The Actual Direction Of Sales
It is increasingly difficult to account for the estimates provided by various statistical agencies when there is no consistency not just with other non-governmental series but within each. The latest retail sales report has nothing in common with anything including itself. The mess features major revisions for the prior two months that simply leave the […]
Japanese Gold Buying Spree Confirms Negative Interest Rates Good For Gold
Over the last several weeks, we’ve been building the case that negative interest rates are good for gold, and mainstream analysts have echoed our thoughts. Last week, Britain’s largest bank, HSBC, issued a statement saying the longer the world’s central banks continue to experiment with negative interest rates,the better the outlook for gold. James Steel, HSBC’s […]
U.S. Industrial Production: February 2016 Preview
U.S. industrial production is expected to remain unchanged in tomorrow’s February report vs. the previous month, according to The Capital Spectator’s average point forecast for several econometric estimates. The prediction reflects a sharp deceleration after the previous month’s strong increase. The Capital Spectator’s average forecast is above the projections of three recent surveys of economists. […]
U.S. Business Inventory-Sales Ratio Jumps To Post-Crisis (7 Year) High
Following the recessionary surge in Wholesale Inventories-to-Sales ratio, this morning’s Total Business inventories-to-sales rose to 1.40x – the highest since May 2009. With a 0.4% slump in sales and 0.1% rise in inventories, the smell of recession lays heavy on US businesses… but then again – who cares if Draghi can keep buying ‘assets’ and saving […]
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
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…
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
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
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: […]
