I am convinced that we are still relatively early in a secular commodity bull market. In fact, with the modernization of Chindia and numerous other less-developed nations, I expect this bull market will be one for the record books. Fundamental demand coupled with inflation will push resource prices to unimaginable heights. Words: 805
Read More »"This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly" – A Book by Reinhart and Rogoff (+3K Views)
Highly leveraged economies, particularly those in which continual rollover of short-term debt is sustained only by confidence in relatively illiquid underlying assets, seldom survive forever, particularly if leverage continues to grow unchecked. Words: 1264
Read More »"The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between" – A Book By William Bernstein
Bernstein's attitude regarding the financial services industry is downright hostile: he suggests more than once that retail investors won't go too far wrong by considering any stock broker, financial advisor or insurance salesperson a "hardened criminal." That's with respect to evaluating whether their interests are more aligned with their own retirements or that of their clients. Words: 576
Read More »"Wall Street Revalued: Imperfect Markets, Inept Central Bankers" – A Book by Andrew Smithers (+2K Views)
The book's crucial assumption is that “the market” does have a central value and that the world of stock markets is a “mean reverting” world. As a consequence, the market can be over-valued or under-valued but will, over time, return to its central value. Words: 1317
Read More »Antal Fekete: The Fed Inadvertently Steering Economy on Road to Hell (+2K Views)
I would welcome a public debate of my thesis that risk-free bond speculation suppresses the rate of interest and destroys capital in the process. I have challenged neo-classical economists who still consider the open-market operations of the Fed as a ‘refined tool to manage the national economy’. I want them, instead, to see in open-market operations the cancer of the economy responsible for the withering of the world’s prosperity. So far my challenge has fallen upon deaf ears. Words: 2854
Read More »Turk: Will Gold Cartel Succeed in Destroying Free Market System in America? (+2K Views)
As I see it there are only two outcomes. Either the gold cartel will fail or the U.S. government will have destroyed what remains of the free market in America. I hope it is the former, but the flow of events from Washington and the actions of policymakers suggest it could be the latter. Words: 1654
Read More »Effects of Credit Crunch on Real Estate Market to Continue (+2K Views)
The effects of the credit crunch on the real estate market have been serious, but negative trends will not continue forever. Words: 512
Read More »Buying Tax Liens on Foreclosed Houses can Generate 16% Returns (+2K Views)
Tax lien buyers can earn up to 16 percent annually if they acquire good liens. Lenders typically pay up all the unpaid taxes on properties they foreclose upon, so lien holders can expect immediate returns on their lien investments. Words: 298
Read More »The U.S. Dollar: Too Big to Fail? (+11K Views)
Those in the U.S. power structure know what the plan is if the U.S. dollar should fail. They are not admitting publically that there is even the remotest chance that it could happen but, rest assured, there is a plan. There is always a plan. To paraphrase Franklin Roosevelt, nothing happens by chance in government, so don’t be caught up in such a ‘surprise’ event - whatever it may be and whenever it occurs. Words: 1345
Read More »U.S. Dollar Tied to Equity Market Movements (+2K Views)
The USD remains on a steady downward path and is likely to continue to face a combination of both cyclical and structural negative forces. Words: 408
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