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                        The Bull Market In Gold Is Only Just Starting

E The Bull Market In Gold Is Only Just Starting

As many of you know, my oldest son, John, is an English teacher at a government university in western China. He is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Russian, Korean, and of course, English. I was Skyping with him the other day, and he mentioned something that piqued my interest. There were lines forming outside the […]
Technically Speaking: The Fed Cometh

Technically Speaking: The Fed Cometh

In this past weekend’s newsletter, I reviewed the current fundamental, economic and technical backdrop of the market following the March rebound from the recent lows which was front running the ECB’s monetary policy decision. “The question, of course, is whether the ECB’s interventions will be able to change the longer-term dynamics in the Eurozone by creating inflationary […]
If Gold’s A Good Bet…

If Gold’s A Good Bet…

There are lots of ways to wager. There’s no denying that life has been breathed into the once-moribund gold market. Bullion is up better than 18 percent over the last three months, far and away beating the returns earned by other alternative assets. Mining stocks, however, are outshining gold itself. You can see this vividly […]
January Median Household Income At A Another Post-Recession High

January Median Household Income At A Another Post-Recession High

The Sentier Research median household income data for January, released this morning, came in at $57,288. The nominal median rose $130 month-over-month and is up $2,921 year-over-year. That’s an increase of 0.2% MoM and 5.4% YoY. Adjusted for inflation, the latest income was up $115 MoM and $2,191 YoY. The real numbers equate to increases of 0.2% […]
Whole Foods, Kroger Seen Facing More Competition From Cheaper Fresh Market

Whole Foods, Kroger Seen Facing More Competition From Cheaper Fresh Market

Several supermarket chains, including Whole Foods (WFM) and Kroger (KR), will encounter tougher competition following Apollo Group’s (APO) acquisition of The Fresh Market (TFM), Wells Fargo predicted. Yesterday morning, Fresh Market, a supermarket chain that specializes in perishable items, agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Apollo Global for $28.50 per share. ANALYST REACTION: […]
Chart Of The Day: Inventory Ratio Rings In The Recession

Chart Of The Day: Inventory Ratio Rings In The Recession

Do these look like the charts of a “recovering” economy?
Anticipation Of Osborne’s Budget Weighs On Sterling

Anticipation Of Osborne’s Budget Weighs On Sterling

If UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne wants to position himself to be the next Prime Minister, the budget to be unveiled tomorrow may not be particularly helpful. There is little room to relax fiscal policy, given the self-imposed constraints.   The deficit for the current fiscal year was projected to be GBP73.5 bln, but […]
US Housing Starts: February 2016 Preview

US Housing Starts: February 2016 Preview

Housing starts are expected to total 1.126 million units (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in tomorrow’s February update, according to The Capital Spectator’s average point forecast of several econometric estimates. The projection represents a moderate increase over the previous month’s level of residential construction activity. The Capital Spectator’s average forecast for February is below three estimates […]
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                        The Daily Shot And Data – March 15, 2016

E The Daily Shot And Data – March 15, 2016

Let’s start with emerging markets where we want to cover a number of developments. 1. Egypt, running low on dollars, devalued its currency sending the Egyptian pound down some 14% (chart shows the number of pounds one dollar buys). Source: Investing.com 2. India’s CPI seems to have stabilized (below consensus). Given the weakness in the nation’s […]
March 2016 Empire State Manufacturing Index Climbs Into Expansion

March 2016 Empire State Manufacturing Index Climbs Into Expansion

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey improved and is now showing its first positive reading since July of last year. Expectations were for a reading between -15.00 to -7.00 (consensus -11.25) versus the 0.6 reported. Any value above zero shows expansion for the New York area manufacturers. New orders subindex of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey […]