Newshour on Global/International Issues

Jim welcomes back Puru Saxena, Editor and Founder at Money Matters and Puru Saxena Limited in Hong Kong. Puru is very concerned about the real estate bubble still building in China. He notes there are “ghost cities” all over China and it will end very badly. Even prices in Hong Kong are out of control. Puru sees the most value currently in US real estate and stocks, and is his moving his investment assets to the US. He sees Europe as a mess, Japan as a mess, and China as the next major bubble to burst. Given those assessments, Puru believes the US is by far the best, and safest, place to invest in the current environment.

Jim welcomes back Brian Pretti CFA, Managing Editor at ContraryInvestor.com. Brian sees Quantitative Easing in some form as here to stay. He doesn’t feel the Fed is able to “tap on the brakes” any longer. The new brakes are the “open-mouth committee”.  Brian sees foreign capital coming into the US, buying real estate, stocks and bonds. He believes there is a risk of a market melt-up at the end of the year, with global capital flooding into the US to buy equities.

In this week’s first Big Picture topic, Jim takes an in-depth looks at the many economic and political similarities between today and what occurred during the late 1960’s through the 1970’s. Jim looks at interest rates and inflation, the price of gold, Middle East turmoil, political scandals, tax policy, the regulatory environment, and movement in the markets.

Jim is pleased to welcome back Adam Fergusson, author of When Money Dies, written in 1975. Mr. Fergusson is also a former Member of the European Parliament, and has been a Special Adviser at the Foreign Office, and a consultant on European affairs for international industry and commerce. When Money Dies had been out of print for 30 years until recently; yet had never ceased to be quoted on both sides of the Atlantic. The book is well-known to financial commentators and has become something of a classic. Jim and Mr. Fergusson discuss the parallels and differnces between 1920’s Weimar Germany and today’s global financial system. He sees the potential for more inflation today, but not hyperinflation.

Jim is pleased to welcome back Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, an award-winning financial television journalist working for CNBC. Michelle and Jim discuss her on-the-ground reporting from Cyprus during its financial crisis. She believes Cyprus was treated unfairly by the European powers, and didn’t receive the same treatment as Greece, which was kept afloat with massive bailouts. Michelle notes that Cyprus runs on its banking system, and Cyprus was treated as an off-shore tax haven, not a sovereign country. She also points out that Cyprus did not cut government spending, but raised taxes instead. Michelle also discusses the European economy and the chances of the Euro surviving longer term.

Jim welcomes back Martin Armstrong of Armstrong Economics. Martin and Jim cover many important topics, including Washington’s need for more revenue, the future of the European Union, the current outlook for gold, the Cyprus banking situation, the pension system in the US, and how Congress is working hard to exempt itself from Obamacare. Martin also touches on economic trouble brewing in Europe, Japan and Argentina. As to the banking system, Martin advises to avoid large banks involved in proprietary trading and stay with the regional banks.

Jim is pleased to welcome back Dr. Robert Hirsch, Senior Energy Advisor at Management Information Services Inc. and an authority on Peak Oil. Dr. Hirsch has just returned from an historic peak oil conference in Doha, Qatar, the first ever initiated by Gulf State oil producers. Dr. Hirsch believes there will be a “sea change” coming to the Middle East, once peak oil is reached. The timing of its arrival is difficult to predict, but it will likely be sooner than the global economy is prepared for. He makes the point that most people don’t understand that peak oil is a “liquid fuel problem”, and thus wind and solar technology will never solve the problem. Dr. Hirsch also sees the current projections of future US energy independence as “pure fiction”.

In this segment of the Big Picture, Jim looks at two stock related topics. In “Drop, Pop and a Melt-up in the Stock Market”, Jim discusses the idea that the next stock market melt-up will be caused by the flight of global capital coming into the US from both Asia and Europe. In the next topic, “The Dividend Story keeps getting Better, Better and Better”, Jim looks at the reasons why to own dividend-paying equities, and the trend of growing dividend pay-outs in the first quarter of 2013. Jim will also answer your Q-Calls in this segment of the program.

Jim is pleased to welcome back Grant Williams, Portfolio & Strategy Advisor at Vulpes Investment Management in Singapore, and author of the popular investment letter, “Things That Make You Go Hmmm…”. Grant discusses the recent policy change in Japan, which is now printing massive amounts of Yen to raise inflation and weaken the currency. Grant notes that it didn’t work in the 1930’s for Japan, and it won’t work this time. He does see a coming Asian currency war in response however. Grant also speaks in some detail about gold and gold equities. He believes the world is struggling with accepting gold as a currency. But Grant notes that at some point deficits matter and excessive money printing will eventually drive the price of gold significantly higher.