Monday, August 10, 2015

Bogus Economic Statistics - China About To Make History Again / Stock-Markets / Chinese Stock Market

By: John_Rubino

Any discussion of China has to open with the now-widely-understood fact that the numbers it reports are not to be trusted. Knowing this makes it easy to dismiss claims of high and consistently-on-target GDP growth, for instance, as a combination of government-directed borrowing and spending, and simple fabrication.

But how to handle negative numbers? When a serial fabricator admits that things are bad and getting worse, that would seem to imply that someone at or near the top has concluded that either the facts can no longer be obscured or that there’s an advantage in creating negative expectations.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Gold Technical Buy Signal / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015

By: Gary_Savage

For those traders who need to wait until the 'technicals' signal a buy. The signal has been given.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Stock Investors Shelter from These Storms in the Distance / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015

By: ...

MoneyMorning.com Michael E. Lewitt writes: In South Florida, we call the dog days of summer the "mean season", as vicious thunderstorms move over the Everglades every afternoon and attack the east coast with lightning strikes and blinding downpours. We keep our fingers crossed that the storms won't morph hurricanes that can sweep the ocean over the land and cause catastrophic destruction.

After a period of intense hurricane activity in the early 2000s, it's been ten years since we've been hit by any serious storms, and we are being told that strong El Nino conditions will likely protect us again this season. But we know that sooner or later our luck will run out, and we will be back in the eye of dangerous winds and storm surges. And, at least for a moment, we'll wish we lived somewhere other than in paradise.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Qatar Stock Exchange Index (QE) Bullish Wedge Setting Up / Stock-Markets / Emerging Markets

By: MarketsToday

A bullish wedge formation is setting up in the chart of the Qatar Exchange Index (QE). Taking into account the pattern to date, a breakout is confirmed on a move above 12,043.7. However, there could be a lower signal develop as the pattern may need a little while longer to progress. At this point an aggressive signal would be given on a move above Wednesday’s high at 11,836.8.

Sunday, August 09, 2015

The Unseen Consequences of Zero-Interest-Rate Policy / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates

By: MISES

Ronald-Peter Stöferle writes: In a dynamic economy, an action not only triggers just one effect, but always an entire series of different consequences. While the cause of the first effect is easily recognizable, the other effects often occur only later and no such recognition occurs. Frédéric Bastiat described this phenomenon in 1850 in his ground-breaking essay “What Is Seen and What is Not Seen”:

In the economic sphere, an act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them …

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Japan Gets Ready for More Military Spending / Politics / New Cold War

By: MISES

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been pressing for more military spending in Japan, in what critics claim is a violation of Japan’s so-called pacifist constitution. Foreign Policy reports:

In January, the government of conservative Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe endorsed a defense budget of nearly 5 trillion yen, or $42 billion, continuing a three-year growth trend after nearly a decade of decline. The sum still represents a small portion of Japan’s GDP — it accounts for just one percent of it, according to the World Bank — but because offensive military action is prohibited by Japan’s constitution, even a modest increase is controversial.

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Trump’s Triumph: Billionaire Blowhard Exposes Fake Political System / ElectionOracle / US Presidential Election 2016

By: Mike_Whitney

FOX News GOP Presidential Debate Extravaganza featured the most riveting two minute political exchange ever heard on national television. During a brief colloquy between Republican frontrunner  Donald Trump and Fox moderator Brett Baier, the pugnacious casino magnate revealed the appalling truth about the American political system, that the big money guys like Trump own the whole crooked contraption lock, stock, and barrel, and that, the nation’s fake political leaders do whatever they’re told to do.  Without question, it was most illuminating commentary to ever cross the airwaves. Here’s the entire exchange direct from the transcript:

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Stock Market 4 Year Rest or P4 / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015

By: Tony_Caldaro

The market started the week at SPX 2104. It ticked up to SPX 2106 to start the week, then traded down to 2087 on Monday. A rally started Monday afternoon carrying the SPX to 2113 by Wednesday. Then the market pulled back to end the week at SPX 2078. For the week the SPX/DOW were -1.55%, the NDX/NAZ were -1.60%, and the DJ World was down 0.9%. On the economic front positive reports outpaced negative ones. On the uptick: personal income/spending, the PCE, construction spending, factory orders, ISM services, and consumer credit. On the downtick: ISM manufacturing, the ADP, monthly Payrolls, plus the trade deficit and weekly jobless claims rose. Next week will be highlighted by Industrial production, Retail sales and the PPI.

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Agricultural Commodities Prices Prepare To Launch Higher Again / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities

By: Austin_Galt

As outlined in previous analysis, the price of the agricultural commodities of corn, soybeans and wheat look to have already kicked off the bear rallies. From previous longer term analysis, we are expecting these bear rallies to be big ones.

Prices have come back down and now look ready to launch into the next stage of these rallies so let's revise the technicals of each commodity using the daily charts.

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Stock Market Crash - The NASDAQ's Days are Numbered Too... / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash

By: Clive_Maund

When you attend the funeral of a dearly departed friend or relative it is appropriate to show due respect by wearing black. Similarly, in this update on the Tech Sector, which will very soon be on its deathbed, it is appropriate that we show due propriety and respect for the seriousness of the situation by presenting our analysis on somber black charts.

Some investors may have been fooled into thinking that because the NASDAQ Composite index, whose 1-year chart is shown below, is still in an uptrend and recently made new highs, that all is well with the sector, especially as it is outperforming the broad market S&P500 index which has been treading water all this year in a tight range, as shown on its 1-year chart a little further down the page, but as we will see on the long-term charts, all is not well at all, and both these indices are now set up to drop hard or crash.

Saturday, August 08, 2015

The "How to Get Rich" Lesson I Learned on the Trading Floor in Chicago / InvestorEducation / Learn to Trade

By: ...

MoneyMorning.com Back in 1982, I was a clerk for a big market maker on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). A year later, I was sitting on the exchange and running a hedge fund.

My first day of trading was a disaster. But it's where I learned how to get rich.

You see, there was a "fast market" in FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), which means the pit was crowded with traders yelling and screaming, buying and selling options based on an unexpectedly positive earnings report that had just come out. I rushed into the crowd and amassed a position.

Saturday, August 08, 2015

U.S. Official Unemployment 5.3%, Real 10.4% / Economics / Unemployment

By: Mike_Shedlock

Initial Reaction

Today's job report (for July) once again showed a divergence between the household survey and the establishment survey.

The divergence was not as large as last month, but was in the same usual direction: The establishment survey was stronger than the household survey.

Household survey employment rose by 101,000 while the establishment survey shows an increase of 215,000 jobs.

Saturday, August 08, 2015

Stocks, Bonds, USD: What Interest Rate Hike? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2015

By: Ashraf_Laidi

The US July jobs report was strong, or at least clearly better than the June report. 215K in NFP, 2.1% average hourly earnings y/y, unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3% and the participation rate also unchanged at 62.6%. The big rally in the US dollar was completely eroded, with EURUSD clawing back all of the 120-pips it lost immediately after the release. The only currencies not to end higher against the USD were CHF (due to renewed SNB jawboning), CAD (disappointing CAD jobs) and GBP and SEK.

Saturday, August 08, 2015

Nasdaq Monthly Not A Pretty Picture... / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015

By: Jack_Steiman

One thing that has kept me from getting ridiculously bullish over the past several months, and something I have discussed quite frequently, is the look of the index-monthly charts, from the Nasdaq to just about everyone one else. Extremely elevated both in price and on those momentum oscillators. They have stayed overbought for such a long time that after a while you tend to try or even want to pretend they don't exist. If you looked at them head on every day you'd feel like you would never want to own another stock until they've completely unwound themselves. Scary looking is putting it mildly. So we look at the recent selling and wonder if those monthly charts are finally starting to hit the market. That the news out there is meaningless noise, good or bad. That the only thing that matters is quite likely those monthly charts.

Saturday, August 08, 2015

Despite Low Interest Rates, U.S. Housing Market Rebound is Weak / Housing-Market / US Housing

By: EWI

Elliott Wave International's Chief Market Analyst talks about the outlook for the U.S. housing market

A June 28 headline on CNBC reads, "Homeownership rate drops to 63.4%, lowest since 1967." The report goes on to say "The number of occupied housing units grew, but all on the renter side."

Friday, August 07, 2015

Gold Price’s Artificial Lows / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015

By: Zeal_LLC

With gold languishing near deep secular lows, its technicals look hopelessly broken.  Sentiment is off-the-charts bearish, with traders universally convinced gold is doomed to spiral lower indefinitely.  But gold’s weakness this year is very deceiving, as it wasn’t the product of global fundamental supply-and-demand forces.  Extreme record shorting by American futures speculators spawned these artificial lows.

Gold’s price is its price, so how the metal got way down here may seem irrelevant.  But nothing could be farther from the truth!  Fundamentally-driven lows are righteous.  If the world gold supply expands faster than demand, or demand contracts faster than supply, then the resulting lows are real.  They will persist for as long as fundamentals remain unfavorable, as gold’s sellers have no obligations whatsoever to return.

Friday, August 07, 2015

The Next Silver Bull Market May Have Already Started / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015

By: Casey_Research

By Laurynas Vegys

Silver is down 7.1% this year. Will this weakness persist? To find out, let’s look at the key factors in the silver market this year.

• Like gold, silver fell as the US dollar rose on the back of expectations that the Fed will hike rates.
• World demand for physical silver fell 4% in 2014, largely due to a record 19.5% drop in investment demand.
• Silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) did not see big liquidations in 2014. ETF holdings grew by 1.4 million ounces and recorded their highest year-end level at 636 million ounces.

Friday, August 07, 2015

China Spending 11.6 Million Annual Incomes Per Day Propping Up Stocks / Stock-Markets / Chinese Stock Market

By: Graham_Summers

For years now China has been heralded as an economic miracle that will drive the global economy towards growth and eventually eclipse the US as THE superpower in the world.

This theme was driven by the view that somehow China had obtained the magic balance between free-market capitalism and Central Planning. Globally analysts breathlessly talked about China’s insatiable demand for commodities as its economy grew by double digits for three decades straight.

Friday, August 07, 2015

Fed Taper Tantrum Coming? It Won't Be Where Nearly Everyone Is Looking! The Next Tantrum / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates

By: Mike_Shedlock

Investors have been expecting another "Taper Tantrum" when the Fed starts hiking.

The term "Taper Tantrum" refers to the surge in US treasury yields (global government bond yields as well), in summer of 2013 when then-Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke put a spotlight on the wind down of Fed asset purchases (tapering off QE).

Friday, August 07, 2015

Bill Gross Warns Fed Will Raise U.S. Interest Rates in September by 25 Basis Points / InvestorEducation / US Interest Rates

By: Bloomberg

Bill Gross of Janus Capital spoke with Bloomberg's Tom Keene following today's jobs report.

Gross said he sees the Fed raising interest rates in September by 25 basis points: "There have some pretty strong signals from Lockhart and others that September is the number. And I think it's because of financial conditions. We know that inflation is close to zero. Yes, unemployment is steady, but low... Whether it's 25 or 50 basis points-- probably 25, I hope. 50 would scare the market."