The Economy Keeps Stumbling Along

The Economy Keeps Stumbling Along

Once a month, I assemble an economic forecast based on analysis of various data points which have led the economy. Historically, most of the time the economy trends up or trends down – but recently the economy simply has been frozen with little change in the rate of growth. My view of the economy is […]
Healthcare Is About To Surpass Housing As The Biggest Source Of American “Growth”

Healthcare Is About To Surpass Housing As The Biggest Source Of American “Growth”

Following yesterday’s breakdown of 2015 GDP growth components, there was little surprise that the biggest source of “growth” for the US economy in the past year was healthcare growing at an absolute dollar pace nearly double that the second highest category (recreational vehicles of all things, because in the eyes of the BEA the US has gone on […]
Greenback Finds Better Traction

Greenback Finds Better Traction

The US dollar rose against all the major and most emerging market currencies last week. After selling off following the ECB and FOMC meetings, the dollar found better traction. It was helped by widening interest rate differentials. Regional Fed manufacturing surveys for March suggest the quarter is ending on a firm note. With new orders rising, […]
Chart Of The Day: Global Recession Is Coming

Chart Of The Day: Global Recession Is Coming

Going by the collapse in the Purchasing Managers Index for February 2016, it is entirely likely that the world is headed towards recession sooner than expected. The chart below gives the manufacturing, services and composite PMI for February 2016 and its clear that services sector activity has slumped. Global manufacturing sector is unlikely to be the […]
Jim Rickards ‘New Case For Gold’ At The Foreign Correspondents Club Of Japan

Jim Rickards ‘New Case For Gold’ At The Foreign Correspondents Club Of Japan

“Gold is not an investment, because it has no risk and no return. Warren Buffett’s well-known criticism of gold is that it has no return and therefore no chance of compounding his wealth.  He is right. Gold has no yield; it is not supposed to, because it has no risk. If you buy an ounce […]
Gold Update And Forecast – March 25, 2016

Gold Update And Forecast – March 25, 2016

Video Length – 00:05:38
Deutsche Bank’s Dire Warning On Global Trade: “The Currency War Is Futile”

Deutsche Bank’s Dire Warning On Global Trade: “The Currency War Is Futile”

“It’s almost like the timing belt on the global growth engine is a bit off or the cylinders are not firing as they should.” That’s from WTO chief economist Robert Koopman, and it’s a quote we’ve used on a number of occasions. Koopman is referring to the fact that for several years in a row, the […]
Payment Data Systems Announces Fourth Quarter And Year End 2015 Results

Payment Data Systems Announces Fourth Quarter And Year End 2015 Results

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, March 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Payment Data Systems, Inc.(NASDAQ:PYDS), an integrated payment solutions provider, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015. Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Highlights  Revenues were $3.7 million Gross margins were $1.4 million, or 37.8% of revenues Operating income was $136,991 Adjusted EBITDA1 was […]
Gold — Pregnant With Possibility

Gold — Pregnant With Possibility

Despite gold’s recent sell off, I feel increasingly comfortable with our short-term (one-year) and our long-term (five-to-seven year) forecast of the future price of gold. Indeed, by this time next year, gold’s price could be challenging or even surpassing the yellow metal’s all-time high of $1,924 an ounce reached in September 2011. And, looking further […]
Best Stock Market Indicator Update – March 25, 2016

Best Stock Market Indicator Update – March 25, 2016

Written by Jill Mislinski We continue to receive requests for updates to the “Best Stock Market Indicator”, which used to be a regular guest post from John Carlucci. Here is an update of the “Carlucci” indicator along with a summary of John’s explanation on how he uses it. As John described it: “The $OEXA200R (the percentage […]