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I’ve been investing in sectors for more than 25 years — first with mutual funds and now ETFs. Following the trends from one industry to the next is one of the best investment strategies I know.
Yet I have to admit some sectors rarely show up on my radar screen.
Obviously, Europe is in serious trouble, and here's why it's not likely to get better anytime soon
Here’s the problem in just a handful of words.
Germany is Europe’s strongest economy. Yet even its Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) fell to 46.2 in April from 48.4 in March. Any number below 50 indicates recessionary contraction.
I’m always on the lookout for investment opportunities. The last few years, most of the profit potential seems to be outside the U.S.
Thankfully, with ETFs I can get involved in foreign markets that were once off-limits. A question still nags at me, though.
Stock market's confidence may delay the very rescue it’s depending on, until the economy's rescue becomes more difficult
There can be no doubt anymore that the global economic recovery is in trouble again.
In the U.S. we can see it in the reversals of previously positive economic reports; unexpected declines in durable goods orders, industrial production, new home sales, existing home sales, new home starts, construction spending, new jobs creation, personal income, consumer confidence, small business confidence, and so on.
The evidence everywhere is unequivocal: Despite trillions in printed dollars, euros, pounds, and yen … despite the passage of almost four years since the heart of the credit crisis … despite all the proclamations of government bureaucrats and central bankers, the economy and capital markets remain on the ropes!
Take housing …
I told you last week about the almost-6 percent drop.
Before you rush out to buy stocks like McDonald's, Coca Cola, Kraft Foods, Proctor & Gamble, or dividend paying utilities like Duke Energy, be aware of the actual history during market downturns
With the U.S. economic recovery stumbling again, the eurozone debt crisis back in the headlines, and ‘Sell in May and Go Away’ on the minds of many investors, Wall Street is beginning to put out advice on how to prepare for a potential market correction.
Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP), the first ETF structured as a C-corporation, issued a prospectus supplement dated April 19, 2012 (pdf). Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses increased from 0.85% to 1.40%, resulting from “Other Expenses” climbing by 0.55% due to past tax liabilities. AMLP’s press release of April 20 (pdf) makes no mention of this fact while continuing to tout the after-tax yield.
My family and I have been tracking speculative bubbles and busts for 80 years.
We’ve personally witnessed 12 recessions, two depressions, five stock market crashes, three real estate busts, three bank failure epidemics, and two of the most vicious inflationary spirals of all time.
The mainstream media loves hyperbole — so nothing pleases reporters more than the kind of big stock market rally we just had followed by last week’s subsequent drop.
But great headlines don’t help you make better investment decisions.
That’s why I think it’s so important to add context to shorter-term market moves.
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Recent News
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Natural Resource-Related Stocks Show Promise: Frank Barbera
The Gold Report: Europe is in the headlines daily: more leftists coming to power, regional banks suffering, renewed recession appearing to take hold. What is your take on Europe?
Frank Barbera: In the headlines, Europe looks like quite the mess. Imagine being a Greek who saved over a lifetime now facing the possibility of devaluation or Greece leaving the euro. If Greece pulls out of the euro and devalues, most of the people will see their life savings collapse in terms of purchasing power.
In my view, there is a pretty good chance that would spark a contagion. When people in Spain or Italy see Greece pull out and return to a devalued drachma, there will be . . . → Read More: Natural Resource-Related Stocks Show Promise: Frank Barbera
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Natural Resource-Related Stocks Show Promise: Frank Barbera
The Gold Report: Europe is in the headlines daily: more leftists coming to power, regional banks suffering, renewed recession appearing to take hold. What is your take on Europe?
Frank Barbera: In the headlines, Europe looks like quite the mess. Imagine being a Greek who saved over a lifetime now facing the possibility of devaluation or Greece leaving the euro. If Greece pulls out of the euro and devalues, most of the people will see their life savings collapse in terms of purchasing power.
In my view, there is a pretty good chance that would spark a contagion. When people in Spain or Italy see Greece pull out and return to a devalued drachma, there will be . . . → Read More: Natural Resource-Related Stocks Show Promise: Frank Barbera
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Dr. Frankenstein’s Europe
"Had I right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations? I had before been moved by the sophisms of the being I had created; I had been struck senseless by his fiendish threats; but now, for the first time, the wickedness of my promise burst upon me; I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price, perhaps, of the existence of the whole human race."
– The musings of Dr. Frankenstein about his creation of a monster, in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein
And later the monster answers:
"Shall each man," cried he, "find a wife for his . . . → Read More: Dr. Frankenstein’s Europe
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The People Have Spoken and Precious Metals Will Soar: Leonard Melman
TGR: It seems that economists can plan and recommend, and politicians can negotiate and maneuver, and pundits can analyze and predict all they want, yet when the people don’t want to play along, it can all mean nothing. Of course, we’re talking about the elections in France and Greece. What’s going on?
Leonard Melman: What’s going on is that the monetary authorities in Europe have decided that austerity is the only way out of the financial dilemma, which I find kind of amusing, because it is their Keynesian activities that created those policies in the first place. Their decision now is that austerity, which is cutting back government programs, is the only thing that will work. The problem is . . . → Read More: The People Have Spoken and Precious Metals Will Soar: Leonard Melman
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Are JPMorgan Chase ETNs Safe?
I don’t know about you, but here in Texas I can barely drive a mile without passing a JPMorgan Chase (JPM) branch. They’re even inside the grocery stores.
Simply being everywhere doesn’t make a bank safe, of course. As we learned last week, traders in London just cost JPMorgan $2 BILLION and possibly more! Fitch Ratings downgraded its credit rating one notch to A-plus, and it looks like Moody’s may cut the bank, too.
Weiss Ratings, ahead of the curve as usual, cut JPMorgan Chase to “D” on September 30, 2010. And on October 22, 2010, they issued a special news release advising subscribers that among U.S. banks, JPMorgan was carrying the largest . . . → Read More: Are JPMorgan Chase ETNs Safe?
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