These days any time anyone shorts the yen—or any currency with below average interest rates for that matter—it gets referred to by some strategist or equity investor as ‘the carry trade’ - but it is wrong. Below is a clear description of what a carry trade is - and isn't - and why it is so prevasively misunderstood. Words: 714

The Securities and Exchange Commission is worried that municipal bankruptcies, combined with an expected spike in interest rates, means that the muni bond market could face "Armageddon" with devastating consequences for the individual investors (74% of the total) who hold the paper of which many are retirees. Words: 490

This month’s market intelligence infographic looks at the recent price of gold and relevant charts including real interest rates and technical analysis. We also look at changes in economic indicators, copper prices and financial trends.

This infographic highlight changes in economic indicators, reports relevant news stories, reveals commodity and financial trends, provides technical analysis and looks at the recent price of gold and real interest rates with relevant charts.

[There is a major downside to] quantitative easing; it isn't free. There is a cost to the Fed's policy and the bill will be past due when the economy recovers and interest rates rise. Congress will then realize that the Federal Reserve System is the biggest financial black hole in the history of mankind [and that] the tab may be big enough to blow the Federal budget and plunge Washington into a new fiscal and political crisis. Words: 870

Higher interest rates [are eventually coming and]... will substantially increase the annual interest costs, the deficit, and the required borrowing/printing. More deficits, more borrowing, more printing, and higher interest rates will cause a larger deficit and more borrowing and the cycle will repeat. [You have a choice as to what you do to protect your current and future standard of living and this article sts it all out.] Words: 595

There are huge amounts of money in the IRA ($3.5 trillion) and 401(k) ($5.1 trillion) retirement plans in the U.S. (another $9.9 trillion in assets held elsewhere) according to a recent Investment Company Institute study which makes it very tempting for government to try and get at it. [While] the government may, or may not, tax the money, they may force you to include a sizable percentage of the retirement assets in your IRA and/or 401(k) in U.S. Treasury securities, which may be among the worst investments in the years ahead as interest rates go up and price inflation eats away at the buying power of those IOUs. [Let me explain.] Words: 802

Financial repression occurs when governments channel funds into their own sovereign bonds in order to reduce debt levels through mechanisms such as directed lending, caps on interest rates, capital controls, debt monetization, or by other means. The promise of financial repression is that it will hold down government borrowing costs and reduce government debt levels, but critics argue that financial repression merely targets the producers of society, i.e., the middle class, and therefore harms the economy. Let's take a look at financial repression ands its supposed pros and cons. Words: 1486

According to the Case-Shiller 10-City index Canadian house prices only appreciated by 84% between 1990 and 2006 compared to 181% in the U.S.. However, as U.S. prices plunged by almost 33% between the peak in April 2006 and the trough in May 2009, the chart below shows that Canadian home prices continued to rise, driven by very low interest rates and relatively benign unemployment. By July 2012, they had reached similar heights as U.S. prices before their decline and fall. I believe that house prices and consumer debt levels are overextended in Canada and that a "Minsky-moment" may be developing in Canadian credit markets. [Let me explain why I have come to that conclusion.] Words: 1892

1) Yet, VALUE is different things in different parts of the long-term cycle. 2) This is because VALUE IS “SEEN” IN DIFFERENT ASSET CLASSES at different points in the cycle depending on how money printing and interest rates affect different parts of the economy.