Iran Threatens – Crude Jumps
As things in Iraq have settled down since the troop surge, other areas have flared up. Israel, intent on protecting itself from Iranian threats of annihilation, has resumed saber-rattling. On June 20th, they conducted military exercises over the Mediterranean apparently in preparation for a possible...
Stick With What Works
It’s starting to sound like a broken record:Oil breaks into new highs — as of this morning, crude broke $142.00 before falling slightly. The Dow’s down to new lows — dropping another -73 points in intraday trading, (after a -358 point drop yesterday). All this happens as inflation...
Inflation Alarm
The Federal Reserve, as expected, hit the snooze button and held interest rates steady at this week’s policy meeting. Unfortunately the committee could not bring itself to clearly acknowledge the inflation which is intuitively obvious to everyone else. This grudging statement is all they had to...
Fed Serious About Inflation?
The answer is yes. Is the Fed serious about growth, or asked another way, does the Fed want to avoid a recession? The answer is yes. Did today’s Fed statement appeal to both camps? Answer = yes!The Fed is walking a tightrope right now. The economy is teetering on the brink of a recession, some...
And It All Goes Back To…
Most of the current problems in the financial markets can be traced back to the ongoing crash in housing prices. If you know any real estate agents (and who doesn’t?), they are probably telling you that the market is really not so bad. They may even be telling you the truth. It’s all about...
Goldman’s Mea Culpa
Goldman Sachs dissed financial and consumer sectors today with a major downgrade…exactly seven weeks after upping their forecast on each. They just admitted being wrong about their call, and have reversed course. Since the May 5th upgrade, the financial sector has declined about -18% and the consumer...
Blackstone’s Schwartzman Made Out Like a Bandit
Sometimes timing makes you wonder.Think Martha Stewart’s conversations with a junior broker before a certain stock tanked. Or Bear Stearns executives possibly dumping stock before the March implosion. Rewind to last June. Here in Central Texas, it was rainy. Half-way across the country in Manhattan,...
Hot in the Citi
Citigroup Inc., whose ticker symbol is the admirably simple C, has also earned the dubious privilege of being introduced in news stories as “the bank that’s lost more than any other in the collapse of the mortgage market.” After losing one-third of their value so far this year, it is...
Pick of the Week: Oil Services Rise With Offshore Drilling Hopes – GLBL
High gas prices continue to disturb consumers.It’s obvious they would be important during this campaign season. An inflationary environment and a disgruntled electorate are helping make energy a core issue in the Presidential race. Sensing voters’ discontent, presumptive Republican nominee...
Cheaper By The Bushel: What Corn Prices Tell Us About Inflation
Today the Labor Department reported that producer prices jumped 1.4% in May. This should not surprise anyone. It is patently obvious to all fully conscious American adults that the price of, well, everything is going nowhere but up. Why some people cannot grasp this fact is a subject for psychologists...
