Tag: Guest Bloggers

Are Gold Equities on the Cusp of an Upswing?

Posted on by admin

The Gold Report: Ron, the Federal Reserve has decided to continue quantitative easing (QE) for the foreseeable future. Gold has risen steadily since that news. Is that what you predicted the Fed would do?

Ron Struthers: It is not that hard to predict the Fed's behavior when you understand what it's trying to do and how it's trying to do it. I do not take what they say literally, except within the context of its goals. The Fed is trying to instill confidence in the economy because of massive U.S. debt and its future debt appetite. The economy needs to improve for there to be higher tax receipts. We need foreign investment to finance the debt. If the Fed can convince Americans and those abroad that its bonds are the safest/most attractive, its stock market will have the best returns and that debt machine keeps running.

But the truth is that the economy is very weak. Employment is weak. Foreign investment has been fleeing. The Fed has to purchase $85 billion of debt a month because nobody else will. The Fed can't do this forever, and it knows it. It has to talk as if the economy is improving so the Fed debt purchases can end in the near future.

If you dig into what's really going on in the economy and markets, you'll find the underlying weakness that guarantees that QE will be here for a long time, as least as long as the markets themselves will allow it or are tricked into allowing it.

TGR: Why are Americans so complicit in this? Continue reading "Are Gold Equities on the Cusp of an Upswing?" →

Gold Chart of The Week

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Each Week Longleaftrading.com will be providing us a chart of the week as analyzed by a member of their team. We hope that you enjoy and learn from this new feature.

Weekly Gold Report July 29th through August 2nd

Fasten your seat belts traders, for this upcoming week is about as full as can be with data in the US and across the pond. We begin the week with Pending Home Sales in the US and tonight Japan will report Industrial Production figures. Tuesday provides German CPI and Consumer Confidence number in the US. Traders will have to be up early to see what will likely be more disappointing unemployment figures in Europe, followed by the ADP Employment Report and the US GDP before the opening bell. A few hours after stocks open, we should breeze through the Chicago PMI report in anticipation of this month’s FOMC announcement and Interest Rate Decision where the FED is not expected to make any policy changes. Early on Thursday morning, we hear from the BOE and the ECB regarding their Interest Rates, followed by Weekly Jobless Claims in America, and finally ISM figures after the open. To close out the week, we will see Non Farm Payrolls followed by a speech from a FED Member. And try not to forget that we are still reporting earnings in the United States! Continue reading "Gold Chart of The Week" →

Hand Off to a New Fed Chair is Well Timed

Posted on by The INO.com Team

It is as notable as a 2nd term president handing off the big problems to the next guy, as George Bush did with Barack Obama in 2008; the changing of the guard at the Fed, that is.

Alan Greenspan oversaw the making of a stock bubble in the final phase of the great bull market ended in 2000.  He then instigated a credit bubble, which launched a housing bubble, made the credit hopped consumer feel wealthy and oh yes, built unsustainable distortions into the system through diced and sliced debt derivative vehicles of all kinds.

Then in 2006 he deftly made the hand off to Ben Bernanke.  Bernanke then dealt with the Maestro’s second aftermath as it began cropping up in 2007 and now, nearly 4.5 years into a cyclical bull market that has another 6 months or so to run if it is to match the two previous cycles (not a given), it is time once again for a hand off. Continue reading "Hand Off to a New Fed Chair is Well Timed" →

Despite Declining Deficit, Foreigners Aren’t Bailing Us Out, So the Fed Will Keep QE Going

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By Bud Conrad, Chief Economist

The basic imbalance driving our economy is the government deficit, which spun out of control as a result of the Credit Crisis of 2008/9. But the sequester, improving tax base, lower interest rate, and elimination of stimulus spending have caused the big government deficit, while still extreme, to drop to half its previously nosebleed levels. Continue reading "Despite Declining Deficit, Foreigners Aren’t Bailing Us Out, So the Fed Will Keep QE Going" →

Weekly Futures Recap W/Mike Seery

Posted on by The INO.com Team

We’ve asked Michael Seery of SEERYFUTURES.COM to give our INO readers a weekly recap of the Futures market. He has been Senior Analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Michael frequently appears on multiple business networks including Bloomberg news, Fox Business, CNBC Worldwide, CNN Business, and Bloomberg TV. He is also a guest on First Business, which is a national and internationally syndicated business show.

Precious Metal Futures—The precious metal futures ended lower this Friday afternoon with gold finishing down about $7 an ounce at 1,322 after settling last Friday at 1,293 up about $30 for the week which is pretty solid and I have been recommending buying gold when it broke out to a 4 week high above 1,302 and I still think gold has more room to run on the upside but make sure you do place a stop loss at the 10 day low if you are long the futures contract to try & minimize risk in case the trend does change. Gold futures are right at the uptrend line and if that is broken I think prices could head up to $1,400 here in the next month but I would be very suspicious & doubt if it has any more legs to pass those levels. The U.S dollar has been down substantially in recent weeks and that is helped push gold and silver prices higher as well as many hedge funds have taking profits on their short positions in recent weeks. Continue reading "Weekly Futures Recap W/Mike Seery" →