With the Dow now having lost some 560 points over the past five trading sessions, concern about a slowing economy is catching up with the markets. I have touched on the apparent “disconnect” from a rallying market to the ever worsening Subprime/crisis before, just maybe some reality has finally sunk in. While the “R” word (as in Recession) has now …
The Inflation vs. Deflation Argument
Last week’s PPI and CPI reports, along with the Fed’s lowering of interest rates, have pushed the question to the front burner again as to whether inflation will be heating up further, or if it’s just a temporary phenomenon. From my non-economist view, I find it hard to believe that inflation numbers will worsen given the fact that banks and …
Sunday Musings: The Economic Hit Man
Not too long ago, I read John Perkins’ bestseller “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.” It’s an extraordinary real-life tale which exposes international intrigue, corruption and little known government and corporate activities that have dire consequences for American democracy and the world. John describes economic hit men as “highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions …
From Giants To Junk
Jon Markman wrote an interesting piece called “Big banks vulnerable to takeover,” which touches on more fallout from the reckless real estate era. He calls it the ushering in an era of ‘reverse colonization’ with reference to large foreign investments into UBS and Citigroup. Here’s part of it: In the past two weeks alone, Singapore announced that it would make …
No Load Fund/ETF Tracker updated through 12/13/2007
My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpThe Fed’s ¼% lowering of the interest rate, along with worldwide coordinated efforts to provide liquidity to “needy” banks, had the bulls on the run and the bears took over. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs has moved to +3.79% above its long-term trend line (red) as the chart …
A Confidence Issue
Lack of confidence has played a big role in the markets lately. When banks don’t want to lend to each other then fear has to be stronger than greed. Tuesday’s 300 point drop in the Dow was based on disappointment that the Fed lowered rates only by ¼%. Wednesday, the markets (Dow) rallied some 272 points right out of the …