Massive PBGC Rate Hikes Force Corporate Debt Binge As Companies Try To Pay Down Pensions
As if defined benefit pensions funds weren’t fun enough for corporate shareholders, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), the federal entity that backstops pension obligations when companies default, has enacted massive increases in insurance premiums for operating such plans over the past 5 years. Ironically, the premiums started to skyrocket during Obama’s second term with […]
Did The Economy Just Stumble Off A Cliff?
This is more intuitive than quantitative, but my gut feeling is that the economy just stumbled off a cliff. Neither the cliff edge nor the fatal misstep are visible yet; both remain in the shadows of the intangible foundation of the economy: trust, animal spirits, faith in authorities’ management, etc. Since credit expansion is the lifeblood […]
EUR/USD Retests Resistance Of Bull Flag Pattern At 1.1825
EUR/USD 4 hour The EUR/USD is challenging the resistance trend line (red) of the bull flag chart pattern. At the moment it is unable to break and a correction back to the support trend lines is possible. The next breakout above resistance (red) of the contracting triangle pattern should see the continuation of wave 3 […]
Pound May Look Past UK GDP Data, Jackson Hole Firmly In Focus
A revised set of second-quarter UK GDP data headlines an otherwise quiet European economic calendar. Preliminary forecasts showing output added 0.3 percent in the three months to June are expected to be confirmed. Absent a major deviation from expectations, the outcome seems unlikely to trigger a lasting response from the British Pound considering its limited implications for near-term BOE […]
Lithium Americas Corp.: Value Pick In The Growing Lithium Space
TM editors’ note: This article discusses a penny stock and/or microcap. Such stocks are easily manipulated; do your own careful due diligence. Written by SmallCapPower.com Lithium Americas Corp. (LACDF) is a Canada-based resource company focused on the advancement of two significant lithium projects: the Cauchari-Olaroz project, located in Jujuy Province of Argentina, and the Lithium […]
Japanese Bond Market Volume Collapses To Record Low
With volatility at record lows… The Japanese bond market remains paralyzed with trading volumes hitting record lows as private bondholders no longer dare to even breathe without instructions from the central bank. Gross purchases of JGBs by investors dropped 22% to 12.6t yen ($115.1b) in July, the least since May 2016, according to the latest data from Japan […]
The ETF Effect – And The Opportunity It Presents For Investors
There is a repeating dynamic in US equity markets. It represents an opportunity for investors. News breaks – authenticity not required. The information is parsed based upon simplistic memes, general ideas which have worked in recent trading. The fastest algorithms jump on the trade, using the ETFs that fit the story. (The Seattle Times describes this, citing Josh […]
EUR/USD: Overshoot; Technicals Point To A Tactical Retracement; Levels & Targets – Barclays
EUR/USD is drifting higher, but in a relatively narrow range. Has it gone too far? Here is the view from Barclays: Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: Barclays Capital FX Strategy Research argues that EUR/USD has likely overshot and expects monetary policy divergence to remain an important element for a tactical retracement. Barclays also notes […]
Three Fast-Growing Under The Radar Markets Probably Aren’t On Your Radar
These three fast-growing markets probably aren’t on your radar. If you want to make big gains in the market, you need to invest in growth. Just consider the gains you could have made during the U.S. consumer boom in the 1950s… From 1950 to 2015, U.S. GDP per capita rose 690 percent, adjusted for inflation. […]
Oil: A Storm Surge
Tropical storm Harvey has the potential to be the first hurricane to hit the Texas coast since 2008 and could be on a path to hit directly into the heart of the U.S. “Refinery Row” which equates to about one-third of capacity and running about 7 million barrels a day. One track of the storm […]
