In the following article, The Gold and Oil Guy Chris Vermeulen looks at investor sentiment, Federal Tax Revenues, Food Stamps, Median Household income vs. Home Prices, and comes to some interesting conclusions. ~ Tim McMahon, editor
Investors Pessimistic… Market to Rally Read More »
In the following article Chris Vermeulen of The Gold and Oil Guy, looks at the current trend in Mortgage Delinquencies in an effort to determine whether the market is still bullish. He also looks at FED actions and how they affect the markets. According to Wikipedia the Federal Funds Rate is, “the interest rate at which depository institutions (banks and credit unions) lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight, on an uncollateralized basis.” ~ Tim McMahon, editor
Mortgage Delinquency Rates Increase Read More »
Since 1776, many things have changed dramatically in America. One of the most drastic series of changes has been in the way we conduct transactions using money. Believe it or not, the monetary system that is in place today would be almost completely unrecognizable to the founding fathers. Here are some cool facts about the history of our monetary system.
America & Money: Cool Facts About the History of Our Monetary System Read More »
In today’s post Gary Tanashian looks at ten charts and indicators to give us a unique look at the trends of the overall economic situation, the state of the “economic recovery” and the employment situation. He looks at where the jobs are, how the average consumer is doing and even the debt to GDP ratio. I think you will find some real gems in his charts.
This week’s Notes From the Rabbit Hole included a little Payrolls/Wages related economic discussion before moving on to the usual coverage of stock markets, commodities, precious metals, bonds, currencies and related indicators and market internals. With FOMC on tap there will be more data noise directly ahead, but then I expect markets to smooth out into what is looking like a sensible short and intermediate-term plan.
The U.S. Economy, Payrolls & FOMC Read More »
In November 2016 with great fanfare OPEC announced a cut in production in an effort to drive up prices in light of the massive global supply glut partially the result of U.S. shale oil flooding the market. This supply glut had put every Oil producing country in fiscal straits (since most of the governments derive a substantial portion of their revenues from oil). It also squeezed the private U.S. shale oil producers who had racked up significant debt prior to the oil price crash. In the months since we have published several articles pertaining to the price of oil. Initially OPEC’s production cut drove up oil prices but in Oil Prices High Enough to Spark Shale Rebound we showed that Shale production was capping the oil price gains.
Is a Second OPEC Cut In The Cards? Read More »
The oil majors reported poor earnings for the fourth quarter of last year, but many oil executives struck an optimistic tone about the road ahead. Oil prices have stabilized and the cost cutting measures implemented over the past three years should allow companies to turn a profit even though crude trades for about half of what it did back in 2014.
Are Oil Production Costs Rising or Falling? Read More »
Just a few short years ago no one had heard of them and now it seems like everybody on the Earth knows about Bitcoin. Bitcoin (a peer-to-peer electronic cash system) was first introduced in October 2008… In 2012, at InflationData, we published an article entitled “Civil Liberties Rest Upon Sound Money” about the new currency. Since then the use of bitcoins has grown astonishingly quickly. Being the prescient financial wizards that they are, in 2014 Robert Prechter and our friends at Elliott Wave International began offering their expert financial advisory and educational materials for sale via Bitcoins… Today there are some 14.6 million bitcoin units in circulation… One major problem with most currencies is that there is nothing to stop governments from printing an infinite amount of them. This erodes the value of the existing currency and can cause them to become worthless through hyperinflation like the currencies of the German Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe… Bitcoin is unique in that only 21 million bitcoins will ever be created.
Cryptocurrency: Is Bitcoin the Future of Money? Read More »
Several factors determine the U.S. price of gold. Inflation, market uncertainty (i.e. worry), the value of the Dollar compared to other currencies (a falling dollar increases the gold price), supply and demand. Market supply can come from three sources: mining, scrap (people selling jewelry to raise cash), and Central banks selling reserves. Demand can come from industrial and commercial sources and investment demand (i.e. people hedging against uncertainty or expecting a rise in gold prices). Recently, overall market and political uncertainty in the world is rising while the Dollar is falling.
Gold Prices Inching Higher Read More »
Let the battle begin. OPEC is trying to cut production and drive prices up while U.S. Shale Oil producers are seeing the increase in oil prices as an opportunity to get back in the game. More oil rigs are coming on line in the U.S. accompanied by increased drilling activity. BP’s 2017 Energy outlook is saying there is plenty of oil until at least 2050 but this includes an estimate that oil demand will slow in the coming years.
The Oil War Just Getting Started Read More »
Oil prices faltered at the start of the second week of the year, as fears set in about a rapid rebound in U.S. shale production. For the better part of two months, optimism surrounding the OPEC deal has buoyed oil prices, but bullish sentiment from speculators are showing early signs of abating, raising the possibility that the oil rally is running out of steam.
Oil Prices Running Out Of Reasons To Rally? Read More »
