In China, More Regulation Does Not Mean More Enforcement
Last week, Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan penned a letter, published on the bank’s website, discussing problems in China’s financial sector. His letter focused on the private sector, where poor regulatory oversight has encouraged the creation of bubbles in areas such as online lending and real estate. It also discussed the uncertainty over where […]
Tech Stocks: 2017 Looks Nothing Like 2000
Bubbles Speak To Unsustainable Trends It may be surprising to some the Nasdaq made zero progress over a 6,083 calendar-day period between March 10, 2000 and November 3, 2016. The Nasdaq closed at 5,048 when the dot-com bubble peaked in 2000. Fast-forward 16.66 years and we find the Nasdaq closed at 5,046 (two points below […]
AUD/USD Quietly Slips To Lower Ground
Last week, we mentioned that behind the Aussie’s range-bound behavior, one could spot lower highs. Well, the pair quietly slipped out of the range. At 0.7616, the A$ is trading at its lowest levels against the greenback since July. There hasn’t been any apparent catalyst and the move is not huge. Oil prices are off the […]
Updates On Uranium, Oil And PMs
Doc is back with us after a week vacation. We take a step back and look at the recent moves in a couple energy commodities and the precious metals. Doc also shares some of the Uranium stocks that he is focused on. (Audio length 00:11:06)
Broke And Desperate, Part 1: Chicago Pawns A Crown Jewel
A new bond issue from Chicago is rated AAA. That’s great because it means the city’s finances are on the mend, right? Nope, just the opposite. Here’s the story: Bondholders fret as alchemy turns Chicago’s junk to gold (Bloomberg) — Chicago’s public pension debt is $36 billion and growing, it’s facing $550 million in budget […]
Weekly Technical Scoop Of The Markets
November traditionally marks the start of the best six months of the year for stock markets. At least, that is what the record shows. The Dow Jones Industrials (DJI) has since 1950 had an average gain of 0.6% from May to October vs. an average gain of 7.5% from November to April. The period November […]
Debt, Taxes And Politics: An Updated Perspective On Federal Tax History
With the Republican tax bill looming, we’ve updated this article to include the latest figures and estimates for federal debt and taxes. Federal debt is defined as “the gross outstanding debt issued by the United States Department of Treasury since 1790” according to https://www.usgovernmentspending.com. It does not include state and local debt, agency debt, nor entitlement […]
E At The Centre Of The Inflation Debate: Slow Wage Growth Explained
At the heart of setting monetary policy is the debate as to why wage growth has been so slow. Central bankers have been struggling with hitting their inflation targets. They constantly point to their disappointment that wages continue to stagnate, despite significant improvements in the unemployment rates. Without a steady upward movement in wages, it […]
BMO Argues For Biogen As Most Logical Takeover Target For Pfizer
Commenting on “significant market speculation” that Pfizer (PFE) is preparing to execute a large M&A deal, BMO Capital analyst Alex Arfaei argued that he sees a strong strategic rationale for a merger with Biogen (BIIB). The analyst sees a deal for Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) as unlikely given the uncertainty associated with the latter’s pipeline. PFIZER/BIOGEN […]
Hollowed-Out Blue Chips Are The Next Subprime
Subprime mortgages caused much of the 2008 financial crisis by defaulting in much greater concentrations than the experts expected. The next financial crisis is likely to be caused by a similar disaster that surprises the experts. I have an excellent candidate: Fortune 500 companies that have been repurchasing their shares like maniacs for a decade, […]
