— Gold got a new lease on life in October, up over 12% month-to-date on interest rate driven recession fears and the recent armed action between Israel and Hamas. — Bitcoin has soared since September, up 28%, in part on flight-to-safety buying and in part due to recent speculation about the SEC allowing the sale…
Tag: business
China Contagion, Powell’s Speech and Nvidia — Make or Break Moments For The Market?
— Chinese economic softening gaining prominence as a reason for caution (maybe fear) — “Nvidia Beats Big, and Powell Doesn’t Rock the Boat. Why That’s Ominous for Stocks.” — Fear, distrust and skepticism — The key ingredients China Contagion — plus What About Taiwan? Chinese GDP growth in the first half of 2023 was 6.3% (year-over-year). In 2022,…
The Dangers Of Falling Prey To VIX-ation
— VIX-ation defined — “The Stock Market Is Falling. Why It’s Time to Get Happy,” … makes perfect sense — Changing investor mindsets: human nature often leads us in the wrong direction — I am Kort Sessions with over 53 years of investment experience–42 as an investment professional. My aim is to provide real life perspective and context…
The week that was: ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same’
— A meaningless rating cut by Fitch gives the market an excuse to take a rest — Media and Fed chatter try to bring the bulls back to earth — Should we worry? (An alternative answer) Fitch US Treasury debt downgrade gives market an excuse to rest tent of the As many of you already know Nikola Swann, analyst with…
“Stock Market Worries for the Start of 2023: The Fed, Payrolls, and Mercury in Retrograde(!).”
— My title emanates from a year-end editorial header in a well-regarded financial magazine. — When all else fails to convey the gravity of the moment, invoke in the astrologer. — Warren Buffett commentary on gravity and rates worth considering — Bifurcation in reverse “Second verse same as the first or Wax on Wax off”…
“Don’t celebrate the Dow record too much” or doubling down on a bad call
The bad call was the header of my last week’s post, “The wrong kind of stocks are leading the stock market to records.” What kind of stocks might those have been? They were defensive stocks … healthcare, utilities, REITs. Why was this bad? It was a sign the smart money was fearful. And that’s not…
A Lethal Combo: PMI at a 10-year low + Slowing Job Growth — NOT!
Flash! Dow looses 800 points in 2 Days Here we go again, more selling based on market news items reported without contextual backup. Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for September Worst in a Decade 50.2% was the expected reading. 47.8% was the actual number. Any reading below 50 is considered to be indicative of a slowing…
“Ladies and gentlemen we have a ‘Black Swan'” — Revisited
Election 2016 a major negative surprise for investors? Initially, I thought it would be. Early the morning of the day after I posted, Ladies and gentlemen we have a Black Swan (11/9/2016). I mean based on the polling, which turned out to be dead wrong, there looked to be little chance that we’d ever see…
“The president is the Yankees and Powell is the Toledo Mud Hens.”
Thus spake Jim Cramer … Wednesday morning June 19. Previously in the “Squawk on the Street” segment he opined, “Powell is living in a conventional world,” not the World of Trump. Powell’s conventional world is a place where you try to get the near-impossible (monetary policy) right. It is a world that involves meticulously working…
Pre-emptive Fed Strikes + Having It Both Ways
Dumb and Dumber Just when you thought media/pundit commentary on the market and the economy couldn’t get anymore inane and stupid, they surprise you by plumbing a new depth. This article from CNBC, “These charts show how Fed Chair Jerome Powell is the most important thing to the market now,” is a solid gold example. Of…