Imagine what would have happened if pharaoh had stocked up on radicchio instead of grain? Those 7 lean years would have been a lot leaner than they were.
November 6th, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 3 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "fed"
More Money in Cash Right Now Than Equity in U.S. Companies
Now, there is a very good reason investors are reducing their allocation to stocks. As we’ve said before, we think the equity premium – what people are willing to pay for stocks – is regressing to the mean. It was so high for so long because corporate cash flows in the second half of the last century benefitted so much from low interest rates and globalisation.
November 6th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 15 comments | Continued
Price of Gold Communicates U.S. Monetary and Fiscal Policy is Lousy
It’s also possible that the Fed thinks a weak dollar will reduce America’s trade deficit, boost its export competitiveness, and lead to higher employment. We think this is a pipe dream. And we’re not talking about a lead pipe. We’re talking William Blake-style opium.
November 5th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
U.S. Government Must Roll Over $3.4 Trillion in Debt Over Next Four Years
And if America can’t find anyone willing to finance its deficits, what then? Well, the luxury of issuing debts in the currency you also print is that you can print money to pay for them. Technically, you can never become insolvent when you enjoy this privilege. The Fed, for example, can create new money to buy debt issued by the Treasury, funding deficits ad infinitum.
November 3rd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 5 comments | Continued
Inflation is Evident If You Just Follow the Money
One quick note about this: there is obviously plenty of inflation in the prices you pay every day. But most consumer price indices are rigged to understate inflation, as our colleague David Evans pointed out yesterday in Canberra at the Gold Standard Institute conference in Canberra. Trimmed medians…hedonic adjustments…
November 2nd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 4 comments | Continued
Banks Could Face Larger Asset Writedowns and Losses than IMF has Modelled
Next time around, though, we reckon the losses – when they come – will be on domestic real estate assets. And with so much exposure to domestic real estate (mortgage loans), the assets could face a world of hurt. But even if bank asset quality doesn’t crash (housing prices don’t crash), an external shock affects Aussie bank liabilities.
October 28th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
Is It Really the End of the Dollar Carry Trade?
But as you’ll learn today, the bankers, the Fed, the media…the whole lot of them…have learned nothing from last year. The hangover was just beginning to set in, so everyone began drinking again heavily. And now the party is wild and out of control. Even the cops are drunk.
October 27th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 4 comments | Continued
Government Debt
And that assumes there is no big increase in interest rates…and that the economy recovers as planned. If either of those things fails to happen, the situation will degrade fast.
October 26th, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Cash is Created When the Feds “Monetize the Debt” by Buying US Treasury Bonds
Are you kidding, dear reader? After being the single largest buyer on the planet? Imagine what will happen to the bond market when investors realize that the Fed is selling! It’s not going to happen.
October 23rd, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 5 comments | Continued
Gold Outlives Paper Money, Empires and Governments
“Gold is definitely an alternative, but when we buy, the price goes up. We have to do it carefully so as not to stimulate the markets,” he added.
October 22nd, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued