Investing Analysis

The U.S. recession has curbed demand for natural gas while supply has continued to increase. The obvious result has been…

Despite pockets of strength, the bear market in stocks staggers on, eyeing, with an increasing daily concern, the RPM’s (Radical Progressive Movement) sweeping program of socialism and quasi central government nationalization. The stock market hated the Bush-fronted neo-con disaster, and rightfully, is even more scared of the “Chicago Cabal.”

From 1995 through 2006, corn subsidies in the U.S. totaled $56.2 billion, and this spring farmers seeded the second largest amount of land with corn in more than 60 years. According to the WSJ, “The Obama administration is pushing a big expansion in ethanol, including a mandate to increase the share of the corn-based fuel required in gasoline from 10% to 15%. Apparently, no one in the administration has read a pair of new studies, one from its own EPA, that exposes ethanol as a bad deal for consumers with little environmental benefit.”

I just checked the yield on my money market fund. How does 0.01% sound to you? Sounds to me like the mid term GPA average for the Delta House gang back at Dean Wormer’s fictional Faber College.

Have you looked at interest rates lately? 3-month T-Bills are at 0.20%, 3-month CDs 0.38%, money markets 1.29%, 5 year CDs 2.62% and 10-year...

The Dow Utilities are down 5.0% YTD. The Dow Industrials are down 5.4%. And the cherry on the cake of the 2009 bear market in blue chip stocks is the 11.7% decline in the Dow Transports.

As an inference reading based futurist, my goal is to target unfolding trends and the catalysts to effect change. Areas of interest include terrorism, politics, currencies, government, world financial markets, and economies. Most immediately, I think the 17% jump in May housing construction in concert with May’s increase in building permits augers well for a saucer-like bottom in housing.

The stock market is one of the best leading economic indicators. And investment grade U.S. stocks continue in a Bear market. (1) Dow Jones Industrials, down 0.1% (2) Dow Jones Transportations, down 5.6% (3) Dow Jones Utilities, down 7.6%. By contrast many International Indices are soaring (1) Brazil up 42% (2) Canada up 17% (3) Hong Kong up 26% (4) Japan up 11% and (5) Singapore up 32%.

Stocks are assets. The true value of any asset is simply the discounted value of all future cash flows. This holds true for stocks,...

The recent turmoil in the equity and credit markets has created angst and panic among investors. Emotionally charged investment decisions are being made without...