Financial Sense Blog

“A trend in motion, will stay in motion, until some outside force, knocks it off its course!” After watching the parabolic rise in crude oil prices, doubling from a year ago to above $130 a barrel last week...

The shares of KeyCorp fell 10.4% today, hurt by news of a doubling of loan loss estimates and a downbeat outlook from Ohio’s third-largest bank. That weighed on the bellwether KBW Bank Index, which fell 1.7%, and the S&P financial sector, which lost 0.7%.

Last week the gold vigilantes launched their attack by nominating me for their annual "Moron of the Year" award after my earlier Financial Sense article "RIP Goldrush" (see FSO archives) was belatedly recycled into a popular pro-gold, pro-GATA newsletter and used to whip me mercilessly for having the temerity to suggest that "markets fluctuate; sometimes violently".

Critical to US households ahead, in my mind, is liquidity. Just as this issue is now life or death for the commercial and investment banks. Although the Street appears myopically focused on this very issue when it comes to the Fed, the US financial system and its key players, they should be equally as focused on US households when it comes to the question of liquidity.

In October of 2007 the S&P 500 made a marginal all time high, and almost immediately turned tail and headed downward. From peak to trough, the S&P 500 went from about 1550 to a temporary bottom of just above 1250 in March 2008.

Oil inventories fell short of expectations last week. Supplies fell 5.32 million barrels to 320.4 million while analysts were anticipating a build. The market immediately responded and oil jumped on the release of the information and closed at $133.21 on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Lord Chelmsford’s center column comprising 1800 British soldiers, primarily the 1st and 2nd battalions, the 24th Regiment of Foot (later the South Wales Borderers) together with an irregular cavalry unit and auxiliary forces from the Natal Native Contingent, a force of 4000 crossed the Buffalo River into Zululand on 11 January 1879 to signal the start of the Zulu Wars.