Anybody who owns stocks or has a portfolio in a retirement fund, 401k or other equity-style investments is well aware of just how good 2017 was.
All indications are that 2018 will be just as good, and probably better.
There's a number of reasons for this prognosis.
First, it's more than apparent that global stock markets are now completely under the purview of the global elite central banks, and that this central banks are actively buying stocks, boosting the underlying asset prices in the process.
Second, after that, nothing really matters, since central banks can create money out of the ether, at will, any time, for any purpose. Economics has been flipped upon its head. Price discovery has been delegated to a function of the central banks, i.e, they set the prices. No fundamental analysis is needed, nor will it be valid.
Since the goal of central banks is to keep their money ponzi schemes intact via their various currencies - pound, dollar, euro, yen, yuan - and the stock markets are primary vehicles, there exists almost zero chance of stocks losing value over even the short term. A longer-term decline would be unthinkable as it would destroy the fiat money that central banks employ in their quest to continue their global finance monopoly.
Knowing all of that, there's no reason anybody should invest in anything other than stocks, or, for added assurance, an index fund which tracks the Dow, S&P, NASDAQ, or all three, weighted, or otherwise.
Stocks will never go down again, at least not for any extended period of time.
Just Buy The Dips.
At the Close, Monday, January 8, 2018:
Dow: 25,283.00, -12.87 (-0.05%)
NASDAQ: 7,157.39, +20.83 (+0.29%)
S&P 500: 2,747.71, +4.56 (+0.17%)
NYSE Composite: 13,114.35, +11.12 (+0.08%)
Showing posts with label equities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label equities. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Dow, S&P Post New Highs Again, But, Who's Doing The Buying?
In a market that more often resembles a three-ring circus than an amalgamation of the best corporate entities vying for favoritism among investors via increased earnings, revenue and expectations, the recent melt-up in US equities has more than just a few analysts scratching their quickly-balding heads.
It's widely known that equity mutual fund outflows have been more or less continuous for the better part of the past four months, a trend that doesn't seem to be abating, despite the recent runaway rally.
So, with mutuals (institutional investors) out of the picture - and they're a huge part of the landscape - and individuals mostly too scared to tread too deeply into the Wall Street morass since the devastation of the 2008 washout, there aren't many places from which the money to buy up all these loose assets can come, except, of course, if you're the operator of a central bank, such as the Bank of Japan, the ECB or the almighty Fed.
For verification of the central bank buying conspiracy theory (now fact), we turn to the erudite and educated Zero Hedge, which puts the matter to rest in no uncertain terms in his recent post, "Mystery Of Surging Stocks Solved—-It’s The Central Banks, Stupid!"
The Hedge cites Citi's Matt King, who publishes a must-see chart of rolling central bank asset purchases, and there for all the world to see are egregiously large buys by Japan and the ECB.
Yep! Those shifty Asians and super-smart Europeans are buying up US equities at valuations measured at a median rate of 24X. Good for them! When they awaken from their Keynesian stupor somebody must announce to them - they being economists, not investors - that the goal is to buy low and sell high, not the other way around.
Their rude awakening will coincide with the complete financial and societal implosion of their economies and their sovereignty, which, in the case of Europe, has been questionable for at least a couple of decades, and, for Japan, is only a matter of time before demographics and deflation tear the country to shreds.
What the world is witnessing (or not, depending upon how many people are playing Pokemon Go at present) is the beginning of the final phase of complete totalitarian financialization by central banks and their appointed henchmen, which will result in hemorrhaged debt defaults by individuals, corporations, and eventually (but maybe initially) governments.
Unlike people and companies, governments have a unique advantage in that they can run deficits and debt in piles as high as the moon without recourse for the most part, until, that is, the general public and business people have enough of higher taxes, worsening living conditions and runaway inflation.
Central banks are even better off, being the enabler of all debt and fiat folly via their ability to print endless scads of fiat money literally out of thin air.
Both groups, the money-makers and the politicians, are parasites, and they are killing the host, that being the good-will and capital of citizens and businesses, burying them in debt that will never be repaid.
Hope for a debt jubilee has reached new heights with the latest round of stupidity, but it is far from over.
The shackles which bind the citizenry and businesses to debt and drudgery, taxes and regulations, will tighten before they are broken.
New all-time highs are great when people and funds are doing the buying. That's a sign of a growing, robust economy. When it's central banks doing the heavy lifting, it reeks of desperation and failure.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
-- Fearless Rick
New Highs! Get 'em while you can!
Dow Jones Industrial Average
18,506.41, +134.29 (0.73%)
NASDAQ
5,034.06, +28.33 (0.57%)
S&P 500
2,163.75, +11.32 (0.53%)
NYSE Composite
10,786.63, +52.43 (0.49%)
It's widely known that equity mutual fund outflows have been more or less continuous for the better part of the past four months, a trend that doesn't seem to be abating, despite the recent runaway rally.
So, with mutuals (institutional investors) out of the picture - and they're a huge part of the landscape - and individuals mostly too scared to tread too deeply into the Wall Street morass since the devastation of the 2008 washout, there aren't many places from which the money to buy up all these loose assets can come, except, of course, if you're the operator of a central bank, such as the Bank of Japan, the ECB or the almighty Fed.
For verification of the central bank buying conspiracy theory (now fact), we turn to the erudite and educated Zero Hedge, which puts the matter to rest in no uncertain terms in his recent post, "Mystery Of Surging Stocks Solved—-It’s The Central Banks, Stupid!"
The Hedge cites Citi's Matt King, who publishes a must-see chart of rolling central bank asset purchases, and there for all the world to see are egregiously large buys by Japan and the ECB.
Yep! Those shifty Asians and super-smart Europeans are buying up US equities at valuations measured at a median rate of 24X. Good for them! When they awaken from their Keynesian stupor somebody must announce to them - they being economists, not investors - that the goal is to buy low and sell high, not the other way around.
Their rude awakening will coincide with the complete financial and societal implosion of their economies and their sovereignty, which, in the case of Europe, has been questionable for at least a couple of decades, and, for Japan, is only a matter of time before demographics and deflation tear the country to shreds.
What the world is witnessing (or not, depending upon how many people are playing Pokemon Go at present) is the beginning of the final phase of complete totalitarian financialization by central banks and their appointed henchmen, which will result in hemorrhaged debt defaults by individuals, corporations, and eventually (but maybe initially) governments.
Unlike people and companies, governments have a unique advantage in that they can run deficits and debt in piles as high as the moon without recourse for the most part, until, that is, the general public and business people have enough of higher taxes, worsening living conditions and runaway inflation.
Central banks are even better off, being the enabler of all debt and fiat folly via their ability to print endless scads of fiat money literally out of thin air.
Both groups, the money-makers and the politicians, are parasites, and they are killing the host, that being the good-will and capital of citizens and businesses, burying them in debt that will never be repaid.
Hope for a debt jubilee has reached new heights with the latest round of stupidity, but it is far from over.
The shackles which bind the citizenry and businesses to debt and drudgery, taxes and regulations, will tighten before they are broken.
New all-time highs are great when people and funds are doing the buying. That's a sign of a growing, robust economy. When it's central banks doing the heavy lifting, it reeks of desperation and failure.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
-- Fearless Rick
New Highs! Get 'em while you can!
Dow Jones Industrial Average
18,506.41, +134.29 (0.73%)
NASDAQ
5,034.06, +28.33 (0.57%)
S&P 500
2,163.75, +11.32 (0.53%)
NYSE Composite
10,786.63, +52.43 (0.49%)
Monday, April 18, 2016
Dow Tops 18,000. Why?
Just guessing, but the last time the Dow was trading at or above 18,000 was sometime in the summer of 2015, probably prior to August.
Be that as it may, having the Dow trading at the level it was nine months ago means that something must have been amiss, because, certainly, the indices are always rising, aren't they?
The number 18,000 poses more questions than answers, to which Money Daily offers none, only more questions as to the sustainability of such an awesome, inspired number, fully without any kind of fundamental support, since the quality of corporate earnings has been disintegrating at an astonishing rate.
Not only that, but the obfuscation and sheer audacity of the lies and pro forma earnings releases (as opposed to the traditionally well-favored GAAP) leads one to believe that the market has lost all bearings and is about to crash upon some unseen shoals while the cruiser's captain is nodded out, asleep at the wheel.
Alas, the market has no captain, as contrary to the desires of the Janet Yellens, Mario Draghis or even George Soroses (some kind of disease, there) of the world might think otherwise.
No, the market is a mechanism of many moving parts, and, being such, can be wound to whatever pulsation or amplitude any broken parts may render it. Make no mistake, there are many broken parts to the market, especially when it comes to equity markets, where valuations have been so absurdly distorted as to become meaningless in a value-oriented frame of mind.
Nevertheless, here we are, so break out the party hats?
Next up: the NASDAQ blasts through the 5,000 barrier.
Really?
S&P 500: 2,094.34, +13.61 (0.65%)
Dow: 18,004.16, +106.70 (0.60%)
NASDAQ: 4,960.02, +21.80 (0.44%)
Crude Oil 41.28 -1.03% Gold 1,230.30 -0.38% EUR/USD 1.1310 -0.02% 10-Yr Bond 1.77 +1.20% Corn 380.50 -0.13% Copper 2.16 -0.02% Silver 16.19 -0.36% Natural Gas 1.94 +1.84% Russell 2000 1,139.28 +0.74% VIX 13.35 -1.98% BATS 1000 20,682.61 0.00% GBP/USD 1.4290 +0.10% USD/JPY 109.1170 +0.26%
Be that as it may, having the Dow trading at the level it was nine months ago means that something must have been amiss, because, certainly, the indices are always rising, aren't they?
The number 18,000 poses more questions than answers, to which Money Daily offers none, only more questions as to the sustainability of such an awesome, inspired number, fully without any kind of fundamental support, since the quality of corporate earnings has been disintegrating at an astonishing rate.
Not only that, but the obfuscation and sheer audacity of the lies and pro forma earnings releases (as opposed to the traditionally well-favored GAAP) leads one to believe that the market has lost all bearings and is about to crash upon some unseen shoals while the cruiser's captain is nodded out, asleep at the wheel.
Alas, the market has no captain, as contrary to the desires of the Janet Yellens, Mario Draghis or even George Soroses (some kind of disease, there) of the world might think otherwise.
No, the market is a mechanism of many moving parts, and, being such, can be wound to whatever pulsation or amplitude any broken parts may render it. Make no mistake, there are many broken parts to the market, especially when it comes to equity markets, where valuations have been so absurdly distorted as to become meaningless in a value-oriented frame of mind.
Nevertheless, here we are, so break out the party hats?
Next up: the NASDAQ blasts through the 5,000 barrier.
Really?
S&P 500: 2,094.34, +13.61 (0.65%)
Dow: 18,004.16, +106.70 (0.60%)
NASDAQ: 4,960.02, +21.80 (0.44%)
Crude Oil 41.28 -1.03% Gold 1,230.30 -0.38% EUR/USD 1.1310 -0.02% 10-Yr Bond 1.77 +1.20% Corn 380.50 -0.13% Copper 2.16 -0.02% Silver 16.19 -0.36% Natural Gas 1.94 +1.84% Russell 2000 1,139.28 +0.74% VIX 13.35 -1.98% BATS 1000 20,682.61 0.00% GBP/USD 1.4290 +0.10% USD/JPY 109.1170 +0.26%
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Global Equity-Ponzi Bubble Expands (except in Japan)
Apparently, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda just don't have the same financial panache as maybe Barack Obama and Fed head, Ben Bernanke.
If they did, their stock market - the Nikkei - would not have fallen five percent on Thursday, in a continuing downdraft in Japanese equities. Had they the skills of Bernanke, their stocks would have been up, like in the US, where the major averages shrugged off Wednesday's declines and rallied throughout the session.
Then again, maybe the Japanese have something up their sleeve, issuing new foreign exchange margin trading rules within the final hour of trading in New York, which prompted the markets - especially the Dow Industrials - to discard most of the gains on the day and cause the Dollar/Yen carry trade to slip into the red.
In today's economic landscape, controlled almost entirely by central banks, these kinds of things aren't supposed to happen. Stocks are always supposed to go up, the Yen must fall against the mighty US dollar (and all other currencies), bonds stabilize at historical low levels and unicorns puke up skittles and gold nuggets.
Maybe it's that last part - those gold nuggets - that have everybody nervous. Everyone knows that the spot, or paper, or futures gold price has nothing to do with the actual price of gold in physical terms and this disconnect, though held well below the surface purposely, because, in the words of the Great Bernanke, gold is not money and is something of an "ancient relic" in financial terms.
Well, that's just too bad, because gold has always been money, along with silver, and the price one pays for actual physical metal has become disjointed from all those other artificial prices, none of which entitles the holders of some precious scrip to actual, physical metal, and that's all that really counts in the end.
A promise to buy gold or silver or to have gold or silver or to receive gold or silver is not the same as actually holding it in one's possession.
In the long run, gold and silver will always be money. All the paper "equivalents" and substitutes will be about as worthless as... well, pieces of paper.
The wheels of the global Ponzi train to Zimbabwe are about to come off and the differences between that useless spot price and the real price of gold and silver are acting as the catalysts. When the markets finally collapse, which they - by mathematical certainty - must, fingers will be pointed everywhere: at the Fed, at the government, at the rich, at the poor, at Social Security, at China. But gold and silver will be blameless because, THEY ARE MONEY, and they will forever be money, despite Mr. Bernanke's views on the subject.
Dow 15,324.53, +21.73 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 3,491.30, +23.78 (0.69%)
S&P 500 1,654.41, +6.05 (0.37%)
NYSE Composite 9,460.05, +37.56 (0.40%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,746,768,625
NYSE Volume 3,812,669,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4070-2380
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 295-80
WTI crude oil: 93.61, +0.48
Gold: 1,411.50, +20.20
Silver: 22.69, +0.237
If they did, their stock market - the Nikkei - would not have fallen five percent on Thursday, in a continuing downdraft in Japanese equities. Had they the skills of Bernanke, their stocks would have been up, like in the US, where the major averages shrugged off Wednesday's declines and rallied throughout the session.
Then again, maybe the Japanese have something up their sleeve, issuing new foreign exchange margin trading rules within the final hour of trading in New York, which prompted the markets - especially the Dow Industrials - to discard most of the gains on the day and cause the Dollar/Yen carry trade to slip into the red.
In today's economic landscape, controlled almost entirely by central banks, these kinds of things aren't supposed to happen. Stocks are always supposed to go up, the Yen must fall against the mighty US dollar (and all other currencies), bonds stabilize at historical low levels and unicorns puke up skittles and gold nuggets.
Maybe it's that last part - those gold nuggets - that have everybody nervous. Everyone knows that the spot, or paper, or futures gold price has nothing to do with the actual price of gold in physical terms and this disconnect, though held well below the surface purposely, because, in the words of the Great Bernanke, gold is not money and is something of an "ancient relic" in financial terms.
Well, that's just too bad, because gold has always been money, along with silver, and the price one pays for actual physical metal has become disjointed from all those other artificial prices, none of which entitles the holders of some precious scrip to actual, physical metal, and that's all that really counts in the end.
A promise to buy gold or silver or to have gold or silver or to receive gold or silver is not the same as actually holding it in one's possession.
In the long run, gold and silver will always be money. All the paper "equivalents" and substitutes will be about as worthless as... well, pieces of paper.
The wheels of the global Ponzi train to Zimbabwe are about to come off and the differences between that useless spot price and the real price of gold and silver are acting as the catalysts. When the markets finally collapse, which they - by mathematical certainty - must, fingers will be pointed everywhere: at the Fed, at the government, at the rich, at the poor, at Social Security, at China. But gold and silver will be blameless because, THEY ARE MONEY, and they will forever be money, despite Mr. Bernanke's views on the subject.
Dow 15,324.53, +21.73 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 3,491.30, +23.78 (0.69%)
S&P 500 1,654.41, +6.05 (0.37%)
NYSE Composite 9,460.05, +37.56 (0.40%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,746,768,625
NYSE Volume 3,812,669,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4070-2380
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 295-80
WTI crude oil: 93.61, +0.48
Gold: 1,411.50, +20.20
Silver: 22.69, +0.237
Monday, October 29, 2012
Hurricane Sandy Shuts Down Equity Markets
It took the forces of nature to do what the SEC, government or any other "higher" power couldn't: shut down Wall Street.
Hurricane Sandy, a category 1 hurricane due to make landfall around Atlantic City New Jersey around 6:00 pm EDT, caused the NYSE and NASDAQ to shut down on Monday without even opening. Futures closed at 9:15 am EDT, with the major indices showing moderate, though not devastating, losses.
In New York, Mayor Bloomberg ordered the closure of all subway systems, and evacuated roughly 375,000 residents from lower Manhattan.
Though the storm did not reach landfall until markets would have already closed, high winds and storm surge were expected to cause damage in lower Manhattan, while most of the Eastern seaboard was inundated throughout the day with high surf and damaging winds.
Later in the day, the exchanges decided to remain closed on Tuesday. It is the first time since 1888 that stock markets were closed due to weather for more than one day in succession.
Also in question are various corporate earnings reports. Many which were due out on Monday have been rescheduled for release and there is a rumor circulating that Friday's non-farm payroll report for October would also be delayed. It is the final jobs report before the election next Tuesday.
Other exchanges, for bonds, Forex and commodities were open or closed or offered limited sessions and some plan to open on Tuesday while others will not. The situation is rather - pardon the pun - fluid.
WTI crude oil: 85.54, -0.74
Gold: 1,708.70, -3.20
Silver: 31.74, -0.291
Hurricane Sandy, a category 1 hurricane due to make landfall around Atlantic City New Jersey around 6:00 pm EDT, caused the NYSE and NASDAQ to shut down on Monday without even opening. Futures closed at 9:15 am EDT, with the major indices showing moderate, though not devastating, losses.
In New York, Mayor Bloomberg ordered the closure of all subway systems, and evacuated roughly 375,000 residents from lower Manhattan.
Though the storm did not reach landfall until markets would have already closed, high winds and storm surge were expected to cause damage in lower Manhattan, while most of the Eastern seaboard was inundated throughout the day with high surf and damaging winds.
Later in the day, the exchanges decided to remain closed on Tuesday. It is the first time since 1888 that stock markets were closed due to weather for more than one day in succession.
Also in question are various corporate earnings reports. Many which were due out on Monday have been rescheduled for release and there is a rumor circulating that Friday's non-farm payroll report for October would also be delayed. It is the final jobs report before the election next Tuesday.
Other exchanges, for bonds, Forex and commodities were open or closed or offered limited sessions and some plan to open on Tuesday while others will not. The situation is rather - pardon the pun - fluid.
WTI crude oil: 85.54, -0.74
Gold: 1,708.70, -3.20
Silver: 31.74, -0.291
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