Category In the news

Federal Reserve, Gold, In the news, Investing

U.S. Dollar: Last Currency Standing

China’s Renminbi Declines After Being Named a Global Currency, Posing Challenges

One has to be careful about reading too much into short-term swings in asset prices. This is especially true in December, when markets become increasingly illiquid and occasionally volatile as companies, banks and investors close out their books and wind down market-related activities for the…

Michael Panzner
December 21, 2015

Federal Reserve, Gold, In the news, Investing

The U.S. Stock Market Is Set for a Fall

In the old, pre-crisis days, it was not odd to think that bad news for bonds was good news for stocks. It made sense from a fundamental perspective. Fixed-income markets tend to do poorly when economic activity is strong or inflation…

Michael Panzner
December 14, 2015

Federal Reserve, Gold, In the news

The Fallout from a Change in the Interest-Rate Cycle

Figure 1.20. Asset Comovements and Correlation Spillovers

Following last week’s better-than-expected U.S. November nonfarm payroll data and remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen–which essentially confirmed that short-term interest rates are headed higher–all eyes are on the December 15-16 Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Expectations are that the Fed will…

Michael Panzner
December 7, 2015

Federal Reserve, In the news, Investing

Anything But Positive for Bond Markets

Elite funds prepare for reflation and a bloodbath for bonds

In theory, the fact that copper and other commodity prices are hovering near multi-year lows (as I noted here), while the Baltic Dry Index, a gauge of global shipping rates, has just hit its lowest level in three decades (suggesting…

Michael Panzner
November 30, 2015

Commodities, Gold, In the news, Investing

Has Inflation Finally Arrived?

US inflation shows signs of edging higher

One often-repeated claim, as I noted in “A Boiling Point… For Gold” and “Is the Conventional Wisdom Wrong About Gold?” is that gold (and other precious metals) likely won’t rally because inflation remains subdued. However, recent data suggests that the…

Michael Panzner
November 21, 2015

Gold, In the news

A Boiling Point… For Gold

According to the bears, there are two reasons to be negative on gold: rising interest rates (an issue I discussed in “Is the Conventional Wisdom Wrong About Gold?”), which will make the price of the metal more expensive for non-dollar…

Michael Panzner
November 16, 2015

Federal Reserve, Gold, In the news

Has Gold priced in next rate hike?

Rate hike fears send Gold price lower Last Wednesday after the Fed meeting comments by Chairwoman Yellen of a possible interest rate hike Gold price turned lower by more than $30. Gold price traded above $1182.00 to the ounce before the…

Gino D'Alessio
November 3, 2015

Commodities, Federal Reserve, Gold, In the news, Investing

Commodities: Now’s the Time for a Contrarian Bet?

Chart 4: China's share of global commodity consumption

To many observers, the outlook for oil and other energy products, industrial and precious metals, grains and other commodities remains bleak, even after a rout that has seen the CRB Commodity Index lose more than a third of its value…

Michael Panzner
November 3, 2015
1 Comment

Gold, In the news, Investing

Current conditions & Gold’s Value Looking Forward

Economic Conditions Gold has been in a consistent decline for the past 3 years, where price has fallen from levels around $1770 in September 2012 to current levels below $1200. This came about mostly due to the sharp rise in Stocks…

Gino D'Alessio
October 26, 2015

Gold, In the news, Investing

S&P 500 seen to have limited upside potential

Why the Stock Market may be stalling October is the month for Q3 earnings and some on Wall Street are not seeing a rosy future for the general Stock Market. The main reasons for this are lower expected earnings reports, the…

Gino D'Alessio
October 16, 2015

Federal Reserve, In the news, Investing, IRA, self directed ira

Spike in High Yield credit spreads

Credit Spreads creeping up again High Yield credit spreads are the difference in the cost of borrowing for low rated companies compared to the Government. Also more simply known as the Yield on so called Junk-Bonds, they act as an indicator…

Gino D'Alessio
October 1, 2015

general, Gold, Gold Info, In the news, Investing

Changing macro factors pushing crude oil to $20.00

Changing Macro Narrative Last week saw two pieces of news that could be changing the macro narrative. Reports of a possible Chinese Fiscal Stimulus package of Yuan 3 trillion ($160 billion) and last Thursday’s FOMC meeting decision to keep rates on…

Gino D'Alessio
September 20, 2015

general, Gold, Gold Info, In the news, Investing, Silver

Will September Confirm The Seven Year Itch Fears?

What’s Spooking the Market? There has been a lot of talk on the street over the past weeks even months of a severe correction in the current Bull market. Last week may well prove to be the beginning of that…

Gino D'Alessio
September 6, 2015

Gold, Gold Info, In the news

World Gold Council Reports 12 percent Decline in Global Demand

Gold demand in the second quarter fell 12% according to yesterday’s report from the World Gold Council, as a combination of structural and external factors weighed heavily on investor appetite. The decline marks a six year low for global demand…

Andre McCarthy
August 14, 2015

In the news, Investing, Silver

Is Silver at the start of another double digit move upwards?

Over the past 5 years the period between late June to early September has seen some of the fiercest rallies in gold and silver prices, with double digit percentage moves fairly typical. In 2013 the price of silver in particular…

Andre McCarthy
August 10, 2015

Federal Reserve, Gold, In the news, Investing

Mainstream sentiment for gold reaches new low

As commodity markets continue to sell off worldwide due to deteriorating global growth, many mainstream financial media outlets have been quick off the mark to highlight the ongoing “rout” in precious metals – with most of the mocking and jestful…

Andre McCarthy
July 31, 2015

banks, general, Gold, Gold Info, In the news

China increases official gold reserves by 60%

Following nearly 6 years of radio silence, Chinese officials finally ended years of rampant speculation within the gold community by announcing the country’s official gold reserves increased by nearly 60% to 1,658 metric tons. With their recent announcement, China has…

Andre McCarthy
July 28, 2015

In the news, Investing

The Real Cost of the Greek Bailout

As the dust settles on the latest bailout deal for Greece, it is becoming increasingly obvious of the pain which lies ahead for Europe in the months and years ahead. While initial market reaction has been positive to the news…

Andre McCarthy
July 15, 2015

banks, In the news, Investing

Extreme Measures for Extreme Markets

Market instability and volatility is beginning to escalate all over the world. The ongoing uncertainty in Europe and market sell off in China are attracting the headlines at present, but both events are likely the first visible signs of a…

Andre McCarthy
July 10, 2015

banks, Federal Reserve, In the news, Investing

Central Banks Admit They are Powerless to Fight Future Crises

The Bank of International Settlements, widely regarded as the bank of central banks, has issued a stark warning that monetary authorities around the world are growing increasingly impotent and likely to be ineffective in the face of the next economic…

Andre McCarthy
July 2, 2015