Category: General

House passes fiscal cliff bill

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Legislation to block the "fiscal cliff" is headed to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature. The bill will avoid, for now, the major tax increases and government spending cuts that had been scheduled to take effect with the new year.

Final approval came in the House on New Year's Night. The vote was 257 to 167.

The Senate passed the bill less than 24 hours earlier.

The measure raises tax rates on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples, a victory for Obama.

It also extends expiring unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, prevents a cut in fees for doctors who treat Medicare patients and cancels a $900 pay increase due to lawmakers in March.

Silver is in a Bear Flag

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Seeking Alpha has only 3 entries under the ‘Gold & Precious Metals’ section of its most recent ‘Macro View’ email notice:

  1. Silver: Another Decade of 500% Returns is Possible
  2. Silver: Are We Ready Yet for the Rally to $60+?
  3. Silver is Set to Explode in 2013

To be fair, the second article highlights lower near-term targets prior to a rally to $60+ and this brings me to my point; silver is in a bear flag.  I too am bullish on Ag and Au in 2013, but the charts are the charts and silver’s daily chart targets 27-28 first, which we have been noting in the newsletter despite a recent change to a bullish risk vs. reward stance on the precious metals complex. Continue reading "Silver is in a Bear Flag" →

Fiscal cliff deal reached

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Racing against the clock, the White House reached agreement with congressional Republicans late Monday on a deal to prevent across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts to government programs from taking effect at midnight, according to administration and Senate Democratic officials.

These officials said a New Year's Eve vote in the Senate to ratify the deal was possible later in the evening, barring opposition from majority Democrats.

There was no immediate confirmation from aides to the top Republicans in Congress, Sen. Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner.

Vice President Joseph Biden headed for the Capitol to brief the Democratic rank and file. Continue reading "Fiscal cliff deal reached" →

Senate leaders offer a pessimistic assessment of cliff talks Sunday

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The top Senate negotiators on the effort to prevent the government from going over the "fiscal cliff" offered a pessimistic assessment Sunday barely 24 hours before a deadline to avert tax hikes on virtually every worker.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he's yet to receive a response to an offer he made on Saturday evening to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., the top Democratic negotiator. The Kentucky Republican said he's reached out to Vice President Joe Biden in hopes of breaking the impasse.

Despite indications of progress in the negotiations, Democrats said Republicans were proposing to slow future cost of living increases for Social Security recipients as part of a compromise to avoid the cliff. Democrats rejected the idea. Republicans declined to confirm the assertion _ and one GOP official disputed it _ but noted that President Barack Obama said in a television interview broadcast earlier in the day he had advanced such a proposal in earlier talks with Republicans. Continue reading "Senate leaders offer a pessimistic assessment of cliff talks Sunday" →

Don't Expect the News to Tell You Where EUR/USD Is Going Next

Posted on by The INO.com Team

By Elliott Wave International

On December 27, EUR/USD shot up as high as $1.3283. Forex news headlines were quick to comment:

"Dec 27 - The euro slightly extended gains against the dollar after strong U.S. new home sales data last month further lifted the market's appetite for riskier currencies."

But after EUR/USD hit that high, it promptly reversed and fell back down to the $1.3200 level, where it had been stuck all week.

You may ask: What happened to that "appetite for riskier currencies"? Continue reading "Don't Expect the News to Tell You Where EUR/USD Is Going Next" →