Gold & Precious Metals
On a monthly basis, Canadian GDP grew 0.3% in September, to an annual pace 2.7% in the third quarter. This outpaced the 1.6 per cent of the previous three months, and was just shy of U.S. economic growth of 2.8 per cent at its latest reading.
The Canadian Dollar futures are currently up $0.15 to $94.50 this moring.
Drew Zimmerman
Investment & Commodities/Futures Advisor
604-664-2842 – Direct
604 664 2900 – Main
604 664 2666 – Fax
800 810 7022 – Toll Free
Investors are heading into the Thanksgiving holiday in a cheery mood as stocks continued to extend this year’s record-breaking run.
The Dow and S&P 500 inched higher and closed at new records Wednesday. The Nasdaqalso gained ground and finished at its highest level since September 2000.
November has been another solid month in what’s been a stellar year for stocks. The Dow has advanced 3.5% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have increased 3%. All three indexes have surpassed key milestones. The Dow is above 16,000, the S&P 500 is trading above 1,800 and the Nasdaq closed above 4,000 for the first time in 13 years Tuesday.
Year-to-date, these indexes have climbed between 20% and 35% thanks to a slowly recovering economy, solid corporate earnings and bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.
Trading volume was thin on Wednesday, as traders began to escape for the Thanksgiving holiday. The U.S. stock markets are closed Thursday and only open for a half-day of trading on Friday.
But traders were watching the Bitcoin market closely. The price of the virtual currencytopped $1,000 for the first time Wednesday morning.
The price of one Bitcoin has surged 78-fold in 2013 on hopes the experiment in digital money will eventually become a legitimate global currency. Traders on StockTwits acknowledged that chatter about a Bitcoin bubble has been going on for months, but many still remained intrigued by the massive run-up in the virtual currency.
“$BCOIN Incredibly cheap or incredibly expensive?” asked zagnut. “Makes for a great speculative investment. A small one. :)”
Some traders think the currency’s value could continue to grow in the near future.
“$BCOIN It wouldn’t shock me the slightest to see it at $1,500 near term,” saidCashtrend.
It seems only yesterday — it was only yesterday — that bitcoin went soaring past $1,000, popping eyeballs everywhere. But as most of America gears up to tuck into some turkey on Thursday, profit-takers seemed nowhere to be seen, as the virtual currency sailed past that big level to tap a new high of $1,170 over at Mt. Gox, last changing hands at $1,143.90 (albeit in low volumes).
World shares edged toward six-year highs on Thursday and the yen languished at long-term lows against the euro and dollar after a batch of strong U.S. economic data boosted investor sentiment.
The signs of an improving U.S. jobs market and more cheerful consumers had spurred Wall Street to a record close on Wednesday, while reinforcing talk that the Federal Reserve could start scaling back its stimulus, which supported the dollar.
“Markets have taken on board the view that (U.S.) rates are not going up next year even if they start tapering soon,” said Simon Smith, chief economist at FXPro.
As the buoyant mood spread, Japan’s Nikkei hit its highest close in nearly six years .N225and Asian shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.6 percent to reach a one-week high.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX index touched an all-time high while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 was up 0.3 percent and on its way to a third straight month of gains.
That was despite the latest proof of the ongoing problems in the euro zone, with data from the European Central Bank showing lending to firms fell 2.1 percent in October, equaling the biggest fall on record.
Shares in Britain’s housebuilders also fell sharply, with more than 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) wiped off the sector after the Bank of England unexpectedly scaled back a scheme that has been driving up mortgage lending over the last year.
Shares in Barratt Developments (BDEV.L), Britain’s biggest housebuilder by volume, tumbled almost 10 percent while Persimmon’s (PSN.L), the largest builder by market value, fell over 6 percent to leave the FTSE 100 flat .FTSE as it underperformed Europe’s other main bourses.
However, it was not enough to prevent MSCI’s world equity index, which tracks share moves across 45 countries, gaining 0.25 percent as it edged closer to its best level since the start of 2008 .MIWD00000PUS.
-
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