Consumers always shop for bargains and lower prices regardless of the economy. In fact, after going through the recession, consumers are probably stuck in the mind-frame of looking for the best deals when shopping. I know I prefer to buy goods on discounts and rarely for the original…

If everything is so fine with the economic recovery in both America and the global economy, then why are the emerging markets failing to rebound? It seems somewhat odd how the global economy could be fine when its key trading partners in the emerging markets are not. You…

Boy, has the Federal Reserve ever created a monster with its monetary policy of creating $85.0 billion a month in new money out of thin air! Consumer confidence is anemic in the U.S. economy as Americans are being financially “squeezed.” Consumer confidence, which is missing in this so-called…

I just filled my gas-guzzling SUV that only uses premium gasoline; trust me when I say it wasn’t pleasant. And I know I will need to visit the gas station again in just a few days. I accept that, but what I don’t understand is the surging increase…

The current market action will soon turn to selling. I’ve come to that conclusion because what the current stock market is doing is really not normal, and a correction will certainly come. I’m not saying the end is near. In fact, I feel there are more gains to…

I can’t say this often enough: the eurozone debt crisis is here to stay for a long time. The key stock indices might have given investors false hope, but we are still standing at square one of any economic recovery. Greece, which was at the epicenter of the…

On the surface, today’s jobs market report looks good… 195,000 jobs were created in the U.S. economy during the month of June, with the “official” unemployment rate for the month sitting at 7.6%, unchanged from May. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 5, 2013.) But look a little…

In spite of all the doom and gloom reactions that immediately followed the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to announce a possible scaling back of the central bank’s bond-buying program by the year’s end, the stock market rallied for three straight days with triple-digit gains by the Dow Jones…

There’s a lot of talk about economic recovery these days. Mainstream economists are saying the U.S. economy will continue to grow, and the stock advisors are telling investors to buy on dips because everything is headed upward. Their arguments are: housing is hot, the unemployment rate is declining,…

What a remarkable past 20 hours it’s been… Yesterday afternoon, the Federal Reserve announced it might cut back on its $85.0-billion-a-month money printing program later this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 200 points following the news (and continues to fall this morning), European stock markets fell…

As I hear more and more talk about jobs being created in the U.S. economy, it’s obvious politicians and the mainstream are not looking at the conditions in the jobs market—they are simply following the government’s “official” manipulated unemployment rate. The reality is that the jobs market is…

Finally, some good economic news is coming to the U.S. economy… The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that retail and food services sales for the month of May, adjusted for seasonal effects, increased 0.6% from April and 4.3% from the same period a year ago.(Source: U.S. Census Bureau,…

Boy, were they wrong! Not so long ago, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said it expected the U.S. government to register a budget deficit in the current fiscal year of $642 billion. But hold on a minute… The budget deficit so far (as of May 31, 2013) has…

How can consumer spending in the U.S. economy rise under these circumstances… In the first quarter of 2013, hourly compensation of Americans employed in non-farm businesses fell 3.8%. This was the biggest drop since the Bureau of Labor Statistic started to measure this statistic in 1947. (Source: Bureau…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the U.S. unemployment rate is now 7.6% percent, with 175,000 new jobs created in May. At the same time, the Bureau revised its April numbers down, saying 149,000 jobs were created in April, and not the initial 165,000 it…

Chinese stocks are a disappointment in 2013 and, at this point, are looking to underperform the U.S. stock market for the fourth consecutive year. But while China sorts out its growth issues, across the East China Sea, Japan has been on a tear. The massive infusion of liquidity…

Small companies tend to perform well coming off a recession like the one we had in 2008. The beginning of the year was excellent for small-cap stocks as the Russell 2000 led the way with a 12% advance in the first quarter, including a 6.2% move in January.…

The most important news to come will be in two technology stocks: Intel Corporation (NASDAQ/INTC) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ/MSFT). What these two companies report in their earnings results will be very telling when it comes to the health of the personal computer (PC) market. Both Intel and Microsoft…

Silver is in a coma at this time, stuck below $30.00 and both its 50- and 200-day moving averages (MAs). Yet for traders, prices can easily spike on any firm sign of a sustained global economic recovery, since the white metal is used in numerous industrial applications, including…

It has been quite some time since I looked at Chinese stocks. The reality is that since the meltdown in Chinese reverse-merger stocks in 2011 and 2012, there has been an apprehension to buying Chinese stocks as reflected by the comparative performances. In 2013 so far, the key…