Gold Nears All Time High
Up 14% YTD, gold is once again on the verge of hitting another all-time high. Read More →
Consumers: TV Not a Necessity
T.V. sets are falling out of favor with consumers and fast. According to a recent study released by the Pew Research Center the percentage of Americans who consider television a necessity dropped 10 percentage points from 2009. The drop was the largest among a group of 12 items covered in the Pew Study.... Read the full story
Existing Home Sales Plummet
Existing home sales plummeted 27% in July to a new 15-year low. Existing home sales have now entered double-dip territory. At the current rate of sales, there is a surplus of more than 12 months of existing home supply—a 28 year high. Read More →
How Many Utilities are in Your Portfolio?
A powerful relative strength rally in utilities stocks is underway. The S&P 500 Utilities Index has outperformed the S&P 500 index by 12.5% since early April. Investors are bidding up high yielding utilities stocks in search of yield. Read More →
Creative Destruction
Creative Destruction – Popularized by Joseph Schumpeter, a “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one.” In just 10 years, two industry titans have been knocked to the floor... Read the full story
Wheat Prices Skyrocket
Wheat prices are up more than 50% in a month. Droughts in Russia, a major world wheat producer, are threatening the country’s crop. Traders bid up wheat prices in anticipation of tighter supplies. Read More →
Global House Price Imbalance
According to The Economist, there are still six global real estate markets that are more than 30% overvalued. Australia shows the largest overvaluation at 61.1%, followed closely by Hong Kong and Spain. What happens when these market values return to fair value? Frightening. Read More →
A Raging Bull Market in MLPs
The raging bull market in MLPs shows no signs of slowing. Since the S&P 500 peaked in October of 2007, MLPs have gained more than 33%, while the S&P 500 dropped 25%. YTD, MLPs are up 17%, compared to a loss on the S&P 500. Read More →
Avoid Australian Equities?
The correlation between Australian stocks and Chinese stocks is near a record high. If you are bearish on China, you probably want to avoid Australian equities. Read More →
Record Low for Car Purchase Plans
If consumers follow through with their purchase plans for major appliances, new homes, and new cars, economic growth is likely to slow significantly over coming quarters. Plans to buy a new car are at record lows and plans to buy a new home are bordering on record lows. Read More →
