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FHFA House Price Index: Index Up 1.6% In Q4 2017

FHFA House Price Index: Index Up 1.6% In Q4 2017

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released its U.S. House Price Index (HPI) for December. Here is the opening of the report: ​U.S. house prices rose 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices rose 6.7 percent from the fourth […]
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                        Macy’s Is Turning The Corner

E Macy’s Is Turning The Corner

Macy’s (M) is a company that we have been following for several years. We have watched as this one great retail darling has fallen from grace, as sales and earnings have fallen dramatically in the last five years. With the ever-changing consumer, Macy’s was slow to adapt, and its share price suffered in the last […]
Gold: The Intense Battle For $1370

Gold: The Intense Battle For $1370

For the past fifteen months or so, gold has repeatedly been turned back by immense technical resistance in the $1370 area. Double-click to enlarge this daily gold chart. There have been three clear attempts to push through the $1370 area since November of 2016. The first two failed miserably, but the current move looks much more […]
Are Bonds “Safe” Even If They Drop In Value?

Are Bonds “Safe” Even If They Drop In Value?

“Are bonds safe?” asked a fellow in a café who recognized me from the Friday paper. We then lamented having to pay 16 NIS instead of NIS 15 for our coffee. “Inflation,” I commented. Then he asked for advice about bonds: “If the central bank raises interest rates to control inflation (rising prices), bond values […]
3 Easy Investing Tips To Lower Your Taxable Income

3 Easy Investing Tips To Lower Your Taxable Income

One of the biggest reasons investors earn lower than expected returns is from taxes. Taxes eat up on any gains you earn, causing you to earn less than what a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund earned in a given year. While this is annoying, the good news is that there are things you can do […]
Stocks? Who Cares? You Should Worry About Something Else!

Stocks? Who Cares? You Should Worry About Something Else!

Investors are still worried about the stock market. It’s quite understandable, given the recent correction, but it draws their attention away from the really important developments. Let’s analyze the hidden threats and consider how they could affect the gold prices. It’s Bonds, Stupid! Let’s establish one thing at the beginning. The bond market is more important […]
Headline Durable Goods Orders Down 3.7% In January

Headline Durable Goods Orders Down 3.7% In January

The Advance Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders released today gives us a first look at the latest durable goods numbers. Here is the Bureau’s summary on new orders: New orders for manufactured durable goods in January decreased $9.2 billion or 3.7 percent to $239.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, […]
Where Is The Anxiety Ahead European Political Risk On March 4?

Where Is The Anxiety Ahead European Political Risk On March 4?

Among the biggest political risk of the year is at hand. The results of the SPD vote on whether to join another grand coalition and the national election of Italy are due Sunday. The market is unusually calm about it. The euro is trading sideways, a couple cents below the multi-year high set two weeks ago […]
China hits back in trade war with the US

China hits back in trade war with the US

China has launched a formal investigation into sorghum imports from the US, as the trade war between the two countries heats up. Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed the probe on February 4, which comes less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on certain Chinese imports. It is highly unlikely that China […]