Energy & Commodities

POT – Potash Corp down over 20%

AGU – Agrium down over $4.00

 

Saving silver before the real confiscation

Posted by Jeffrey Lewis via Resource Investor

on Tuesday, 30 July 2013 16:17

iStock 000019087209XSmall-resize-380x300The general case for holding silver continues to improve as the MF Global and HSBC scandals confirm the absence of any rule of law or justice in the global financial system. The Peregrine Financial fiasco only serves to verify this somewhat jaded viewpoint.

Furthermore, the Cyprus “bail-in” or savings confiscation debacle makes it perfectly clear that keeping more than a small portion of one’s assets in the financial system is increasingly unwise and could be subject to greater risks than most investors think.

Add to this situation a dysfunctional government, the media’s overwhelming daily propaganda, and the fact that the rest of the world is sick and tired of being bullied by the United States. Also understand that many nation deals are being forced to bypass the un-backed fiat U.S. dollar, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the days of paper fiat currency are numbered.

….read more about the Implications of the Cyprus Bail-in HERE

An Extraordinary Confluence Of Rare Events

Posted by Matthew Boesler - Business Insider

on Tuesday, 30 July 2013 15:52

tim-geithner-barack-obama-and-ben-bernankeThe Next Few Months Will See An Extraordinary Confluence Of Rare And Significant Economic Events.

First and foremost on the minds of financial market participants is the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting on September 18, upon conclusion of which the FOMC is expected to announce a reduction in the pace of its monthly bond purchases to $65 billion. 

…..read about the rest HERE

 

Stocks eked out some gains Tuesday as investors all round the world prepared for a run of economic developments, particularly out of the U.S., that may determine how financial markets perform through the rest of the summer.

Though the U.S. Federal Reserve is not expected to announce any policy changes at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday, investors will be monitoring a raft of economic data this week that could well influence expectations of a change in its monetary policy.

….read more http://ow.ly/nsK3Y

McDonald’s and the Inflation Paradox

Posted by Mark Jasayko, MBA, CFA, Portfolio Manager

on Tuesday, 30 July 2013 15:27

McIver Wealth Management Consulting Group

Over the last couple of days, we have seen news coverage of McDonald’s employees in the U.S. protesting their level of pay.  The basic message they are trying to convey is that they are not able to keep up with the cost of living at their current wage.

That runs counter to the rhetoric communicated by the U.S. Federal Reserve.  Inflation is under control, so why are people starting to complain about the cost of living?

William Dudley, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, famously addressed a group of cost-of-living protestors in New York last year and stated that they shouldn’t be complaining because advances in technology (and, thus, the quality of life) had been greater than general price increases for goods.  He got specific when he referenced how iPads have become more powerful but that the price rise for an iPad had not been commensurate with that increase in power.

Protesters replied that there were “not able to eat iPads.” Normally economic protestors have it wrong, but in this case they were right.  The issue is about inflation in the price of basic necessities, not about technological advances offsetting costs (which, incidentally, has been somewhat of a religion at the Federal Reserve since Alan Greenspan’s term).

With respect to the McDonald’s employees, the demands for a higher minimum wage is certainly not good economics.  However, their inadvertent insights into the fact that inflation is lurking in the area of basic necessities, which being officially ignored by politicians and policymakers alike, is a valuable lesson.

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