I like having a little silver in my pocket especially when times are desperate. And I also like some in my portfolio. We may not see a rally in silver this year, but it’s coming off it’s best December in almost two years, up 9.1 percent, making me happy I own some. For me, silver is a counterbalance to my cash. And if the Fed’s going to sit tight on rates and silver is at its smallest output since 2013, it might be time to pay attention. Marvin Perez reports at Bloomberg: Think of it as a potential silver lining for investors. A deepening shortage is promising to help boost prices as … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2019
Central Banks Are on a Gold Buying Spree
Central banks of countries trying to move away from dollar reserves are buying up gold in amazing numbers. Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan were leaders in increased gold buying last, reports Henry Sanderson in the Financial Times. He goes on to write: Central banks bought a net $27bn worth of gold, driven by Russia, whose net purchases were the highest on record, according to the World Gold Council, an industry-backed body. Volumes came to 651.5 tonnes, an increase of 74 per cent on the previous year. The buying reflects continued efforts by emerging market central banks to diversify their … [Read more...]
The Robots Stocking Shelves
Retailers are working hard to blend the advanced logistics systems they have developed to compete with Amazon with their brick and mortar locations. One area of opportunity is better management of what's in stock on the shelves at each store. Now companies are deploying robots to take stock of inventory on store shelves and send that data back to warehouses in real time to make restocking more efficient. Jennifer Smith reports in The Wall Street Journal: The complicated blending of inventories in stores and warehouses has some retailers testing the use of shelf-scanning robots that roam store … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport, Now What?
Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport: 80% back on the Grid Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport Day 5 (and 5 to go) Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport Day 4 Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport Now that Newport, RI is back on the natural gas grid, I want to share with you a conversation I had with an owner of a successful natural gas operation. He said that the problem basically comes down to the fact that the green movement is spending the money and has politicians in its back-pocket. The utilities aren’t spending the money for political messaging. As a … [Read more...]
Can Retailers Beat Amazon with FedEx on Their Side?
Small retailers have faced heavy competition from Amazon as the big company has raced to dominate e-commerce. One of the greatest advantages Amazon has had over competitors is its logistical efficiency, quickly moving products to customers before competitors are able. That might be changing though, as FedEx has announced a new program that will allow smaller retailers to directly compete with Amazon on delivery speeds. Bloomberg's Thomas Black reports on the new program, writing: FedEx sees potential profit in the competitive pressure online stores face in keeping up with Amazon’s drive to … [Read more...]
This Leading Indicator Says U.S. Economy Still Strong
Some investors have pointed to the recent correction in stocks as a warning of recession and a reason for the Fed back-off of its interest rate hiking cycle. Recessions are often accompanied by falling stock prices, but falling prices don’t guarantee economic contraction. There have been plenty of false positives throughout history. While the jury is still out on whether the current stock market correction is a signal of recession, the coincident economic data continues to show economic strength. GDP is growing close to 3% according to the Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecast, industrial production … [Read more...]
RAGE Gauge February: Is the Market Keeping You up at Night?
When the S&P 500 lost 9 percent in December it marked the worst December since the Great Depression year of 1931 when the index was down 14.5%. For all of 2018, the S&P 500 lost 6.2% compared to a loss of 47% in 1931. Now let’s not forget what the carnage looked like from the beginning of the Great Depression, signaled by the crash of Oct. 29, 1929, to its end in June 1932. The S&P 500 dropped 86 percent in less than three years, and did not regain its previous peak until 1954. America has already had two nasty peak to troughs this century, with the tech and banking busts of … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport: 80% back on the Grid
Happy Monday Morning, it’s good to be back on the grid with natural gas service restored to 80% of Newport customers. If you were at your home this weekend, then you had several opportunities to intercept a National Grid truck/crew to turn on your gas. I’m guessing the final 20% are vacation homes etc. and could take longer, but the worst is over. This was a unique outage. There are three towns comprising Aquidneck Island: Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. Newport had 6,400 outages (not all homes/hotels were impacted because they pull from a different gas line), Middletown 350. If you … [Read more...]
Can Tech Unicorns Cash Out before the Bubble Bursts?
In a piece in the Financial Times, Rana Foroohar discusses today's tech valuations, and whether or not companies thinking about IPOs can cash out before the next bubble bursts in the tech sector. Foroohar explains the messy dynamics of tech investing today, and how that is hurting the sector's prospects. She writes: There were many disconnects between last week’s World Economic Forum and the real world. One of the most notable was the techno-optimism displayed by many participants, which was in sharp contrast to what the markets themselves are expecting from the technology sector this … [Read more...]
Is China’s Weak Economy Hurting American Manufacturers?
Data on sales and earnings are painting a bleak picture of the Chinese economy. The trend could have an impact on U.S. manufacturers. Austen Hufford and Patrick McGroarty report for The Wall Street Journal: A growing number of industrial companies said their sales are softening in China, threatening a strong three-year run for U.S. manufacturers. Makers of everything from bulldozers to computer chips have bet heavily on expanding their business in a country of 1.4 billion people with an increasing appetite for world-class consumer goods and infrastructure. U.S. exports to China doubled … [Read more...]
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