Timing & trends
With an increase in inventories of durable goods partly offset by a drop in inventories of non-durable goods, the U.S. Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing that wholesale inventories rose by less than expected in December.
The report said wholesale inventories increased by 0.3 percent in December after rising by 0.5 percent in November. Economists had been expecting another 0.5 percent increase.
The modest growth reflected a 1.3 percent increase in durable goods inventories, which was partly due to a 5.3 percent jump in inventories of computer equipment.
On the other hand, non-durable goods inventories fell by 1.3 percent amid steep drops in inventories of farm product raw materials and petroleum and petroleum products.
The Commerce Department also said wholesale sales rose by 0.5 percent in December following a 1.0 percent increase in November.
Sales of durable goods edged up by 0.3 percent amid a jump in sales of lumber and other construction materials.
Aggressive cost cutting, volume growth and stable commodity prices will drive a rise in half-year profits for the world’s biggest miners, paving the way for healthy dividend hikes now and anticipated capital returns in 2015.
The latest round of results could tempt investors back into the sector, analysts say, after steering clear amid fears of cooling growth in China and a yet-to-occur slump in iron ore prices.
Top miners BHP Billiton , Rio Tinto and Brazil’s Vale are expected to book solid growth in cash flows, having slammed the brakes on building new mines 18 months ago and embarked instead on massive cost cuts and debt repayments.
….continue HERE
Janet Yellen Doesn’t Mince Words and More on Her Testimony
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen tells the world to expect continuity in monetary policy in her first report to Congress since taking the helm. Here are five quick observations on her comments and on the report the Fed submitted to lawmakers:
There are eerie parallels between the stock market’s recent behavior and how it behaved right before the 1929 crash.
That at least is the conclusion reached by a frightening chart that has been making the rounds on Wall Street. The chart superimposes the market’s recent performance on top of a plot of its gyrations in 1928 and 1929.
The picture isn’t pretty. And it’s not as easy as you might think to wriggle out from underneath the bearish significance of this chart.
….full article HERE
Gold has been behaving well in 2014, after a roughly 27% drop in 2013.
As Wall Street veteran and former Merrill Lynch technical analyst Bob Farrell put it in his “10 Market Rules to Remember”:
When all the experts and forecasts agree – something else is going to happen.
This is certainly the case with gold, which had up until recently been left for dead by the mainstream.
As you can see from the chart below, gold has managed to climb above resistance at its 50-day moving average (blue line). And its 200-day moving average (red line), at $1,313 an ounce, is now in sight.
As we’ve been telling members of Bill’s family wealth advisory, Bonner & Partners Family Office, during the recent correction gold has been moving from “weak hands” to “strong hands.”
In other words, often-leveraged speculators and hedge funds in the West – “weak hands” – have been selling out of their mainly paper gold bets. And individual buyers in the East – “strong hands” – have been gobbling up mainly physical gold at nice discounts to recent peaks.
Recent reports, for example, reveal that gold bullion buying by individual Chinese investors rose 40% in 2013… probably pushing China ahead of India as the largest consumer of gold.
If you’re looking to build a position in gold, there looks like significant price support at about $1,200 an ounce.
And if gold breaks above it’s 200-day moving average… and that break is sustained… it would be a good time to buy.
The consensus is that the secular bull market in gold is over.
Something else is likely to happen…
From the desk of Chris Hunter, Editor-in-Chief, Bonner & Partners
-
I know Mike is a very solid investor and respect his opinions very much. So if he says pay attention to this or that - I will.
~ Dale G.
-
I've started managing my own investments so view Michael's site as a one-stop shop from which to get information and perspectives.
~ Dave E.
-
Michael offers easy reading, honest, common sense information that anyone can use in a practical manner.
~ der_al.
-
A sane voice in a scrambled investment world.
~ Ed R.
Inside Edge Pro Contributors
Greg Weldon
Josef Schachter
Tyler Bollhorn
Ryan Irvine
Paul Beattie
Martin Straith
Patrick Ceresna
Mark Leibovit
James Thorne
Victor Adair