Archive for the 'Economy' Category
GOLD: STRATEGIC SUPPORT BREACHED
August 11th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. There it goes… $850 was the BIG one. Via: Market Watch: Gold futures dropped to their lowest level of the year Monday afternoon as a decline in oil prices and strength in the dollar sent the precious metal’s prices down by […]
Put Options “Lotto” on Bear Stearns Collapse Paid Out More than $270 Million
August 11th, 2008I watched another one pop, then, finally, I thought: “This is the scene of a crime for sure.” —Insider Crimes, Funny Money and Options Rackets Via: Bloomberg: On March 11, the day the Federal Reserve attempted to shore up confidence in the credit markets with a $200 billion lending program that for the first time […]
FDIC Fund Strained by Bank Failures May Lift Premiums
August 11th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: The failure of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and seven other banks this year may erase as much as 17 percent of a government insurance fund and raise premiums for all banks, from Franklin National of Minneapolis to Bank of America Corp. The closing of IndyMac in July, the third-biggest U.S. bank failure, may cost […]
Theory on Dollar Short Squeeze
August 11th, 2008Via: GoldMoney: So what happened to cause the dollar to rally over the past three weeks? In a word, intervention. Central banks have propped up the dollar, and here’s the proof. When central banks intervene in the currency markets, they exchange their currency for dollars. Central banks then use the dollars they acquire to buy […]
Oil-Rich Fund Eyeing Foreclosed U.S. Homes
August 10th, 2008Is this a nonsense story to trick people on the sidelines into flinching and buying? Or is it real? I don’t know. I have to wonder, because the next phase, the Alt-A and prime phase is just getting started. You’d think the people with billions of dollars burning holes in their pockets would know better—but […]
The Price Is the Same; It’s the Size That Shrinks
August 9th, 2008Via: New York Times: IMAGINE what would happen if the price of gasoline remained the same, but instead of selling it by the gallon, gas stations knocked down the size a few ounces. It might seem that you were paying the same amount — about $4 a gallon — but you wouldn’t be. You would […]
U.S. Dollar Index: Bears, the Squeeze Is On
August 8th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. NOTE: I’m posting this ASAP, without this week’s candle close fully printed. Who? What? Where? Why? How is the dollar going up? I have no idea, but let’s take a look at the big picture: U.S. Dollar Index, Weekly Interval While […]
AIG WHACKED
August 7th, 2008WTF is happening on the dollar? The worse the news, the more it gaps up! Amazing. I’ll have to get out the squiggly lines and chicken entrails on the USDX very soon. I saw this story and I smugly thought, “Surely this dollar rally will be over.” WRONG! Via: Bloomberg: American International Group Inc., the […]
Jobless Claims Rose to Their Highest Level in Six Years
August 7th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: The number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week to the highest level in six years, signaling the labor market continues to weaken. Initial jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 455,000 in the week ended Aug. 2, the most since March 2002, from 448,000 the prior week. […]
Data Revision Reveals Almost Half of NYMEX Crude Oil Futures and Options Positions Are Held By Speculators
August 7th, 2008Mmm hmm. Via: Reuters: A quiet data revision that has boosted by nearly 25 percent the number of oil futures contracts U.S. regulators think are held by speculators is raising eyebrows in the energy trading community. The revision means that speculators controlled 48 percent of the open interest in NYMEX crude oil futures and options […]
