Hello traders and MarketClub members everywhere, welcome back to reality! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and a well-deserved break from the markets.
Here we are in December, the final trading month of the year, and what a year it's been. As we move into December, the S&P 500 has gained 14%, even after the big dip that we witnessed in October.
December has traditionally been a positive month for stocks and I suspect that this December will be pretty much a continuation of the bull trend.
One word of warning about December, after about the second trading week in this month, trading volume drops off dramatically as many traders wind down their year and look forward to the holidays and a break from the markets. The reason I mention this is, if you have not made your money for the year yet, the last two weeks of the year are not a time to take big risks and swing for the fences.
In today's video, I will be looking at the continued slide in crude oil (NYMEX:CL.F15.E) prices and the wild swings in gold (FOREX:XAUUSDO), along with a few other markets that look interesting.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: December is traditionally a good month for stocks, but the last two weeks of the year can be extremely dangerous because of the lack of liquidity.
Don't forget to check out today’s video.
Have a great trading day,
Adam Hewison
President, INO.com
Co-Creator, MarketClub
I agree. The poor always have been at the poorer ways and that will never end
There is not much any government can do to change the overall economic situation of any country in the long term. All moves have two side one good and one bad. The current moves in Japan will benefit the big export companies and the wealthy. The small companies and the average citizens will suffer. There is nothing the government can do to prevent the decline of the living standard for Japanese because it already have peak at an extremely high level and other countries is catching up.
Same thing is happening in the US. The middle class will shrink continuously and the wealthy will keep getting more of the income in the next 10 years until a revolution happen. But even that will not increase the total economic situation and may just redistribute it more fairly. There are too many people in the world that makes so little money that they will take more from the wealthy countries except those that general their wealth from natural resources like oil.
I think we are too hasty in blaming the politics It is the economics that needs the great look in depth
Price increases should continue given the cut off in housing construction the past several years. The US's population continues to grow and housing inventory is behind the population growth. That's why smart money has been investing in real estate the past 2 years.
On a more local level, here in Manhattan prices are going up steadily driven by low rates and foreign interest.
This
may be the only good news but that does not mean we can rest and look at the
economy as settled Oil prices fell on Monday after weaker-than-expected
manufacturing data from China intensified concerns about the global economy. Benchmark oil for October
delivery was down 16 cents at $96.31 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.85
to finish at $96.47 per barrel Friday in New York. European shares crept higher on Monday after weak factory data
highlighted the poor health of the world economy, keeping alive talk of fresh stimulusfrom major central banks. However, with US investors out
for the Labour Day holiday, markets were likely to trade in a limited range. Expectations that central banks would take steps to boost growth increased after
two Chinese surveys showed factory activity in world's second largest economy slowing more than
expected in August.
A shutdown caused by the GOP is political pornn for liberals. You guys may want it to happen, but the GOP aren't going to give it you. Even some of the less bright GOPers learned from last time. There was no end game, as nearly everyone points out, so a shutdown is going to end with the GOP capitulating and looking stupid. So they definitely aren't going to try it.
Very little of the conservative media is talking about forcing a shutdown, or talking about how they can't let government go ahead with X, or 'we have to do everything in our power to stop it,' or that kind of rhetoric. Yes, there's a few people hoping for a shutdown, but they're no doubt perennial cranks. When I look at the conservative media, they definitely aren't talking it up, and are hardly mentioning it at all. I had to scroll way down on HotAir to find a post on it.
If the GOP are aiming for the presidency in 2016, which of course they are, they're not going to do something so stupid as a shutdown just as they're gaining power. They have to show that they aren't crazy people, but people you can trust with power. That's what the GOP will be trying to do for the next two years--show that the crazies aren't in charge (unlike 2012, when they were).
The opinion polls suggest that voters would like Cameron to remain prime minister, but would prefer a Labour government. My top Tory sources tell me he is unlikely to defect to Labour, so the public will soon have a big choice to make.
The stamp duty hike for the rich was part of a wider canvas. “We are closing off our exposed flanks,” said one Tory strategist. Cameron aides say his speech on immigration a week ago was his “last word” on it before the election, although Ukip will have something to say about that. Osborne’s extra £2bn for the health budget was another attempt to neutralise a difficult issue. It was also yet another trap for Labour.
British lawmakers say police have been misusing surveillance laws to access journalists' communications records.
Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee says it is unacceptable that police have seized reporters' phone and email data to try to determine sources of leaked information.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz said that using existing legislation "to access telephone records of journalists is wrong" and would deter whistleblowers from speaking to reporters.
The committee said in a report Saturday that a key piece of surveillance legislation, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, was being used in a "secretive and disorganized" way that allowed it to be abused.
US employers hired at the strongest pace in nearly three years in November, adding 321,000 jobs, the latest sign the United States is outperforming other major economies by growing steadily and generating consistently healthy job gains.
The labour department says the unemployment rate remained at a six-year low of 5.8 per cent. And 44,000 more jobs were added in September and October than the government previously estimated. Job gains have averaged 241,000 a month this year, putting 2014 on track to be the strongest year for hiring since 1999.
The large gains come after the economy expanded from April through September at its fastest pace in 11 years. The additional jobs should help boost growth in the coming months.
United Technologies Corp's (UTX.N) former Chief Executive Officer Louis Chenevert, who retired abruptly, made a trip to Taiwan two weeks before his retirement to check on the construction of his yacht, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources.
There were concerns among senior managers and directors of the diversified U.S. manufacturer about Chenevert's disconnect from the company and increasing focus on his private life, the Journal reported.
Within the context of the Garner case, police officers moved swiftly through the first four steps and things went horribly wrong at the pain compliance stage but, one thing needs to be emphasized here, training is explicit that the intention must never be to harm. Officers must use the minimal amount of force possible in order to achieve compliance. The goal, according to police training, is to contain the situation and to minimize resistance and safety threats.
And what about protesters claim that there is too much police violence? Again, large swathes of the public have expressed concern about this, but do police departments see things the same way?
Part of the reason the two groups don’t see eye to eye on this is due to lack of evidence.