A Retraction Before getting into the meat of this post covering the last ten years of ‘Flights to Safety’ and gold as a flight-to-safety asset, I need to take back all the nice things I said about Barron’s last week because they went back to the dark side this week (“The Dow Celebrates Five Weeks…
Tag: Taper QE
The “Christmas Eve Massacre” and where we stand now
First and Foremost … By early October, 2018, the S&P 500 had more than quadrupled off its 666, 2009 secular bear market low (up over 300%). This was capped off by a spectacular 24 month run that saw the S&P 500 increase more than 50% to a new all-time-high of 2951.81 (10/3/18). I would say a correction of…
Ladies and Gentlemen we have a Black Swan–Version 2.0
Late the evening of November 8, 2016 I wrote a post “Ladies and Gentlemen we have a Black Swan.” The Black Swan (unexpected, very rare) was the surprise election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. This was before the final tally of the vote was in. You may read the entire post…
The beginning of the end
Or, is it the end of the beginning? Or, is it, as stated in the eloquent and somewhat humorous words of Sir Winston Churchill, ” … not the end. This is not even the beginning the end. But is perhaps the end of the beginning.” This line was delivered to the attendees at the Lord…
Panic City & Cramer’s Revisionist Market History
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning” … Robert Duval as gung-ho, Lt. Colonel Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic Vietnam film, “Apocalypse Now.“ In Kilgore’s case it was the “smell of victory” … not so for the market. Since Monday (10/8) it was napalm morning, noon and night for US equities, burning…
Worried About Stocks?: A Little History That Might Help You Sleep Better
We have seen this movie before … And many times. The United States Treasury 10-year note breaching a 3% yield (peaking last week at 3.248%) after another quarter point bump in the Fed funds rate (to 2.25%) has rattled the market again. “Again” is the operative word. This happens every time that the Fed moves…
“The Fed Could Be Hiking Us into a Recession, … “
“The Fed could be hiking us into a recession, investor Peter Boockvar warns.” This headline appeared Saturday (9/29) on CNBC’s web site. Are You Scared Yet? You probably shouldn’t be. First of all, if you look at the interview, it is hardly a full-blown warning of imminent disaster from Boockvar, though the CNBC header would like…
“There’s something lurking out there … “
The CNBC headline goes on something “… that will upset the market.” So if nothing really is going on to upset the market just plant the idea that there is in your headline. That’ll get their attention. In response I might say that there is always something lurking that might upset stocks. That’s a fact…
Things to obsess on in the new year!
Inflation and Interest rates We’ve not heard much about either of these two market slayers of late. Barron’s year-end edition brings them back into focus –– “What Inflation Could Mean for the Market – Even a small uptick could catch markets off-guard. How to prepare.” We all know that higher inflation, and the higher interest rates…
” … Famous Last Words: No More Crises”
“Would I say there will never, ever be another financial crisis?” Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said at a London conference last week. “You know probably that would be going too far, but I do think we’re much safer, and I hope it will not be in our lifetimes, and I don’t believe it will…