Israel Proves the #Desalination Era Is Here #WaterDiplomacy
- "1.2 billion opportunities" #Africa
- #Mexico has world's 11th-highest GDP based on PPP. As Europe weakens, it will be in the top 10 @johnfmauldin
- Mark Zuckerberg chose some pretty interesting books for the first year of Facebook's Book Club
- A Missed Opportunity of Ultra-Cheap Money - #ZIRP @NYTimes
- #LatinAmerica: after a decade of budgets and politics buoyed by high commodity prices, the raw realities of geopolitics are back with a vengeance.
- SWF News – Opalesque
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- The Economist
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- Time top Stories
- 6 Penn Students Among Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested During Attempt to Occupy Building
- Thousands Expected to Rally on Washington’s National Mall in Pro-Palestinian Demonstration
- New Royal Exhibition Displays Poignant Portrait of Kate Middleton
- Hollywood Pays Tribute After Boardwalk Empire, 9 to 5 Actor Dabney Coleman Dies
- Suspected Would-Be Assassin Detained as Slovak Prime Minister’s Condition Is Stable
- King Charles III to Attend Ceremonies for 80th Anniversary of D-Day in France
- Canadian Police Link Four Women Killed in the 1970s to Dead American Serial Sex Offender
- Man Who Sought Revenge for a Stolen Phone Pleads Guilty to Fire That Killed a Senegalese Family of Five
- Man Charged in Random Attack on Steve Buscemi in New York
- The Last Student Who Helped Integrate U.N.C. Has Died
- Unknown Feed
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- Unknown Feed
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
The MasterBlog 