Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Gold and the Dollar: Countertrend Elliot Wave Cycles Completed
May 24th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. DISCLOSURE: I own gold. I am a BullionVault client and affiliate. Summary: My best guess is that, on balance, gold is headed higher and will break above the high of $1032 set back on 17 March 2008. I’ve written on balance […]
Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Naimi Says Oil to Reach $75 a Barrel
May 24th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Disclosure: I’m long oil. Remember this chart from May 2? West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil, weekly interval The relationship between oil prices and the U.S. Dollar Index: U.S. Dollar Index vs. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil, daily interval Via: Bloomberg: Saudi […]
Schwarzenegger Plans to Completely Eliminate Welfare for Families in California
May 23rd, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to completely eliminate the state’s welfare program for families, medical insurance for low-income children and Cal Grants cash assistance to college and university students. The proposals to sharply scale back the assistance that California provides to its neediest residents came in testimony by the administration this […]
FDIC Friday: Two Illinois Banks Seized, Bringing U.S. Tally This Year to 36
May 23rd, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Two Illinois banks with combined assets of almost $1 billion were closed by regulators, pushing the toll of failed U.S. lenders to 36 this year amid the longest recession since the 1930s. Strategic Capital Bank in Champaign and Citizens National Bank in Macomb were closed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named […]
Afghanistan: U.S. Forces Seize Almost 15 Tonnes of Narcotics Including Opium, Heroin and Morphine
May 22nd, 2009The commentary for this has already been written. See Blackwater Worldwide Changes Its Name to Xe; Same Mercenaries, but Now with More “Aviation Support” and The Invisible Hand of the Market: British Troops Seize £50 Million of Afghan Opium. Via: Reuters: Afghan and U.S. forces have killed 34 militants, almost half of them in air […]
Laid Off Traders Try to Get Jobs as High School Math Teachers
May 22nd, 2009Via: Reuters: When Scott Brooks got laid off by American Express in February he decided to turn his back on finance and revive a dream he gave up on many years ago — to become a math teacher. He happens to live in New Jersey, where state education authorities have long worried about a dearth […]
Japan’s Economy Shrank Record 15.2% Last Quarter
May 22nd, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Japan’s economy shrank at a record 15.2 percent annual pace last quarter as exports collapsed and consumers and businesses cut spending. The contraction followed a revised fourth-quarter drop of 14.4 percent, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. Gross domestic product fell 3.5 percent in the year ended March 31, the most since […]
Geithner Vows to Cut U.S. Deficit on Rating Concern
May 22nd, 2009How screwed of a situation is it if the goal is sustainable deficits? Via: Bloomberg: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner committed to cutting the budget deficit as concern about deteriorating U.S. creditworthiness deepened, and ascribed a sell-off in Treasuries to prospects for an economic recovery. “It’s very important that this Congress and this president put in […]
After Major Florida Bank Fails, Carlyle Swoops In as a Buyer
May 22nd, 2009Via: Washington Post: Florida-based BankUnited collapsed yesterday, the largest bank failure so far this year, as a new federal investigation revealed that the bank’s regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, allowed the firm to cover up its financial weakness. A consortium of investors, including District-based private-equity giant Carlyle Group, agreed to buy and recapitalize BankUnited, […]
Fed Open to Buying More Securities
May 21st, 2009Via: Wall Street Journal: Some Federal Reserve officials are open to raising the amounts of mortgage and Treasury securities purchase programs beyond the $1.75 trillion that they have already committed to buying, according to minutes from the Fed’s April meeting. Officials, meanwhile, projected an even deeper recession than they expected three months earlier and a […]
