The U.S. economy added just 88,000 jobs in March, proving once again that any talk about recovery is misplaced. Food stamp recipients, on the other hand, rose 1.8% year-over-year amid early released news of President Obama’s new budget that curbs Social Security benefits. Social Security is an entitlement to people who have paid into it for more...Read More
The big news this week was in regards to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), defined as the value of all goods and services traded in markets for a territory. In its most recent report on economic activity, the U.S. made a couple of changes to GDP calculations. First, the U.S. modified the chained period to calculate...Read More
Earnings season is upon us and stocks haven’t moved. Even so, the average is still inflated, strength is around fair value, and gold remains dormant. The Federal Reserve made news this week, again, about clarifying its public message regarding the termination of QE. More and more this Federal Reserve looks scared and uneasy about the...Read More
Stocks overreacted to bank earnings this week and reversed their downward trend. Both stock market strength and the averages rose 2% for the week. Gold gained 6%. See below. There was a time when big banks were solid indicators of Market condition. But that day is gone. Banks like JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo...Read More
It has been two years since the 15-51 strength Indicator was made public via LOSE YOUR BROKER NOT YOUR MONEY. In that time the Indicator had a crazy run that peaked in September of last year; it then corrected some 25% down before closing the period with a respectable 26% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average,...Read More
The second quarter of 2013 ended with a bit of trading turmoil. Stocks were down, up, and then down again. Gold was down, down, and then up. Market interest rates were down, up, and then even. Through six months the Dow Average is up 14%; 15-51 strength lost 11%; gold, along with all the talk about...Read More
Almost a month ago I posted a blog about the sorry state of the Market’s management team. Towards the end of that blog which was titled, An Illness Called MDD, I say this: “Of course, Bernanke knows what is all too plain to see: the moment he stops feeding the beast [with QE] it will turn...Read More
Foreign investors sold a record amount of U.S. government debt in April 2013. It was just $60 billion of U.S. Treasuries, but it was a record nonetheless. And when you consider that U.S. central government needs approximately $85 billion of new debt every month to cover its fiscal losses, the $60 billion dollar move is...Read More
Since there was little change in the news this week I’m going to take this blog in a slightly different direction. I was struck by a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled, The Weekend Investor: 100% Stock Solution. The article reported that 9% of all mutual fund investors are “all-in” on the stock market. What a huge...Read More
I cringe every time I hear someone say that they don’t have the time to invest on their own. There’s plenty of time in the day, week, or month, to do what is required to invest successfully on your own.—You just need to know what you’re doing. All of the steps required and techniques needed...Read More
