So, the world’s largest economy shrank 3% in the first quarter and stocks everywhere rose in value; yet just one week later a single troubled Portuguese bank sent stocks reeling when news surfaced that it delayed interest payments on a portion of its short-term debt. That’s right, one struggling bank in Portugal caused bank stocks in Germany,...Read More
It has been three years since LOSE YOUR BROKER NOT YOUR MONEY was published. In that time the original 15-51 Indicator portfolio that is detailed in the book has produced a 67% gain, compared to a 42% increase for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Those following along with these blogs know that the 15-51 strength...Read More
I tore a bicep muscle and have been unable to type and blog. Now that I’m out of a cast and into a splint, I’m back in action. Little has changed for the better since Records and Reality was posted more than a month ago. Global strife continues in the Middle East, Europe, and parts of Africa,...Read More
As the stock market continues to bounce around record highs a few things remain clear: the global economy remains fragile, growth is weak and uneven, and the job market isn’t getting any healthier – despite the falling unemployment rate, which recently dropped to 6.3% from 6.7%. In a healthy and functional market, unemployment falls while...Read More
Trading volume is generally light leading into holiday weekends and that was the case again last week. On the lightest trading volume so far this year the S&P 500 ended the week at a new all-time high, closing over 1,900 for the first time in its history. But even with recent achievement the S&P 500...Read More
Two companies have recently made drastic changes to their corporate identities via stock splits. On April 3, 2014, Google issued its first stock split, a 2 for 1 affair that saw the creation of a new class of stock and symbol. Google will now trade under two symbols: GOOG and GOOGL, both around $525 dollars...Read More
What’s the problem with low yields? They encourage more borrowing, lower the costs of business expansion, and in theory, create inflation – as the increase in debt (a.k.a. the amount of spending that income does not fully cover) produces upward pressure on pricing because natural demand has been inflated by the amount of new debt. So...Read More
Stocks seem to have flattened out since reaching their December 2013 pinnacle. Sure there was a minor sell-off in January, but stocks have recovered from that. The point to takeaway from current stock market valuations is this: the average has been unable to top the performance of the economy (total market activity). See below. A...Read More
Blogging regularly is an interesting chore. Sometimes the most important topic to talk about is obvious, and other times it’s hard to find. Sometimes the title is self-evident, and other times it doesn’t present itself until long after the fifth draft. It’s an odd process to the say the least. This week’s title came to...Read More
Gold continued to move higher last week as stocks made a U-turn to the downside. The Dow Average is down 3% so far this year, and 15-51 strength has peeled off 2% from its prior year-end. But gold is the story; up 15% year-to-date. The chart below spans a very short time period (just the...Read More
