The Americas

When you really think about it (as we do quite often) this market makes no sense. Bulls give the less than convincing argument that you must invest because the Fed is printing that much money you’d be mad not to. But when we look at the actual data, we’re not convinced of this argument.

It seems The Great Correction hasn’t gone away. Instead, it seems to be intensifying in the form of a deeper and more widespread sub-prime crisis.

The New York Times reports: “In growing numbers, experts say, highly educated children of immigrants to the United States are uprooting themselves and moving to their ancestral countries. They are embracing homelands that their parents once spurned but that are now economic powers.”

Derivatives are the “meat and meat by-products” of the financial markets. They look, smell and taste just like regular securities, but almost no one understands why we need them in the first place. After all, what’s wrong with actual meat? Or to re-phrase the question: Is Spam really an advancement over ham?

When you look at a graph of the US’s slice of global productivity, it is a sizable slice, taking up 21 percent, but it is nothing particularly amazing. Meanwhile, emerging markets make up 10 of the 20 largest economies in the world.

Combining the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical,” nutraceuticals are foods or substances derived from foods, either synthesized or purified, and sold for health benefits.

More evidence the Aussie economy is grinding to a halt: Yesterday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released Australian housing finance and building approvals data. It wasn’t pretty.

Selling stocks is the hardest thing to do well as an investor. I don’t think anyone does it well consistently. Everyone has sold something only to see it rise higher. And everyone has held onto something only to give back lots of apparent gains.