March 1, 2010 · 4 comments
in Federal Reserve, US dollar, US economy, consumers, deflation, depression, economy, financial planning, interest rates, investing, market trends, money supply, recession, stimulus, unemployment, wealth protection, wealthbuilding
The rally has been over for a good two months, and the markets have been stuck in a trading range since the New Year. Recent concerns over the potential of sovereign debt crises, however, show that we’re not out of the woods yet.
Just consider some of the following areas for potential setbacks in the markets: [...]
January 27, 2010 · 2 comments
in 2010, GDP, January, Obama, US Treasury, US debt, US economy, budgets, debt, deficits, employment, fiscal year, government, news and updates, recession, special dates, stimulus, stimulus plan
The Obama administration sits between an economic rock and a political hard place. Others might call it a contradiction. Obama needs to cut spending, but he’s doing this at the same time that more spending is being introduced (on job creation, more troops in Afghanistan). Slight cuts in some areas are supposed to offset increased [...]
January 26, 2010 · 4 comments
in 2010, DJIA, Federal Reserve, Obama Effect, S&P 500, VIX volatility, banks, central banks, earnings, economics, economy, market reports, market trends, news and updates, politics, recession, special dates, stocks
State of the (Economic) Union 2010: is political news now a leading indicator of stock markets?
I can’t remember where I read it recently, perhaps even in the End of Influence, but the consensus among some who know more about it than I do is that stock markets, and most notably the U.S. stock market in [...]
January 20, 2010 · 13 comments
in 2010, Federal Reserve, US economy, bull market, central banks, economy, exchange rates, financial planning, forex, hedging, inflation, interest rates, international economy, market crash, market reports, market timing, recession, risk
Highest ever one-month inflation rise in the UK for December, fiscal imbalances in Greece, weakened macro-economics in Germany, a Canadian housing market bubble, higher than 50% gains in the commodity currencies since last March (2009), and the return of hubris and risk-taking in the U.S. investment banks… what do these all have in common?
Is it [...]
January 12, 2010 · 0 comments
in 2010, DJIA, Financial New Year, Q3, Q4, S&P 500, bull market, earnings, economy, indexes, market bottom, market crash, market timing, market trends, recession, risk, technical analysis, wealth protection
Increasingly, analysts seem to agree that the first half (and the first quarter, especially) of stock markets in 2010 will look robust and promising, but stock markets in the second half of the year leave much to be desired.
The possibility of a double-dip recession still remains for some, while others mitigate this prediction about the [...]
December 23, 2009 · 0 comments
in Federal Reserve, US dollar, US economy, central banks, financial planning, government, inflation, interest rates, money supply, stimulus
With long-term U.S. bond yields rising and much of the recovery seemingly in place, analysts are increasingly wondering when the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) will begin to implement its quantitative easing exit strategy and start raising interest rates.
Currently the Fed baseline interest rate fluctuates between zero (0) and 0.25%and has done so since late [...]
Each month, the US Treasury holds a week-long auction of US notes and bonds to foreign investors and the Fed. In the past two years alone, there has been a record increase in monthly amounts of debt auctions from $18 billion to $44 billion a month. But this is still nothing compared to this week’s [...]
