Two Tips to Avoid Letting a Bad Stock Sucker-Punch You
I confess… I got it wrong with gold.
Unlike some stockpickers and newsletter analysts, who proudly trumpet all their winners, while shuffling the losers under the rug, I have no problem admitting when my calls go against me.
And to the delight of all the naysayers, this happened just a couple of days ago when gold prices shot to a record high. That triggered my sell-stop and, rather than let my pride come before a fall and hang on, it’s time to move on.
Don’t get me wrong, though… I’m still convinced that the yellow metal could suffer a correction for three main reasons…
- So far, inflation hasn’t reared its ugly head. If it stays in hiding much longer, disillusioned investors will probably head…
Welcome to Zombieland
Welcome to Zombieland…where the most amazing things happen…Starring Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner and a cast of millions…
The new movie – Zombieland – about a group of survivors in a world of zombies, was the biggest grossing film in America and Canada over the weekend. It must reflect the zeitgeist of the North American public…a deep feeling that we are living in a decaying world.
Maybe it comes from the growing awareness that the old bubble economy of the 2002-2007 period is dead. Now, survivors must defend themselves from the zombies.
Survivors are being attacked in the streets, in their homes, and at their workplaces. Zombie banks – kept alive by artificial stimulants provided by the feds – take their money and their houses. Living-dead…
Cash4Gold making money on fear
Cash4Gold is a low-rent business that buys cheap television time to promote its program in which people to send it gold in exchange for cash. Turn that old jewelry into money.
It turns out that Cash4Gold is an outstanding business. According to Te…
Spending Soars, Savings Suffer
Personal spending soared 1.3% in August, the biggest monthly leap since 2001, the Commerce Department announced today. Of course, this $129 billion jump in consumption “shows strength in August, indicating some economic improvement,” as CNN writes. A quick look at the chart reveals that the once sober American consumer is starting to fall off the wagon yet again.
As always, the drama’s in the details. “Cash for clunkers” was by far the biggest driver of new spending, almost single-handedly pumping up durable goods orders 5.8%. Interestingly, August’s rise was the biggest since October 2001 — right after Sept. 11, when retailers slashed prices and President Bush urged us to go shopping and “Get down to Disney World.” Heh… looks like only…
Inflation is Our Future
On one hand, the deflationists are claiming that given the extremely high debt levels in the West, further inflation is impossible. On the other side of the argument, many proponents of inflation are calling for Zimbabwe style hyperinflation. In this business, everyone is entitled to their opinion; however it is my contention that we will get neither deflation nor hyperinflation. If my assessment is correct, once business activity picks up, our world will have to deal with high inflation.
Although I have great sympathy for the deflation crowd, given the reckless attitude of the central bankers and their ability to create debt-based money, I do not believe deflation (contraction in the supply of money and total debt) is very likely.
For sure,…
China Gets in on the Trade of the Decade
This week, the big story was once again coming from the gold market. Mid-week, the yellow metal hit $1020 – but the rally was not of the usual variety. Generally, investors flock to gold when the dollar is weak and inflationary fears run high. But as we all know, inflation is not a problem right now – despite the Fed’s best efforts.
No, this rally had another factor pushing it: our friends in the Far East. The Chinese have been quite vocal with their concern over the US dollar and have increased their official gold reserve holdings by 75% in the spring. Smart move.
In the Weekend Edition’s Highlight of the Week, Bill Bonner looks closely at where the recent rise in gold…
The Calm Before the Inflationary Storm
We ALL worry about inflation, but then the news dies down a bit and we push in another ‘major issue’ according to the news media. Funny how they can easily munipulate the masses with their massive hype machine…anyway when inflation was hot Tim McMahon, editor of InflationData.com, was busier then anyone on the planet! I’ve [...]
Retail Sales Soar!
Currencies rally on Retail Sales! China likes investments in Canada…Big Ben the “inflation fighter”…Gold climbs to $1,018! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!
Good day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Good news for me this morning, the pain in my left knee has subsided… Now, If I could just get that swelling to go down, I’d be in tall cotton! This has been quite the ordeal on the old Pfennig writer, and one that I will be glad to put in the rear view mirror!
Well… When I turned on the currency screens this morning, the euro was trading with a 1.47 handle! WOW! It just skipped to my Lou right through the 1.46 handle, eh? It began yesterday afternoon, the dollar was…
Has gold priced in future inflation?
By Vitaliy Katsenelson
Inflation is a possible, but not a guaranteed, result of what is taking place in the economy today. Deflation, or a muddle-through economy with very low nominal growth, are other possible outcomes.
We are seeing signs that …
What gold’s rally is telling us
This article is written by Minyanville’s Lance Lewis
I was wrong about gold breaking out last month. See Gold to Break $1,000 This August. Turns out the yellow metal didn’t break out over $1000 until eight days later (i.e. today).
Now that we’ve go…
The Bear Market is Not Over
Yesterday might turn out to be an important day. The market should have bounced. It didn’t. Instead, it fell 29 points. It’s September, too…a dangerous month. And this rally has already run longer than the rally following the ’29 crash.
Mr. Market can do what he wants, of course. We’re just trying to read his mind. If we were Mr. Market, what would we do? We’d give investors a fright!
Two things make us think the bear market is not over.
First, there is market history. Bear markets do not end with stocks still trading at nearly 20 times earnings and the dividend yield barely at 3%. And they don’t end when people are hoping, praying and expecting them to end. They end in…
Must Reads September 1, 2009
Goldman Sachs wrong on economic recovery, macro funds say Bloomberg
A new model for the world economy The Daily Reckoning
TrimTabs’ CEO discusses massive insider selling Zero Hedge
Inflation and oil prices: our next move Whiskey and Gunpowder
This popular trade is a comfort trap DailyWealth
Top Wall Street strategist calls China a huge bubble The Daily Crux
Henry Paulson’s longest night Vanity Fair
Michael Moore’s latest love story: capitalism Zero Hedge
Andy Xie: Shanghai index may drop 25% on economy Bloomberg
The Coming Takeover Boom
“Work eight hours and sleep eight hours and make sure that they are not the same hours.”
– T. Boone Pickens
Inflation can do tricky things to markets. It creates distortions. In those distortions, an intrepid investor can find some big moneymaking ideas. I think we’ve got one opening up in oil and gas, and it is not without precedent in financial markets. In fact, it’s starting to look a little like the tail end of the 1970s in some respects.
In the spring of 1969, the Dow Jones industrial average stood at 969. By 1982, the Dow hit 1,071. That’s thirteen years of going nowhere. (We’ve had 10 years or so of going nowhere, though the ride between the poles has been…