Financial Sense

Deficit Spending, Monetary Pumping and the Business Cycle

Pater Tenebrarum — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12 -0700

We would note to this that it is not possible to know when the US might 'turn into Greece'. Greek interest rates suggested that there would be no trouble whatsoever for many years – until they...

Notable Critic of China Policy Taken Offline for Citing Corrupt Use of Power

Michael Shedlock — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11 -0700

I am saddened to report that Michael Pettis' site China Financial Markets has been blocked. The link redirects to a site with a one line message "This Account Has Been Suspended". When I have more...

If You Think This Presidential Race Is Nasty, Look What the Founding Fathers Called Each Other!

Richard Russell — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11 -0700

You think this presidential race is nasty? The Founding Fathers had it beat. In the race between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson for president in 1800, Jefferson called Adams "a blind, bald,...

Of Jobs, Debts and Budgets

Richard Mills — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09 -0700

Consumer confidence spiked last December. Gas prices were lower for the third straight month, a mild winter has meant that many consumers paid less to heat their houses, the auto sector posted...

Barley? Better than Gold & Silver

Ned W Schmidt CFA — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09 -0700

Over the past five years, barley, of the eighteen commodities we follow, was the top performer. Rising by 180+% it bested Gold, +170%, and Silver, +150%. But why quibble? Nearly all commodity...

Buying Opportunity Coming?

Chris Ciovacco — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09 -0700

Even the early stages of new bull markets experience corrections. After surging off the March 2009 lows, the weekly chart of the S&P 500 experienced what is known as a “perfected sell setup”...

Better Days Ahead?

Puru Saxena — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09 -0700

You may recall that only a few months ago, the investment community was worried about Europe and many were questioning the survival of the single currency. During that period, investors were...

A Tale of Two Settlements

Gonzalo Lira — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09 -0700

The ballyhooed “Mortgage Settlement” is a big ol’ pile of crap—plain and simple. President Obama called the $25 billion deal the biggest settlement since the one with Big Tobacco—but that...

Why the World’s Biggest Property Bear May be Buying a House

Dominic Frisby — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01 -0700

Dominic Frisby has been bearish on the property market for years. His view on house prices hasn't changed, but now he is seriously considering buying a home. Why?

Charting an Investor’s Course

Ryan Puplava CMT — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16 -0700

As an investor looking strictly at the charts, you want to see one thing: a breakout from a base. We are currently in one of the best markets to find these chart patterns in a long time. There...

Five Reasons for Holding Gold and Silver Stocks

Ryan Jordan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15 -0700

If you think that a gold or silver stock mania can't happen again, I am willing to bet you are wrong. There are several advantages mining shares can provide investors, but few are in favor at the...

Strange Weather Phenomena, Meth Labs, and Increasing Drought

Evelyn Browning Garriss — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12 -0700

It has to be one of the strangest weather phenomena of the decade. A Bournemouth, England resident was rained on by marble-sized balls of blue jelly. When he gingerly collected the slime, the...

Self-Interest and the Pathology of Power

Charles Hugh Smith — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11 -0700

The self-interest of the alcoholic is to keep drinking. Is this truly in his best interests? The answer illuminates the pathology of power in America.

Bernanke Talks His Book, Omits Key Information from Testimony

Bruce Krasting — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10 -0700

Bernanke’s testimony to the House last week and to the Senate yesterday held no surprises. Ben has promised to maintain monetary policy at DEFCON 4 levels for as far into the future as we can see...

Ingredients for Inflation: Stirring the Pot

Dock Treece — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08 -0700

Before we begin, a quick note that this week’s article is largely a continuation of musings from last week, entitled Ingredients for Inflation. In that article – which was widely circulated around...

Technical Analysis: Charting a Euro Collapse

Steven Vincent — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01 -0700

Trading a true currency collapse is a rare opportunity. Most market participants are familiar with the story of George Soros and his ride to prominence on the back of the collapse of the British...

Major Market Update

John Needham — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01 -0700

We are seeing a sea change in market sentiment, almost as if the Christmas break administered a large dose of stay calm medicine. Bad news is now good news and good news is even better. The...

Dispelling Mainstream Media Pro-Fed Hype and Non-Inflation Myths

Karl Denninger — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12 -0700

Bloomberg, like the rest of the media and Bernanke himself, love to cite "core" inflation as well. But you don't live in a "core" world; you consume both food and energy. The CPI index says...

Jokers, Clowns, and Some Thieves

Danielle Park — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12 -0700

The vast majority of hedge funds and traditional management companies, including ETF and Index providers, all have a common flaw: they sell people the idea of constant and perpetual allocations...

Silver: The Shiny Bastard

Vronsky — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11 -0700

Since January 1980 the values of U.S. commodities have been affected by growing demand and the price increasing effects of inflation. All commodities have enjoyed price increases… all except...

The High Cost of 0%

Jim Willie — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09 -0700

The interminable extension by the US Federal Reserve on the 0% rate into 2014 represents history in the making. It is the adoption of pure heresy in monetary policy, making it mainstream. Worse,...

Paper Currency in a Bitcoin World

David Zweig — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09 -0700

The banking industry has been rendered obsolete by the internet. A new national currency based on the Bitcoin model should take its place. What would become of paper currency and how would it...

Why Our Currency Will Fail

Chris Martenson PhD — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09 -0700

The idea that the very same economic forces that are currently plaguing Greece, et al., are somehow not relevant to the United States' circumstances does not hold water. As goes the rest of the...

Why Not Thorium? The Other Nuclear Fuel

Marin Katusa — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09 -0700

The Fukushima disaster reminded us all of the dangers inherent in uranium-fueled nuclear reactors. Fresh news yesterday about Tepco's continued struggle to contain and cool the fuel rods...

Rick Santelli on Visualizing U.S. Debt; How Many Milky Way Galaxies Do We Owe?

Cris Sheridan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17 -0700

How many Milky Way galaxies does the U.S. owe? Rick Santelli shares his thoughts in a special interview with Jim Puplava on the next debt ceiling and what it means in terms of the entire global...

Flat and Dull

Carl Swenlin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16 -0700

The market had a small drop in the morning in sympathy with European market, but it bounced back quickly and traded at a miniscule gain the rest of the day.

The Fed Resumes Printing

Bud Conrad — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15 -0700

The Federal Reserve balance sheet expanded dramatically as the credit crisis became acute in 2008. The Policy Tools (shown below in black) grew by $2 trillion with the QE1 purchase of mortgage-...

Solving the “Not In Labor Force” Mystery

Lance Roberts — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11 -0700

There has been much debate over the weekend regarding the 1.2 million individuals who moved into the "Not In Labor Force" category in Friday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which included an...

CBO: Take Away All Tax Breaks

Bruce Krasting — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09 -0700

As of today, there is an economic firestorm that is programmed to hit on January 1, 2013. It’s the kitchen sink - the Bush tax cuts (all of them), the payroll tax cuts, the AMT patch, the...

In the Bullring with Gold

Frank Holmes — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01 -0700

After prices fell 10 percent in December, many investors wondered if the bull market in gold was running out of steam. That was before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke swooped in with a “red...

Where a Nation’s Gold and Your Gold Should be Held – Part I

Julian Phillips — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01 -0700

Most central banks hold their nation’s gold in the vaults of the world’s leading financial centers’ central bank vaults. These include New York, London, and Canada among others. In a peaceful,...

It Depends On Your Perspective

Thomas J Smith CFA — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12 -0700

We are all in hock to our eyeballs. The government is printing money around the clock. The printing press is running hard everywhere, not just here in the U.S.A. How on earth are we going to...

Ben Bernanke Sees His Shadow

Grant Williams — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12 -0700

This week houses one of the greatest days of any calendar year. It is a day eagerly-awaited by many around the world and provides just about the only employment for such characters as Staten...

Machines Have Taken Over the Financial Markets

Joe Duarte — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12 -0700

O.K., it's probably hokey, but it's a good headline, and you went on to the second line. Greece is toast, literally. They will never be able to pay back even the 30 cents on the dollar that is...

The Gold Standard Debate Rages On

Pater Tenebrarum — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12 -0700

The fact that Newt Gingrich has picked up the gold standard issue in his quest for the nomination has provoked a bit of a reaction. You can safely ignore the 'unelectable' guy after all, but...

Why Businessweek Is Wrong On Peak Oil

Gail Tverberg — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11 -0700

Our economy has a high level of debt. We need economic growth in order to repay that debt with interest. If oil supply remains flat, or worse yet, falls, it will be difficult to produce the level...

Iran Crisis Heats Up

JR Nyquist — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10 -0700

The U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that Iran is probably one year away from having a nuclear device, indicating “a red line for us, and … for the Israelis.” Then Panetta said, “If we...

The Economy: Weak Leading, Lukewarm Lagging

John Hussman PhD — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10 -0700

One of the great challenges of investing is the distinction between hindsight and foresight. Hindsight treats each major advance, each market crash, each recession and each expansion as if their...

Putting a Good Employment Number in Perspective

John Mauldin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10 -0700

Everyone knows by now that the US is facing difficult choices. Depending on what assumptions you use, the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare are between $50 and $80 trillion and...

Wary Investors Give U.S. Stocks Another Go

John Browne — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09 -0700

Recently, the stock market has been roaring, with the S&P 500 up a stunning 22% from October 3, 2011, which was the low of last year. In fact, the first month of 2012 has been one of the best...