Clif Droke's Blog

The S&P 500 Index had its worst August since 2001, while the Dow’s 6.6 percent drop was its biggest since declining 15 percent in August 1998. Most investors consider the September-October period to be the witching months...

What accounts for the equity bull market’s stubborn refusal to bend to the bears’ will despite a clear lack of internal strength? That’s the question investors are asking right now in what has been a grinding...

One of the most commonly held beliefs among gold investors is that the market for gold is heavily manipulated. It has become an article of faith among gold advocates that the price is subject to direct control by government...

What started out as typically sluggish summer week quickly morphed into an extremely eventful one. In just the last five days we witnessed the intensification of the Greek debt roller coaster, the bursting of a mini-bubble...

Most investors are familiar with the Year Five Phenomenon, which assumes buoyant stock prices in the fifth year of the decade. Yet few realize that there are also corollaries to this phenomenon, viz.

The theme of “bad news is good news” continues as several economic reports weighed on investor sentiment. Recent reports have been disappointing, but this has also served to bolster investors’ belief that the Fed will respond to...

A common refrain from commentators over the last year or so is that the bull market in U.S. equities is “long in the tooth.” The very use of this phrase implies a market which has reached a stage of decrepitude from which...

Until the latest pullback on Wednesday, the U.S. dollar index had been on a rip-and-tear for most of this year. Earlier this week the dollar hit a new multi-year high as concerns over Europe and China have fueled foreign interest in U.S. assets.

A fascinating study is the psychology that accompanies a prolonged sideways market trend. It also holds insights into what the future likely holds for stock prices. When equities get stuck in a sideways trend for several months...

Since the start of February there has been a conspicuous change in investors’ perceptions of the foreseeable future. To begin with, the sudden reversal of investor fear can be seen in the chart of the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), a proxy for...