Guest post by Investment Contrarians Over the last few days, the level of confusion regarding monetary policy by the Federal Reserve has increased substantially. The result has been that buyers have re-emerged in the gold market. First there was the release of the minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve on June 18-19.…
OVERVIEW Record highs for the U.S. stock market this week reminded us of two major factor affecting the financial markets – cowardice and confusion – both of which emanate from the Federal Reserve and are personified by its Chairman Ben Bernanke. While this may sound like a personal attack, it is not. It is merely…
Guest Post by Investment Contrarians The big news for the stock market this last week was the lackluster results from Alcoa Inc. (NYSE/AA)—normally a decent barometer of global industrial activity. But what’s interesting is that the stock market rallied on the results. That goes against conventional wisdom. Actually, Alcoa beat estimates on revenues and earnings—but…
Guest post by Investment Contrarians The time to act is close at hand. As long-time readers of my pages are aware, one of my primary concerns about the current economy has been the complacency of investor sentiment. If you look back to any period just prior to a significant market correction, what you will usually…
By Ben Turney Earnings season apparently went off with a bang earlier this week as Alcoa “beat” Wall Street expectations. The overjoyed headlines, which followed, were amplified the next day as market commentators went wild at remarks by Ben Bernanke which apparently suggested his “put” is still in place. The Dow has stuck on 350…
It is against my nature to make personal jibes against anyone, but the latest chapter in the QE tapering saga from Ben Bernanke makes it difficult to argue that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has any more backbone than a jellyfish! True, he is in an almost impossible position in terms of the U.S.…
By Ben Turney Fighting the tide is one of the contrarian’s toughest dilemmas. Successfully identifying high and low watermarks can yield the greatest rewards, but putting yourself on the wrong side of the trend is usually a punishing experience. In the last week I have had to face up to the fact that the tide…
FOLLOWING LAST NIGHTS SHARP MOVE IN GOLD AS IT BECOMES EVER CLEARER THAT THE FED IS SHUT IN A BOX ON QE (IE THEY CANT EVER EXIT WITHOUT CAUSING A MAJOR SLUMP), WE THOUGHT IT APPROPRIATETO RE-ITERATE OUR STANCE HERE THAT WE BELIEVE THE MINERS, ON A 6 MONTH + VIEW OFFER THE MOST ASSYMMETRIC…
This mornings trading update from new CEO Mark Slade gives us continued confidence in our Conviction Buy call here. The full argument is on page 46 of this issue – http://issuu.com/spreadbetmagazine/docs/spreadbet_magazine_v15_generic Trading update The Board of London Capital Group Holdings plc (“the Group”), the financial services and online spread betting and CFD company, is pleased…
