According to the Hennessee Group LLC, the aggregate hedge funds performance for May, as indicated by the HCN Aggregate index, was +1.79% (+7.0% YTD), while the S&P 500 advanced +2.08% (14.34% YTD). Yet another year of “hedge fund” underperformance looks to be in the wings. Year to date bonds also fell with rumours that the…
With the S&P 500 close to its all-time highs, a common question is: will we see a pullback or a continuation in the bull market? This is obviously a very complicated question to answer, as investor sentiment in the S&P 500 can shift extremely quickly. In addition, there is obviously no quantifiable method to predicting…
We are pleased to welcome on board a new contributor – Ben Turney and here is his inaugural post. On June 3rd my Google Alert for the “Hindenburg Omen” was triggered. Since then I’ve received daily “Hindenburg Omen” updates as the technical indicator has continued to give signals and this has come to the attention…
There’s no way to sugarcoat the dismal performance of the precious metals in recent months. But a revisitation of the reasons for owning them reveals no cracks in the underlying thesis for doing so. In fact, there are a number of new compelling developments arguing that the long heartbreak for gold and silver holders will…
The recent weakness in many precious metals has led some to believe the investment opportunity in that sector is over. However, I don’t believe that’s true—not all of the precious metals have the same fundamental drivers and thus have had varying levels of performance. While some precious metals, such as silver, have dropped over…
According to the latest Flow of Funds report issued by the Federal Reserve, US household net worth has improved materially and finally exceeded its pre-crisis peak. A rising stock market, improving housing prices, and low mortgage rates all contributed to the net worth increase of $3 trillion recorded during the first quarter of the…
From goldcore The world’s biggest banks have been manipulating benchmark foreign-exchange rates used to set the value of trillions of dollars of investments, according to a Bloomberg investigation. Employees have been front-running client orders and rigging WM/Reuters rates by pushing through trades before and during the 60-second windows when the benchmarks are set, said five…
There continues to be much speculation over when the Federal Reserve will begin to reduce its asset purchase program and lower the level of monetary stimulus. The biggest concern for both the Federal Reserve and the nation is the level of job creation. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly report…
The sharp rise that Japanese equities have been experiencing since the fourth quarter of 2012 may be coming to a (short term) end as the special confluence of circumstances that conspired to put the proverbial boot up the equity market are beginning to fade out. Japanese equities rose a stunning 80% between November and May,…
There’s always a lot of fanfare when it comes to Initial Public Offerings. The bunting is brought out, the trumpets sound, the people stand up with killer actor and actress smiles and the champagne is popped at the New York Stock Exchange. Then? Sometimes, the hype works, the people are still popping the fizz. But,…
