commodities

When news first broke regarding the ethnic tensions and violence in Xinjiang, China, I was not familiar with the situation there.  I have gotten up to speed and wanted to post a few videos and links for you on the situation there.…

Here is a Marc Faber interview from March. It is well worth watching because he calls things perfectly through June: economic news, equity markets, and commodity markets. This is billed as a Czech TV interview.  But the audio is…

You have probably heard the stories about China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) bidding for Repsol YP'F’s Argentine assets in a quest for more natural resources for China. Well, apparently, the Chinese want a lot more than just…

During Alan Greenspan’s tenure at the helm of the Federal Reserve, he was often accused of using monetary policy to target asset markets so as to keep the party going.  In short, Alan Greenspan was seen by many, including myself, as the…

The real worry right now should be deflation, as we have not yet beaten back all of the ill deflationary effects of the financial crisis.  Nevertheless, a growing number of market participants see inflation as a longer term…

During the Great Depression, it was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which in hindsight is blamed for triggering a wave of protectionist actions globally.  Protectionism was a major contributor to the downward spiral that created depression. …

As I write this, the U.S. dollar has fallen to new 8-month lows against the British Pound and oil.  Sterling is up over 2 big figures to 1.6371 while oil (WTI crude front month contract) has marched up near $68 a barrel.  Clearly the sell…

I want to use this holiday weekend to fill in some gaps on major issues because I think we are at a key turning point. Because the economy has left the freefall stage and I have been more positive, I have been getting the feeling that I am…

For the time being, I am more worried abut the potential inflationary effects of quantitative easing than about the deflationary impact of deleveraging.  But, the latest news from Ireland shows us that deflation is alive and well. This…

While the Chinese were adding to their gold stock over the last several years, Europeans were selling – with disastrous results.  Back in 1999, Gold prices were depressed after an almost two-decade bear market.  For some strange…