Showing posts with label stock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stock. Show all posts

Thursday, October 22, 2015

The Government’s Fun with (Inflation) Numbers

By Tony Sagami


My normally super sweet baby sister barked at me like an angry dog when I told her that there simply isn’t any inflation in the US. “You need to go to the grocery store with me. You are completely out of touch with reality,” she snapped.   Geez. Excuse me!

My sister, however, should know. She has two boys—one teenager and one college student that still lives at home—with big appetites, so she spends a lot of time and money at her local grocery store.

The topic came up because of the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers from the Labor Department, which said that prices at the wholesale level actually declined by 0.5% in September. Over the last 12 months through September, the PPI has dropped by 1.1%... that’s the eighth consecutive 12-month decrease in the index.


Even if you exclude food and energy—the so-called core prices were down 0.3% in September.
Is my sister crazy? That depends on whether you believe the government’s heavily massaged numbers or people like my sister and farmers. Here’s what I mean. While the Labor Department was spitting out its PPI numbers, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation (WFBF) begged to differ.




The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation tracks the prices of key agricultural commodities that most American households use every day. Sure, the price of a gallon of milk may be slightly different in Texas than in Wisconsin… but not by that much, and the price trends are usually very similar.

Well, according to the WFBF, the prices of basic grocery staples are rising.


The bureau tracks the cost of 16 widely used food items to come up with its Marketbasket index. The newest semi annual survey of the 16 items rose to $53.37, up $1.41 or 2.7% compared with one year ago.
Nine of the 16 items surveyed increased in price while six decreased in price compared with WFBF’s 2015 spring survey. One item, apples, was unchanged.


“The survey’s meat items are the heaviest price pullers. As high-value items, they influence our survey’s overall price even if they only change slightly,” said Casey Langan of the WFBF. So my baby sister was right!

Moreover, the WFBF doesn’t have an ax to grind when it comes to inflation. It is simply reporting the prices of a static basket of commonly used food items. I don’t bring this up to prove how smart my sister is. Heck, any housewife in America could have told you the same thing. Moreover, my sister also complained about big price increases for pharmaceutical drugs, college tuition, and services like dry cleaning and automotive repair.

My points are that (a) you should always look at government produced numbers with a skeptical eye, and (b) understand that the government, particularly the Federal Reserve, uses these heavily massaged numbers to justify its agenda. For example, the lower the cost of living, the less the US government has to pay out in cost of living adjustments for Social Security and federal pension recipients.

And when it comes to interest rates, the Federal Reserve has proven that it doesn’t want to raise interest rates—and it will happily use the latest PPI numbers to prove its point that inflation isn’t a problem.
Fed officials have said they want to be “reasonably confident” inflation will move toward their 2% target before they raise interest rates. The latest PPI numbers will keep rates at zero for at least the rest of 2015 and well into 2016.

Daniel Tarullo, a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, said last week that the Federal Reserve should not increase interest rates this year. “Right now my expectation is—given where I think the economy would go—I wouldn’t expect it would be appropriate to raise rates.”

Fellow Fed Governor Lael Brainard echoed that view and made the case for more patience last Monday.
Bottom line: You should absolutely believe the Fed when it says that it will “remain highly accommodative for quite some time.”

If you’re an income-focused investor, that conclusion has gigantic implications for how you should invest your money, and if you’re keeping your money in short term CDs, T-bills, and money funds in anticipation of higher rates….. you are making a big mistake.

Try my monthly newsletter, Yield Shark, for stock recommendations with high yield and great potential upside—with a 90 day money back guarantee.
Tony Sagami
Tony Sagami

30 year market expert Tony Sagami leads the Yield Shark and Rational Bear advisories at Mauldin Economics. To learn more about Yield Shark and how it helps you maximize dividend income, click here.

To learn more about Rational Bear and how you can use it to benefit from falling stocks and sectors, click here.



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Thursday, October 15, 2015

This Unique Oil Stock is Offering A Huge Dividend Yield

By Justin Spittler

One of Casey Research's biggest calls this year is paying off.....…
In early August, E.B. Tucker, editor of The Casey Report, told subscribers how to profit from the world’s oversupply of oil. If you read financial newspapers for more than a week, you’ll notice that global oil production is near record highs. Last year, global oil output reached its highest level in at least twenty five years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

High oil prices were a big reason for the surge in production. Between 2011 and mid 2014, the price of oil hovered around $90/barrel. But oil peaked at $106 last June, and it’s been falling ever since. Today, a barrel of oil goes for about $45. Even though the price of oil has been cut in half, global oil production is still near all time highs. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel of 12 oil producing nations, is still pumping a record amount of oil. And it plans to increase production next year. In the U.S., oil supplies are still about 100 million barrels above their five year average.

E.B. explains why some countries have no choice but to keep pumping oil.....
Oil is the foundation of many countries’ economies. Take Venezuela, for example. Venezuela produces over 2.5 million barrels per day (BPD) of oil. Oil exports make up half of the country’s economic output. The country is so dependent on oil that cutting production would be economic suicide. This is happening across the globe. Giant state run oil companies continue to pump because it’s the only way for these countries to make money. This is why global oil production has not fallen even though the price of oil has been cut in half. In many areas, production has actually increased.

The extra oil has weighed on oil prices......
Weak oil prices have hammered virtually all oil companies…including the biggest oil companies on the planet. Profits for ExxonMobil (XOM), the largest U.S. oil company, fell 52% during the second quarter due to weak oil prices. Its stock is now down 24% since oil peaked last summer. Chevron (CVX), America’s second biggest oil company, earned its lowest profit in twelve years during the second quarter. Its stock price is down 34% since last summer’s peak. The entire industry is struggling. XOP, an ETF that holds the largest oil explorers and producers, has dropped 52% over the same period.

But oil tanker companies are making more money than they have in seven years...…
Unlike oil producers, oil tanker companies don’t need high oil prices to make big profits. That’s because they make money based on how much oil they move. Their revenues aren’t directly tied to the price of oil.
On Monday, Bloomberg Business explained why oil tankers are making the most money they’ve made in years. The world’s biggest crude oil tankers earned more than $100,000 a day for the first time since 2008. Ships hauling two million barrel cargoes of Saudi Arabian crude to Japan, a benchmark route, earned $104,256 a day, a level last seen in July 2008, according to data on Friday from the Baltic Exchange in London. The rate was a 13 percent gain from Thursday.

Casey Research’s favorite oil tanker company is cashing in on higher shipping rates...…
On August 13, E.B. Tucker told readers of The Casey Report about a company called Euronav (EURN).
According to E.B., Euronav is the best oil tanker company in the world. The company has one of the newest and largest fleets on the planet. Euronav’s sales more than doubled during the first half of the year.

The company’s EBITDA (earnings before taxes, interest, and accounting charges) quadrupled. And because Euronav’s policy is to pay out at least 80% of its profits as dividends, the company doubled its dividend payment last quarter.

Investors who acted on E.B.’s recommendation have already pocketed a 5% quarterly dividend. Based on its last two dividends, Euronav is paying an annualized yield of 12%. That’s not bad considering 10 Treasuries pay just 2.07% right now. Euronav’s stock is up big too. It has gained 15% in the past month alone...while the S&P just gained 1%.

E.B. thinks Euronav is just getting started.....
Euronav’s stock price has rocketed in recent weeks, but it’s going to go much higher. Euronav is a great business and the economics of shipping oil are improving. The market hasn’t fully caught on to how good things are in the industry right now. Shipping rates are ripping higher, but the supply of ships can’t keep up with demand. The largest supertankers can carry 2 million barrels of oil at a time. They measure three football fields long. These ships take years to build and cost about $100 million each. Shipping rates should stay high as the world works through this huge oil glut.

It’s a great time to own shipping companies. And Euronav is the best of the bunch. Euronav has shot up since E.B. recommended it, but the buying window hasn’t closed. In fact, Euronav is still below E.B.’s “buy under” price of $17.50. You can learn more about Euronav by taking The Casey Report for a risk free spin today. You’ll also learn about E.B.’s other top investment ideas, including a unique way to profit from the “digital revolution” in money. Click here to get started.



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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Recession Watch

By John Mauldin 

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.”– J.C. Penney

“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”– Napoleon Hill

“We’re lost, but we’re making good time.”– Yogi Berra

The Yogi Berra quote above, which was brought to my attention this week, seems an apt description of where the markets and the economy are today. Nobody is quite sure where we are or where we’re going, but we all seem to think we’re going to get there soon.

I think it’s pretty much a given that we’re in for a cyclical bear market in the coming quarters. The question is, will it be 1998 or 2001/2007? Will the recovery look V shaped, or will it drag out? Remember, there is always a recovery. But at the same time, there is always a recession out in front of us; and that fact of life is what makes for long and difficult recoveries, not to mention very deep bear markets.

The problem is that our most reliable indicator for a recession is no longer available to us. The Federal Reserve did a study, which has been replicated. They looked at 26 indicators with regard to their reliability in predicting a recession. There was only one that was accurate all the time, and that was an inverted yield curve of a particular length and depth. Interestingly, it worked almost a year in advance. The inverted yield curve indicator worked very well the last two recessions; but now, with the Federal Reserve holding interest rates at the zero bound, it is simply impossible to get a negative yield curve.

Understand, an inverted yield curve does not cause a recession. It is simply an indicator that an economy is under stress. So now we are in an environment where we can look only at “predictive” indicators that are not 100% reliable. Actually, most are not even close. Some indicators have predicted seven out of the last four recessions. Some never trigger at all.

Recession Watch
All that said, looking at data from the last few weeks suggests that we need to be on “recession watch.” Global GDP is clearly slowing down, and the data we are getting from the US suggests that we are going to see a serious falloff in GDP over the next few quarters. I want to look at the recent (very disappointing) employment numbers, earnings forecasts (and some funny accounting), credit spreads, total leverage in the system, and the overall environment where credit, which has been the fuel for growth, is under pressure. The totality of this data says that we have to be on alert for a recession, because a recession will mean a full-blown bear market (down at least 40%), rising unemployment, and (sadly) QE4.

The jobs report on Friday was just ugly. Private payrolls increased by just 118,000, which is about the minimum level needed for unemployment not to rise. Government payrolls added 24,000. There were serious downward revisions to the last two months, as well. August was taken down by 37,000 jobs, and July was reduced by 22,000. The last three months have averaged just 167,000 new jobs compared to 231,000 for the previous three months and 260,000 for the six months prior to that.

My friend David Rosenberg dug a little deeper into the numbers and noted: Adding insult to injury and revealing an even softer underbelly to this report was the contraction in the workweek to 34.5 hours from 34.6 hours in August, which is effectively equivalent to an added 348,000 job losses.

So take the headline number, tack on the downward revisions and the loss of labour input from the decline in the workweek, and the "real" payroll number was [a minus] 265,000. You read that right.

He added: “Have no doubt that if the contours of the job market continue on this recent surprising downward path… [m]arket chatter of QE four by March 2016 is going to be making the rounds.”
While the unemployment rate remained at 5.1%, it did so largely because of a significant drop in the labor participation rate, which is not a good way to enhance employment. Further, the U-6 unemployment number is still a rather depressing 10%. Those are the people who are working part-time but would like full time jobs, as well as discouraged and marginally attached workers. Very few part-time jobs pay enough to finance a middle class lifestyle.

Earnings Recession
Leo Kolivakis of Pension Pulse has a downbeat earnings season preview, aptly titled “A Looming Catastrophe Ahead?

Analysts have been steadily cutting 3Q earnings projections, and those revisions threaten to make some richly priced stocks even more so. Thomson Reuters data shows analysts expect a 3.9% year over year decline in S&P 500 earnings. Expectations are falling for future quarters as well.

These expectations have some strategists talking about an “earnings recession.” Just as an economic recession is two consecutive quarters of falling GDP, an earnings recession is two consecutive quarters of falling corporate profits.

The headwinds are no mystery. China’s weaker import demand is hurting all kinds of companies, especially raw materials and infrastructure suppliers. Caterpillar (CAT) slashed its revenue forecast and announced 10,000 job cuts. That probably isn’t playing well in Peoria. Accompanying the falloff in Chinese demand is an increase in the number of containers coming into the US as the strong dollar allows us to buy more and sell less. Not a particularly useful combination.

I love this quote from a Reuters story: “How can we drive the market higher when all of these signals aren’t showing a lot of prosperity?” said Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Company in Atlanta, Georgia, who cited earnings growth as one of the drivers of the market. As we all know, it is every portfolio manager’s job to “drive the market higher.” Daniel evidently wants to do his part.

Sadly, despite our best efforts, the stock market faces an uphill climb. More from Reuters: Even with the recent selloff, stocks are still expensive by some gauges. The S&P 500 Index is selling at roughly 16 times its expected earnings for the next 12 months, lower than this year's peak of 17.8 but higher than the historic mean of about 15. The index would have to drop to about 1,800 to bring valuations back to the long-term range. The S&P 500 closed at 1,931.34 on Friday [Sept 25].

Moreover, forward and trailing price-to-earnings ratios for the S&P 500 are converging, another sign of collapsing growth expectations. The trailing P/E stands at about 16.5, Thomson Reuters data shows. Last year at this time, the forward P/E was also 16 but the trailing was 17.6.

The last period of convergence was in 2009 when earnings were declining following the financial crisis. The Energy sector is the biggest drag on earnings, meaning that we now see analysts everywhere calculating estimates “ex energy.” I suppose this produces useful information, but if we are going to exclude the bottom outlier, shouldn’t we exclude the top outlier as well? Healthcare is carrying much of the earnings burden for S&P 500 stocks, but I have yet to see an ex healthcare or ex energy & healthcare estimate. A funny thing about earnings: they’ve been going up for the past year, even as top line revenue has not. Generally, those go hand in hand. What’s happening?

And for the answer I have a story. A few years ago I made an assumption as to how a new stream of income would be taxed. I made that assumption based on my knowledge of having had similar income in the ’80s and ’90s. It turned out the rules had changed, and I hit the end of the year owing what was for me a rather large sum, as I was also trying to finance and build my new apartment.

I told my tale of woe to my accountant, Darrell Cain, who obviously detected the distress in my voice. He smiled at me and said, “John, I have an elephant bullet.” He reached under the table and pulled out an imaginary elephant bullet. “This is a big bullet. But I only have one of them. Once you use this bullet you can never use it again. If another elephant comes down the road, there will be nothing you can do.”

And yes, there were some one time tax maneuvers that reduced my taxes to a manageable number. But as he said, those were a one time option.

There is no way to prove it, but I think corporate accountants have been using up their elephant bullets this past year, as corporations want to be able to maintain the fiction that earnings are rising, so that price to earnings ratios don’t come under stress and cause stock prices to fall. You can move expenses from quarter to quarter, put off certain spending, recharacterize certain expenses one time, and so on. I deeply suspect we are going to find that some recent corporate earnings have been of the smoke and mirrors type.

Further, as I’ve written in previous letters, earnings forecasts are notoriously trend-following and typically miss the turns. If earnings are beginning to fall – and it appears they are – it is highly likely that earnings estimates will miss to the downside. If we slide into a recession at the same time, they will miss to the downside rather dramatically.

Is GDP Flatlining?
The Commerce Department will release its first estimate for 3Q US GDP on Thursday, Oct. 29. By then we will be in the thick of earnings season and will already know how many companies performed.

In the big picture, income (corporate or individual) can’t grow unless the economy grows. GDP may be a flawed way to measure economic growth, but it is the best tool we have. Blue chip estimates right now are that it ran at near a 2.5% annualized growth rate last quarter. However, the Atlanta Fed has sharply revised their GDP estimate for the third quarter down to under 1%. (See chart below.)

Will economic growth come into harmony with income growth? We know they have to meet eventually. At present, it appears GDP will stay in slow growth mode. That means it probably won’t be able to pull earnings up with it.


High-Yield – Rising Defaults
High yield spreads have been tightening and interest rates have been rising for some time. This is starting to cause some distress in the high yield (otherwise known as junk bond) market. My friend Steve Blumenthal has been following and timing the high yield market for 20 years. He recently wrote the following, which I’m going to blatantly cut and paste as it clearly depicts the level of distress in the high yield market.

If credit becomes more difficult to get, then growth is going to come under stress as well. I note that corporations that I think of as issuing higher quality debt are paying 10%. Thank you very much. Ten percent interest rates don’t seem to me to be very low.

To continue reading this article from Thoughts from the Frontline – a free weekly publication by John Mauldin, renowned financial expert, best selling author, and Chairman of Mauldin Economics – please click here.

The article Thoughts from the Frontline: Recession Watch was originally published at mauldineconomics.com.


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Monday, September 28, 2015

Balloons in Search of Needles

By John Mauldin

I love waterfalls. I’ve seen some of the world’s best, and they always have an impact. The big ones leave me awestruck at nature’s power. It was about 20 years ago that I did a boat trip on the upper Zambezi, ending at Victoria Falls. Such a placid river, full of game and hippopotamuses (and the occasional croc); and then you begin to hear the roar of the falls from miles away.

Unbelievably majestic. From there the Zambezi River turns into a whitewater rafting dream, offering numerous class 5 thrills. Of course, you wouldn’t want to run them without a serious professional at the helm. When you’re looking at an 8 foot high wall of water in front of you that you are going to have to go up (because it’s in the way); well, let’s just say it’s a rush.

If there were rapids like this in the United States, it’s doubtful professional outfits could get enough liability insurance to make a business of running them. In Zimbabwe we just signed a piece of paper. Our guides swore nobody had ever been lost – well, except for a few people who disobeyed the rules and leaped in the water in the calm sections because it was 100° out. That’s where the crocs are.

They promised we wouldn’t run into any in the rapids, which was good. More than a few of us got dumped in the water trying to run the rapids, but they had teams of kayakers who got you out quickly. The canyon below the falls is unbelievable, and below that is the even more impressive Bakota Gorge.

And yes, you then had to walk to the top of the canyon up a switchback trail to get home. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but I would spend at least three months training for the hike out. That was most definitely not in the full-disclosure-of-risks one-page piece of paper.


It would be hard to miss an analogy to the stock market. Everything’s peaceful and calm, you’re drinking some fabulous wine, eating some fantastic fresh game and fish, looking at all the beautiful animals as you drift easily with the current. Anybody can steer the boat in a bull market. Until the rapids hit and the bottom falls out.

As an aside, while the large waterfalls are majestic and awe-inspiring, the smaller ones are more hypnotic. I love the sound of falling water. I could listen for hours. The one place I don’t like to see waterfalls is on stock charts. Those leave me awestruck at the market’s power. They do have the power to focus the mind, however, especially when we own the shares that just went over the falls.

The US stock market is having the most turbulent year we’ve seen in a while.  It’s not terrible by historical standards, but we have a full quarter to go. And next week it’ll be October, a month in which the stock market has run into trouble before. With all that in mind, this week I want to take a look at where stocks stand and maybe offer a thought or two about the events that could bring us to the next waterfall.

Not Niagara Falls Yet
Here is how the waterfall looks so far this year. Barely a 10% move peak to trough, and it lasted for just a few days. We see a lot of jostling, followed by the harrowing plunge in August, and then a partial (less than halfway) recovery. Where do we go from here?


Let’s start with the macro view. Back in July I showed you some research that I did with Ed Easterling of Crestmont Research. This was before the China sell-off accelerated into the headlines, so it is very interesting to read again in hindsight. (See “It’s Not Over Till the Fat Lady Goes on a P/E Diet”).

Our view is that we are still in a secular bear market, and have been since the 2000 Tech Wreck. You may find that view surprising, since the benchmarks have roughly tripled since the 2009 low. Our analysis looks at price/earnings ratios to identify when bull and bear markets begin or end. P/E multiples were close to 50 in year 2000. In order for that bear market to end, they needed to drop into the very low double digit or single-digit range, which has been the signal for the end of every long term secular bear cycle for over 100 years. That hasn’t happened during the intervening 15 years.

Can a secular bear market last 15 years? Yes. Some have lasted even longer, like 1966-1981 and 1901-1920. So this one isn’t unprecedented. And please note that the long-term secular cycles can have cyclical movements inside them. Again, we see secular cycles in terms of valuation and the shorter cyclical cycles in terms of price. (Unless this time is different) long-term secular bear market cycles will always end in a period of low valuations.

Currently, P/E ratios (or any other valuation metric you want to use) are not low enough to provide the boost that typically starts a new bull market. They were closer in 2009 than today, but have never dipped into the area that would mark the end of the bear market and the onset of the new bull. We’re still riding the same bear.


What’s taking so long? Our best guess is that stocks were so richly valued at the 2000 peak that it is taking the better part of a generation to work off that excess. In order for this bear to end – and the new bull cycle to begin – valuations need to tumble. That can happen only if prices drop considerably or earnings rise without pulling prices higher.

Obviously, there can be many trading opportunities within a secular bull or bear cycle, but Ed’s research says we have three long-term options from here.
  1. If P/E ratios decline toward 10 or below, we will be near the end of this secular bear. A new bull cycle should follow.
  2. If P/E ratios stay near where they are, we will be in what Ed calls “secular hibernation.” This would mean a lot of sideways price movement, with dividends having to deliver the lion’s share of stock market returns.
  3. If P/E/ ratios rise further, we will go back into the kind of “secular bubble” that created the Tech Wreck. I recall those years vividly, and I would rather not relive them.
Now, combine this market situation with what appears to be a global economic slowdown. China is a big factor, but not the only one. The entire developed world is in slow-growth mode. At some point it will likely dip into recession territory. Canada is already there. I don’t think they will be alone for long. Japan and Europe are weak.

I think the next true move to lower valuations will be a cyclical bear market combined with a recession. Can the stock market hold on to today’s valuations in a recession? Nothing is impossible, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it, either. I can’t find an example of stock prices and valuations staying in place in the midst of a recession. Prices can fall slowly or they can fall fast, but I feel confident they will do one or the other.

Speaking of Bubbles
Our old friend Robert Shiller popped up last week in a Financial Times interview. Shiller is the father of CAPE, the cyclically adjusted price/earnings multiple, which looks back ten years to account for earnings cyclicality. He is also a Yale professor and a Nobel economics laureate.

Shiller’s CAPE has been saying for several years that stocks are seriously overvalued. In his FT interview, Shiller dropped the “B” word: It looks to me a bit like a bubble again, with essentially a tripling of stock prices since 2009 in just six years and at the same time people losing confidence in the valuation of the market.

When will the bubble burst? Shiller is less helpful there. He said the recent bout of volatility “shows that people are thinking something, worried thoughts. It suggests to me that many people are re-evaluating their exposure to the stock market. I’m not being very helpful about market timing, but I can easily see aftershocks coming.

Now, if you aren’t very confident about timing, it’s arguably better not to use words like bubble and aftershock. You can be sure the media and analysts will jump all over them, just as I’m doing right now.
In any case, Ed Easterling and Bob Shiller reach similar conclusions (though for different reasons). Neither sees a very bullish future, though both are unsure about timing. So when will we know the end is nigh? Sadly, we probably won’t, unless we begin to see signs that a recession is building in the United States.

Balloons in Search of Needles
As the old proverb goes, no one rings a bell at the top. The same applies at the bottom. Let’s imagine the stock market as a whole bunch of balloons. One or two can pop loudly and everyone will jump and then laugh it off. You now have deflated debris hanging from your string. Eventually, enough balloons will pop that the weight of the debris overwhelms the remaining balloons’ ability to keep the string aloft. Then your whole bunch falls down.


The last balloon to pop wasn’t any bigger or smaller than the others; it just happened to be last. In like manner, some kind of catalyst sets off every market collapse. It is usually something that would be survivable by itself. The plunge occurs because of all the previous balloons that bit the dust, but pundits and the media always like to point the finger at the most recent event.

So, if Easterling and Shiller are right, balloons are popping and making investors nervous, but there’s not enough damage yet to drag down the whole bundle. What are some candidates for the last balloon? A Chinese “hard landing” is probably the biggest, most obvious balloon right now. And actually, China is big enough for multiple balloons. Their stock market downturn produced one pop already. Beijing’s currency adjustment may have been another one.

To continue reading this article from Thoughts from the Frontline – a free weekly publication by John Mauldin, renowned financial expert, best selling author, and Chairman of Mauldin Economics – please click here.



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Thursday, September 24, 2015

The Bull Market is Over

By Justin Spittler

Stocks had a horrible day Tuesday. The S&P 500 lost 1.23%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.09%. Indices around the world also fell. The Euro Stoxx 600, which tracks 600 of Europe’s biggest companies, lost 3.12%. Germany’s DAX lost 3.80%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.96%.

Casey Report readers know this is part of our “script”…..

The S&P 500 plunged into its first correction since 2011 on August 23. A correction is when an index falls 10% or more from its last high. In total, the S&P 500 plunged 11% in 6 days. In the latest issue of The Casey Report, E.B. Tucker told his readers that this big drop marked the end of the 6 year bull market in U.S. stocks. He wrote: We believe the era of asset prices soaring on a wave of easy credit is over. Last month’s major stock market decline is the start of a very tough time for stocks and the economy.

This bull market is unraveling because it was built on easy money. E.B. explains how the Federal Reserve’s easy money policy has propped up the price of almost everything. The Fed’s easy money policy has lifted the price of just about every asset over the past six years. Cars, luxury watches, art, boats…just about everything that’s for sale costs more than it did a couple years ago. That’s especially true of the stock market.

The Fed cut its key interest rate to effectively zero during the last financial crisis. And it’s kept it there ever since. Low interest rates were supposed to boost the economy. But they’ve also pushed up the price of stocks and encouraged reckless borrowing, as E.B. explains: By making enormous amounts of credit available, the Fed stoked the economy, stocks, and the housing market. Stocks tripled from their 2009 lows. Average U.S. home prices climbed 50% from their previous lows. Companies with poor credit ratings borrowed record amounts of money...far more than they did before the 2008 crisis.

E.B. went on to explain how high stock and home prices were masking a huge problem: In 2015, the total net worth of American households reached $85 trillion, an all-time high. On the surface, things look good. But the long period of low interest rates has created an extremely dangerous situation. By taking interest rates to zero and holding them there for nearly seven years and counting, the Fed has created bad investments and reckless speculation on an epic scale. Not billions...but trillions.

The crash last month pushed U.S. stocks below an important long-term trend line…..

E.B. explains why this is such a big deal: A long term trend line shows the general direction the market is heading. Many professional traders use it to separate normal market gyrations from something bigger. Think of it as a “line in the sand.” As you can see from the chart below, there have been a few “normal” selloffs since 2011. On Friday, August 21, however, the S&P dropped below its long term trend line for the first time in about four years.

  
U.S. stocks rebounded after last month’s crash…..

But E.B. told his readers the rebound was only temporary. He said the market was in the middle of a “dead cat bounce.” E.B. thinks U.S stocks will keep falling, in part because they’re so expensive.

Right now, the S&P’s CAPE ratio is 24.6, about 48% more expensive than its average since 1881.
The S&P has only been more expensive a handful of times since 1881. That includes the years around the 1929, 2000, and 2007 market peaks.

CAPE is a popular valuation metric. It’s the price to earnings (P/E) ratio with one adjustment. Instead of using one year of earnings, it uses earnings from the past 10 years. This smooths out the effects of booms and recessions and provides a useful, long term view of the market.

The chart below shows that the market eventually collapsed after the high CAPE periods around the 1929, 2000 and 2007 market peaks:


  
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The article The Bull Market is Over was originally published at caseyresearch.com.


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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Buy the Dip? Hell No.....Sell the Rip Instead

By Tony Sagami

Are you worried about the stock market? You should be; at least according to your local Starbucks barista.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told his 190,000 employees in his daily “Message from Howard” email communication: “Today’s financial market volatility, combined with great political uncertainty both at home and abroad, will undoubtedly have an effect on consumer confidence and … our customers are likely to experience an increased level of anxiety and concern. Let’s be very sensitive to the pressures our customers may be feeling.”

You can’t make this stuff up!

Hey, maybe I shouldn’t be too harsh on Mr. Schultz, because the stock market is in a lot of trouble… and not for the reasons the mass media and Wall Street experts are telling you. The know it alls on CNBC are pointing their fingers at the Chinese stock market meltdown as the reason for our stock market turmoil, but that is just the catalyst… not the root problem.

The source of the meltdown is deeper, more problematic, and more painful. What I’m talking about is that the Federal Reserve—from Greenspan to Bernanke, to Yellen—thought they possessed Wizard of Oz powers to fix whatever ails the economy with their menu of monetary tools.

In 2000, the Fed thought it could solve the bursting of the dot-com bubble with massive interest rate cuts and repeated that playbook again for the 2008-09 Financial Crisis. And when they ran out of room by cutting interest rates to zero, they trotted out Operation Twist and QE 1, 2, and 3.


Those three rounds of QE added about $3.7 trillion to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet since 2008, which now totals a mind boggling $4.5 trillion. The problem is not China; the problem is Janet Yellen and her Federal Reserve buddies.


The Fed—beginning with the original monetary Mr. Magoo of Alan Greenspan—created a bubble, then rolled out more of the same to deal with the bursting of the bubble, and like the shampoo bottle says: Rinse, Lather, Repeat. Zero interest rates plus QE1, QE2, and QE3 created a massive misallocation of capital that has affected everything from home supply, ocean-going freighters, the US dollar, and wages, and pushed stock prices to a bigger than ever bubble.


The recent weakness is the painful process of deflating that bubble, but the Federal Reserve refuses to learn from its mistakes. It won’t be long until we hear about QE4 and/or a delay to the overpromised interest rate liftoff. Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers had this to say yesterday: “A reasonable assessment of current conditions suggests that raising rates in the near future would be a serious error that would threaten all three of the Fed’s major objectives; price stability, full employment and financial stability.”

Honestly, I don’t know what the Federal Reserve will do next. Heck, I bet they don’t know what to do either… but they will do something. Central bankers are arrogant know-it-alls who think they can fix the world’s financial problems with a couple of pulls of a monetary lever.

So pull they will.

And so the stock market damage will continue, albeit with some powerful up moves along the way.
Bulls, whether in a Spanish bull-fighting arena or roaming the floor of the NYSE, are a tough animal to kill. They won’t surrender until they make a few more desperate attempts to push the market higher.
Look at what happened last Tuesday after the 588-point Monday meltdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up by as much as 441 points before ending the day with a 204-point loss.


My point is that you’re going to see a lot of powerful up moves in the coming months… but I’m telling you, these are nothing more than bear market traps to lure you into buying at the wrong time. The stock market is falling into a bear market, and that means big swings both up and down, similar to 2000–2003.


The Federal Reserve, along with the rest of the world’s central bankers, has puffed stock valuations into an epic bubble, and the stock market has a long, long ways yet to fall…..just not in a straight line. That’s heart attack material for both buy-hold-and-pray and buy the dip investors, but it is a goldmine if you adapt your strategy.


Instead of buying the dip, the right strategy going forward is SELL THE RIP.

When the stock market gives you a big rally, the right move will be to sell into strength.

And if you have some risk capital, that will be the time to load up on inverse ETFs and put options, like my Rational Bear subscribers did in July.

The biggest short-selling opportunity of our lifetimes is knocking on your door.
Tony Sagami
Tony Sagami

30 year market expert Tony Sagami leads the Yield Shark and Rational Bear advisories at Mauldin Economics. To learn more about Yield Shark and how it helps you maximize dividend income, click here.

To learn more about Rational Bear and how you can use it to benefit from falling stocks and sectors, click here.



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Friday, August 21, 2015

Why You Should Go to Africa Instead of College

By Doug Casey

Recently Doug Casey was a guest on the always excellent podcast, The Tom Woods Show. Tom and Doug talked about the enormous economic potential in Africa, Doug’s efforts to build a truly free market country, and better uses of your time and money than going to college.

It’s an exciting and informative conversation.


Tom Woods: What a pleasure and a delight it is to welcome back to the show Doug Casey. Doug is a libertarian economist, best selling financial author, international investor, entrepreneur, and the founder and chairman of Casey Research. Doug, welcome back to the show.

Doug Casey: Thanks, Tom. It is my pleasure.

Tom: You’ve been up to some interesting activity in Africa that I’d like to ask you about. Let’s start off by telling us what you’ve been busy doing there.

Doug: Well, the last two weeks, I’ve been visiting the Islamic Republic of Mauritania with a short side trip to Senegal. I’ve been pursuing my hobby, which is to propose to a backward country a plan for complete and total free marketization… including taking the country itself public on a major stock exchange and distributing most of the shares directly to the people who theoretically own the government assets. I felt like I had Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis” playing in the back of my mind the whole time I was there.

Tom: Suppose you got everything you wanted, what would the outcome look like?

Doug: Well, 100% of all government assets, land, state owned companies - everything - initially go into a corporation and we distribute the shares.

Let’s say, 70% pro-rata to every man, woman, and child in the country, so they don’t just theoretically own the government, now they actually do. 15% would be put it in trust for the next unborn generation to defuse that time bomb. 10% would be distributed to people who, let’s say, are of significant help to making this happen, and people who are important, whose rice bowls would be broken, and 5% to take public in major stock markets to raise some capital. Then we get rid of all duties, taxes, and regulations.

Dubai was absolutely nothing in 1980. You know what Dubai is now. If we go back further, in 1960, Hong Kong and Singapore both were very poor and look what has happened to them. So I think in today’s world if somebody is daring enough to want to do this, I think it could be of world historic importance. So I’m looking for the right guy.

Tom: I’d like to get a glimpse inside of a meeting like this. If you’re sitting down with the president, you’re sitting down with top officials, how do you make that case, especially when the response is going to be, “What’s in it for me”?

Doug: Well, that’s always the first question, of course. I start my presentation with three things I can do for you, Mr. President. It’s always a question of the benefit to the buyer. Number one, this plan will make you legitimately a multibillionaire. That always goes down very smoothly, because they know that doing what Mobutu and Mugabe did doesn’t work quite as well now as it did in the past. So it gets their attention.

Number two, the people will love you and treat you as the new George Washington. That sounds pretty good too. Half the time in these places most of the population wants to kill them. And number three, we will put you on the front cover of all the world’s magazines in a favorable light for the next decade. Now that sounds good, because these people, if they are even known to exist, are considered pariahs.

So they always listen to the rest of presentation. Of course then things start to go wrong… usually from people under the president. It’s the people under the president who are usually making the big money, not so much the president himself. So they are often the problem.

It always makes for a fun adventure and interesting cocktail party stories that I can tell and retell to people for hours. But it’s my hobby. It’s not an occupation. I haven’t made any money on it yet, although I always have a plan B when I go to these countries: look for mining concessions and so forth.

Tom: Suppose you had to do it all over again. Let’s say you turned 18 in 2015. Have conditions changed to the point where you would take a different path, and incidentally would you go to college?

Doug: I would definitely not go to college. Even then, I only did it because everybody from my socioeconomic class was going to college, so there was no thought involved on my part. It was just like going from eighth grade into high school. I counsel students against it today. College serves no useful purpose unless you want to learn a trade like doctoring or lawyering or you need a piece of paper to practice a particular occupation, or there is a formal discipline, like a hard science or engineering.

You will pick up lots of bad ideas. You will spend a huge amount of money, get yourself under a huge financial rock that will take you years to dig yourself out from under. What I suggest people do instead is lay out what the most intelligent thing to do with that four years of time and probably $200,000 of capital. I like the idea of traveling. The place that I would put first and foremost on my travel list today for economic reasons is Africa. Go someplace where you can be a big fish in a small pond quickly.

Tom: Back in the ’50s and ’60s in the wake of decolonization in Africa, you had a bunch of Western educated semi-Marxist political leaders who were nationalizing property and confiscating assets from rich people and so on, you wouldn’t touch Africa with a ten foot pole. What has changed since then?

Doug: Well, politics always draws the worst kinds of people of course. Most of the presidents of Africa even today are ex-generals or ex-colonels or something like that. It has economically improved a lot. The population has exploded and it’s going to explode more in the years to come. It’s chaotic. But if you can bring order to chaos, that’s opportunity.

If you go to the Orient, there are a lot of rich, smart people there. You are not going to have much of a competitive advantage. That’s true to a lesser extent in South America too. Africa is actually the place, I think, you want to go.

Tom: Do you have any particular parts of Africa? I’ve heard good things about Botswana. Do you have any place in particular that attracts you?

Doug: Other than South Africa, I’d say Botswana is the most developed country in Southern Africa for sure. But where would I go now? Well, of course, the nice thing about Africa is that it’s divided basically into three parts, Anglophone Africa, Francophone Africa, and Lusophone Africa, and my French is still adequately conversational. I lived in France and Switzerland for a year during college. My Spanish is functional. The language thing is a consideration of course. But on the other hand, most of the educated people in most countries of the world speak English, which is the world’s lingua franca today.

Where would I go? There are around 50 countries in Africa. I like small, obscure ones. Maybe Ghana is too developed. Look at Benin or Togo or maybe the Ivory Coast. Mauritania, where I just was, is actually quite interesting. Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, you’ve got lots of choices. Somebody should get on a plane and just take a look. Then when they get into a country, a capital city, which is always where the action happens, get on the telephone to local lawyers and real estate agents and businessmen to set up appointments and see who you can get along with. One thing will lead to another.

I wouldn’t go to Africa as a lifestyle choice. I would go there for economic reasons and for the adventure that it would yield. I’d say as a lifestyle choice, it comes down to South America or the Orient. I lived in the Orient for years and I loved it.

Tom: What about the language barrier?

Doug: Well, I lived in Hong Kong and when I was there it was much more English. Of course everybody in China is learning English today, everybody, everywhere that you basically would want to talk to. I’m not trying to be elitist but the educated people - put it that way - all speak English today as a second language. This is one of the things that will slow down your progress on learning the local language, is that they all want to speak English to you. So that’s a double edged sword… but it’s really an advantage. No, don’t worry about the language problem.

Tom: Well, I sure appreciate your time, Doug Casey. You are the International Man himself, and we are always grateful for your time.

Doug: Well, thank you Tom. It is a pleasure to talk to you under any circumstances.

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The article was originally published at internationalman.com.


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Saturday, July 11, 2015

Weekly Crude Oil, Gold, Coffee and Sugar Markets Recap with Mike Seery

It's been a wild ride in the markets this week. And our trading partner Mike Seery is back this week to give our readers a weekly recap of the futures market. He has been a senior analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Crude oil futures in the August contract are trading far below their 20 and 100 day moving average settling in New York last week at 56.93 a barrel while currently trading at 52.66 down about $7 for the trading week hitting a three month low as I’ve been recommending a short position for quite some time and if you took that trade continue to place your stop loss above the 10 day high which currently stands at 59.70 as the chart structure will improve on a daily basis.

The next level of major support is at 49/51 as oversupply issues continue to hamper prices here in the short term coupled with the fact of a possible Chinese slowdown affecting many commodities especially oil prices, however if you did not take the original trade the chart structure is terrible at the current time as the risk/reward is not your favor so sit on the sidelines and look for better markets with less risk. The U.S dollar is sharply lower this afternoon as a possible deal with Greece is on the table, however the dollar is still up significantly in the year 2015 and that’s keeping pressure on commodities as deflation is a worldwide problem so play by the rules and place the proper stop loss as who knows how prices can go.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

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Gold futures in the August contract are trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average settling last week at 1,163 while currently trading at 1,160 down slightly and traded as low as 1,146 in Wednesdays trade hitting a three month low as I’ve been recommending a short position and if you took that trade place your stop loss above the 10 day high which currently stands at 1,188 risking around $28 or $1,000 per mini contract plus slippage and commission.

The chart structure will improve starting next week as the trend still remains bearish as I still see no reason why to own the precious metals as their looks to be agreement with Greece possibly over the weekend but all of the interest still lies in the S&P 500 in my opinion which is sharply higher this Friday afternoon. The U.S dollar is down 90 points today which generally is very bullish precious metals, however gold is unchanged this Friday afternoon as volatility remains low as platinum, copper, and palladium are all near contract lows which will pressure gold prices in the long run in my opinion so continue to play this to the downside while taking advantage of any price rally while maintaining the proper stop loss of 2% of your account balance on any given trade.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Excellent

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Coffee futures in the December contract settled last week in New York at 131.15 while currently trading at 129.80 a pound slightly lower for the trading week still trading below its 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the short term trend is to the downside and the long term trend is also to the downside as I’m now recommending a short position while placing your stop loss above the 10 day high which currently stands 137.40 risking around 800 points or $3,000 per contract plus slippage and commission as this trade should only be taken with a large trading account.

Coffee prices continue their slow grinding bearish trend with very little volatility as the fundamentals have improved with Brazilian coffee exports rising to a record in the crop year ending June 30th up 6.9% to 36.5 million bags but that has been unable to support prices as we continue to move lower because of oversupply. The chart structure will start to improve in the next couple of days lowering monetary risk as many of the commodity markets still look weak as anything grown in Brazil continue to be under pressure due to the fact that the Brazilian Real is still right near a historical low versus the U.S dollar.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Solid

Sugar futures in the October contract are trading above their 20 day but still below their 100 day moving average telling you that the trend is mixed after settling last week in New York at 12.30 while currently trading at 12.12 slightly lower for the trading week as I’m currently sitting on the sidelines waiting for a trend to develop.

Sugar prices continue its long term bearish trend while trading sideways in recent weeks as a breakout to the upside is 12.69 and on the downside below 11.52 so look at other markets that are currently trending as sugar prices look to go nowhere. Volatility in sugar prices at the current time is relatively low as I still do think lower prices are ahead but prices remain choppy so keep a close eye on this market as oversupply issues continue to pressure sugar coupled with an extremely weak Brazilian Real versus the U.S dollar as there are very few fundamental bullish reasons to push prices up at the current time.
Trend: Mixed
Chart Structure: Solid

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Mike's Trading Theory

What Does Risk Management Mean To You? I generally tell people that the reason people lose money in commodities is not due to the fact that they are bad at predicting where prices are headed, however they are bad when it comes to losing trades and refusing to take a loss which results for heavy monetary losses that are difficult to come back from.

For example if a customer has $100,000 account in my opinion on any given trade he or she should risk 2% – 3% of the account value meaning if you are wrong the worst case scenario is still a $97,000 remaining balance, however what I always see is traders risking ridiculous amounts of money and instead of the 3% stop loss will risk 20% to 30% on any given trade or even higher therefore if you are wrong on two or three trades that $100,000 dollar account could dwindle down to nothing very quickly and I’ve seen it many times throughout my career.

What many traders forget to realize is they might have 4 or 5 commodity positions on and if you have too many contracts on all at the same time and all of those trades go against you which is very possible the losses can add up to be staggering so what I am suggesting to you is if you have $100,000 account risk between $2,000 – $3,000 per trade so if you lose on five straight trades the worst case scenario is that your down $15,000 and still have an $85,000 balance which is very possible to still come back from and your still in the game.

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Friday, July 3, 2015

Weekly Crude Oil, Gold, Silver and Coffee Markets Recap with Mike Seery

Our trading partner Mike Seery is back this week to give our readers a weekly recap of the futures market. He has been a senior analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Crude oil futures in the August contract are up $.25 this Thursday afternoon in New York as this is the last trading day of the week due to the Fourth of July holiday currently trading at 57.22 a barrel while settling last Friday at 59.63 hitting a 10 week low as I’ve been recommending a short position for over a month and if you took that trade you’ve been very patient as prices have gone nowhere except for yesterday’s trade finishing down over $2 so continue to place your stop above the 10 day high which stands at 61.57 as the chart structure will start to improve next week as well.

Crude oil prices are right at major support as the $57 level is critical in my opinion and if prices do break that I think we could head much lower so continue to play this to the downside as large supplies continue to put pressure on this market as a build in crude oil inventories surprised the market yesterday as the U.S dollar also remains stubbornly strong. Currently we are in the strong demand season for gasoline as many drivers will be on the road this weekend, however the trend is your friend and the trend no matter how stubborn it has been in recent weeks is to the downside in my opinion as I remain bearish.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Improving

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Gold futures in the August contract settled last Friday at 1,173 an ounce while currently trading at 1,163 as I’ve been recommending a short position when prices broke the 1,170 level while placing your stop loss above the 10 day high which stands at 1,201 risking around $31 or $1,000 per mini contract plus slippage and commission. Gold futures are trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average breaking out to a 3 ½ month low as a possible retest of the contract low of 1,144 is in the cards in my opinion as I was recommending a short position a month ago getting stopped out so here I’m trying again to the downside as I’m a trend follower and the trend clearly in my opinion is lower.

Gold prices have been very weak despite a possible Greece exit while as I remain very pessimistic as I see no reason to own gold at the current time as the stock market still looks strong and if Greece cannot rally gold I don’t know what can so take advantage of any rallies as the chart structure will start to improve in the next couple of days as the stop will be lowered to 1,187 as the long-term downtrend line is also intact. As a trader you must forget about your previous trade’s winners or losers and stick with your trading system as sticking to the rules over the course of time is the way to go instead of constantly flip-flopping.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Improving

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Silver futures in the September contract settled last Friday in New York at 15.77 an ounce while currently trading at 15.70 in a very nonvolatile shortened trading week as I’ve been recommending a short position when prices broke 15.80 and if you took that trade continue to place your stop above the 10 day high which stands at 16.26 risking around $560 per mini contract plus slippage and commission as the chart structure is very solid at the current time.

Silver futures are right at a four month low trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the trend is to the downside as the chart structure will improve next week and will be lowered in Tuesdays trade to 16.04 so be patient as the monthly unemployment number was released today basically pretty neutral sending gold slightly lower and having very little impact on silver prices as the volatility has slowed down tremendously.

Silver prices generally are one of the most volatile commodities in the world, however in recent months has been very quiet but something will happen in this market as I’m hoping it’s to the downside as I see no reason to own the precious metals at the current time as I still do believe all of the interest lies in the S&P 500 as money flows will continue to flow out of the precious metals and put into the stock market in my opinion.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Improving

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Coffee futures in the September contract are hitting a four week low continuing its grinding bearish trend settling last Friday at 133.45 a pound while currently trading at 127.25 down 600 points for the trading week looking to break the contract low of 126.30 as I’ve been sitting on the sidelines in this market for several months as the trend is lower to neutral at the current time.

As I’ve stated in previous blogs I think coffee is forming a bottoming pattern and if I was a producer I think prices are cheap enough to start accumulating, however as a speculator I see no reason to enter into this market at the current time. Coffee futures are trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the short term trend is to the downside, however the 10 day high as over 1000 points away risking about $4,000 from today’s price levels as that does not meet my criteria to enter into a trade so I remain neutral on this as I think the downside is limited in my opinion.

Many of the agricultural markets have rallied including sugar which is also grown in Brazil but we have large supplies of coffee at the current time as I don’t see any large price movement here in the short term as volatility remains relatively low especially for such a historically volatile commodity.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Improving

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Saturday, June 27, 2015

Weekly Crude Oil, Gold, Coffee and Sugar Markets Recap with Mike Seery

Our trading partner Mike Seery is back this week to give our readers a weekly recap of the futures market. He has been a senior analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Crude oil futures in the August contract are trading lower for the 3rd consecutive trading session currently trading at 58.87 a barrel while settling last Friday in New York at 59.97 down about $1 for the trading week still stuck in nonvolatile sideways trend despite the fact that prices hit a two week low in today’s trade as I’ve been recommending a short position for over a month and if you took the original trade continue to place your stop loss above the 10 day high at 61.81 risking around $3 or $1,500 per mini contract plus slippage and commission. Crude oil is trading below its 20 day but still slightly above its 100 day moving average as I’ve traded crude oil for 20 years and I can’t remember such a nonvolatile stretch like we’ve had in the last several months consolidating the giant move to the upside. The next breakout level is below 57.00 and if that level is broken prices could move sharply lower but that’s a big if as volatility is extremely low at the current time. Next week is the 4th Of July holiday weekend as I think volatility will remain low until Friday’s monthly unemployment report which could dictate the short term trend.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Improving

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Gold futures in the August contract settled last Friday in New York at 1,202 while currently trading at 1,170 an ounce down about $30 for the trading week remaining incredibly choppy as I was recommending a short position getting stopped out in last week’s trade when prices bumped up against 1,200 as I’m sitting on the sidelines at the current time waiting for another breakout to occur and that could happen soon as prices remain very weak. Gold futures are trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average looking to break the critical 1,170 level and the second critical level is 1,160 if that level is broken I would have to think that the bear market is underway as I see no reason to own gold at the current time as all the interest is in the stock market which is right near all time highs. Gold only seems to rally due to the fact that Greece could possibly exit the Euro Zone and that’s why I got stopped out in last week’s trade. The chart structure in gold is outstanding but if prices do break I will be recommending a short position while placing my stop above the 10 day high which 1,205 risking around $35 or $1,200 risk per mini contract plus slippage and commission so be patient and wait for the breakout to occur.
Trend: Mixed
Chart Structure: Improving

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Coffee futures in the September contract are trading above their 20 but slightly below their 100 day moving average continuing its sideways trend settling last Friday in New York at 130 while currently trading at 136 as I do think prices have bottomed out around the 128 level, however prices have not hit a four week high so I’m waiting for a breakout to occur. The chart structure is improving dramatically as volatility remains relatively low as I do think a breakout to the upside is in the cards as prices hit a 2 week high in today’s trade as many of the agricultural markets have bottomed and are moving higher especially the grain market due to weather problems. The problem with coffee is the fact that we had huge production coming out of Brazil coupled with the fact that of a very weak Brazilian Real against the U.S dollar pushing many agricultural products that are grown in Brazil lower including orange juice, sugar and coffee in 2015, however everything comes to an end and it certainly looks to me that prices are going higher. I deal with many producers down in Brazil and in my opinion I would start to buy the actual cash coffee as I think prices are low enough but for speculators wait for the breakout which would be a 4 week high before entering which could happen in next week’s trade.
Trend: Mixed
Chart Structure: Excellent

Get more of Mike's call on the Commodity Markets

Sugar futures in the October contract settled last Friday at 11.55 a pound while currently trading at 11.92 up about 37 points for the week as I’ve been recommending a short position over the last month and if you took that trade continue to place your stop loss above the 10 day high which is just an eyelash away at 12.12 risking around 20 points or $220 dollars per contract plus slippage and commission as the chart structure is outstanding at the current time. Sugar prices hit a 6 year low as I remember in 2010 prices were trading around 35 rallying with many of the commodity markets due to quantitative easing as that’s how far prices have dropped as production numbers in Brazil are relatively high. Harvest is underway which generally creates a seasonal low at harvest time, however I’m a technical trader and I will continue to stick to the rules and place my stop at the 10 day high as overproduction over the last several years has sent prices to multi year lows and if we are stopped out then look at other markets that are beginning to trend.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Outstanding

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Saturday, June 20, 2015

Weekly Gold, Silver and Sugar Markets Recap with Mike Seery

Our trading partner Mike Seery is back this week to give our readers a weekly recap of the futures market. He has been a senior analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Gold futures
in the August contract settled last Friday in New York at 1,172 an ounce while currently trading at 1,201 an ounce rallying sharply on rumors of a Greece exit possibly happening over the weekend sending prices sharply higher as I was recommending a short position from around the 1,170 level getting stopped out in yesterday’s trade losing around $30 or $1,000 per mini contract plus slippage and commission.

Janet Yellen and the FOMC committee did not raise interest rates earlier in the week sending gold sharply higher hitting a 3 week high but I still remain skeptical of this rally as a deal with Greece will occur in my opinion as the stock market still remains strong keeping money out of the gold market in the short term.

Gold prices have been trading sideways for quite some time breaking out a couple weeks back as this trade went nowhere until yesterday sending high volatility back into this market as I will sit on the sidelines and look at other markets that are beginning to trend as gold remains extremely choppy at the current time.

The U.S dollar is trading near a 6 month low and that’s propping up the precious metals in today’s trade as the next major level of resistance to the upside is 1,225 but I will wait for better chart structure to develop. Trend: Mixed
Chart Structure: Poor

What's Behind the "Big Trade"

Silver futures in the July contract settled last Friday at 15.82 an ounce while currently trading at 16.01 continuing its choppy trend right near critical support in my opinion as prices have not rallied much despite the fact that gold rallied $28 dollars in yesterday’s trade . I do believe if 15.40 is broken this market turns extremely bearish, however prices have rallied off that level many times so be patient and wait for the true breakout to occur as I’m sitting on the sidelines at the current time.

Silver futures are trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the trend is to the downside, however I don’t like to trade choppy markets so be patient and wait for the chart pattern to improve while keeping a close eye on 15.40 because if that’s broken I think prices could head substantially lower as I don’t see any reason to own the precious metals at the current time.

The problem with the precious metals is the fact that U.S interest rates are on the rise coupled with the fact of a strong U.S dollar longer term as all the interest remains in the stock market which is still right near an all-time high so wait for the true breakout to happen.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

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Sugar futures hit a fresh 6 year low this Friday afternoon in New York currently trading at 11.12 a pound after settling last Friday at 11.72 closing right at session lows as I’ve been recommending a short position from 12.00 & if you’ve been following any of my previous blogs you understand that this trend is getting stronger as prices are trading far below their 20 and 100 day moving averages.

Sugar prices have traded lower 4 out of the last 5 trading sessions and if you took the original trade continue place your stop loss above the 10 day high which currently stands at 12.25 as the chart structure is poor at the current time due to the fact that prices continue to head lower on a daily basis.

Sugar production has been massive over the last several years sending large supplies onto the market coupled with the fact that the Brazilian Real is historically weak against the U.S dollar which continues to put pressure on sugar prices as I’m looking to add more contracts to this position once the chart structure improves and the risk/reward meets criteria which could happen in the next couple of days.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Single Most Important Economic Statistic that the White House Never Talks About

By Tony Sagami


For the first time in 35 years, American business deaths now outnumber business births. —Jim Clifton, CEO, Gallup Polls

I’ve been self employed since 1998, and let me tell you, the life of a business owner isn’t easy. It’s filled with long hours, a relentless amount of paperwork, and uncertainty of where your next paycheck will come from.

If you’ve ever owned a business, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Difficult or not, self employment is extremely rewarding, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Nor would the other 6 million business owners in the United States. Of those 6 million businesses, the vast majority are small “Mom and Pop” businesses. Here are more statistics on businesses in the U.S. :
  • 3.8 million have four or fewer employees. That’s me!
     
  • 1 million with 5-9 employees;
     
  • 600,000 with 10-19 employees;
     
  • 500,000 with 20-99 employees;
     
  • 90,000 with 100-499 employees;
     
  • 18,000 with 500 employees or more; and
     
  • 1,000 companies with 10,000 employees or more.
Those small businesses are the backbone of our economy and responsible for employing roughly half of all Americans. Moreover, while estimates vary, small business create roughly two thirds of all new jobs in our country.

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For those reasons, the health (or lack thereof) of small business is the single most important long term indicator of America’s economic health. Warning: new data suggest that small businesses are in deep trouble.
For the first time in 35 years, the number of business deaths outnumbers the number of business births.


The US Census Bureau reported that the birth and death rates of American businesses crossed for the first time ever! 400,000 new businesses were born last year, but 470,000 died.

Yup, business deaths now outnumber business births.


Pay attention, because this part is important.

The problem isn’t so much that businesses are failing, but that American entrepreneurs are simply not starting as many new businesses as they used to. We like to think of America has the hotbed of capitalism, but the US actually is number 12 among developed nations for new business startups.

Number 12!

You know what countries are ahead of us? Hungary, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Israel, and even financially troubled Italy are creating new businesses faster than us!


The reasons for the capitalist pessimism are many, but my guess is that the root of the problem comes down to three issues: (1) difficulty of accessing capital (loans); (2) excessive and burdensome government regulations; and (3) an overall malaise about our economic future.

Business owners are permanently smitten with an entrepreneurial bug, and the only thing that prevents them from seeking business success is the expectation that they’ll lose money.

Sadly, the lack of new business start ups is confirmation that American’s free enterprise system is broken.

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. You built a factory out there—good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea—God bless! Keep a hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

Elizabeth Warren

“When small and medium-sized businesses are dying faster than they’re being born, so is free enterprise. And when free enterprise dies, America dies with it,” warns Gallup CEO Jim Clifton.

I don’t believe for a second that America’s free-enterprise system is permanently broken. The pendulum will eventually swing the other way, but our economy will not enjoy boom times until the birth/death trends are reversed.

That won’t happen next week or next month. It will take serious, fundamental changes in tax, regulatory, and judicial rules, and I sadly fear that it will take several years for that to happen. Until then, our economy is going to struggle and will pull our high flying stock market down with it. Are you prepared?

If you’re not familiar with inverse ETFs, you’re ignoring one of your best defenses against tough times. An inverse ETF is an exchange traded fund that’s designed to perform as the inverse of whatever index or benchmark it’s designed to track.

By providing performance opposite to their benchmark, inverse ETFs prosper when stock prices are falling. An inverse S&P 500 ETF, for example, seeks a daily percentage movement opposite that of the S&P. If the S&P 500 rises by 1%, the inverse ETF is designed to fall by 1%; and if the S&P falls by 1%, the inverse ETF should rise by 1%.

There are inverse ETFs for most major indices and even sectors and commodities (like oil and gold), as well as specialty ETFs for things like the VIX Volatility Index.

I’m not suggesting that you rush out and buy a bunch of inverse ETFs tomorrow morning. As always, timing is critical, so I recommend that you wait for my buy signals in my Rational Bear service.

But make no mistake, the birth/death ratio is signaling serious trouble ahead. Any investor who doesn’t prepare for it is going to get run over and flattened like a pancake.

Tony Sagami
Tony Sagami

30 year market expert Tony Sagami leads the Yield Shark and Rational Bear advisories at Mauldin Economics. To learn more about Yield Shark and how it helps you maximize dividend income, click here.

To learn more about Rational Bear and how you can use it to benefit from falling stocks and sectors, click here.



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