As anticipated, last Friday, which marked options expiry for July, witnessed a down day in stocks, which in fact turned out to be a 90% down day. In a bull market this would not occur, as the trend would be up, so one must conclude Friday’s 90% down day on increasing volume is a negative omen even though it was not re-enforced by follow-through yesterday.
Investors looking for a more interesting and potentially rewarding approach to investing in the natural resource shares should investigate the use of warrants, options and LEAPS. The use of all three or any of these investment vehicles positions the investor to maximize their gains in the natural resource sector in the coming months.
BIG PICTURE – Many prominent economists define deflation as a decline in the general price level within an economy. To make matters worse, these academics use the establishment’s highly manipulated inflation data as their yardstick. Therefore, when the heavily massaged Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) show a moderate increase, these folks celebrate the ‘perfect scenario’ of moderate inflation and when the CPI and PPI contract, they worry about deflation.
Since the dramatic release of a US military film of a US airborne shooting of unarmed journalists in Iraq, Wiki-Leaks has gained global notoreity and credibility as a daring website that releases sensitive material to the public from whistleblowers within various governments.
Notice that I’ve highlighted the date of August 6th in yellow. That date is 3 days away, and together with the comex gold options expiry/rollover it forms the double feature gold movie, starring the “banksters” working to separate the world’s hedge funds and retail investors from their gold, with a terror plot that rivals any of the best Hollywood horror movie scripts.
China's central bank said in a statement it will allow its banks to import and export more gold as part of a program to push forward the development of the country's market in the precious metal. This is part of the on-going effort to further liberalize the gold market broaden gold’s appeal throughout China. China has long been unable to fully explore gold demand. This is another step along that road.
With interest rates having been at or near zero for close to three years, a deeper look at what historically drives interest rates is in order. Specifically, it invites the questions: Historically how are interest rates determined and what should bond yields [long term interest rates] really be?
Nations rise when, through inventions and technology they become economically prosperous. They grow as they enlarge their borders and increase in influence, through conquests or by trade. They fall, when the growing need to pay for promises made, and the cost of foreign wars, drains the treasury.
