According to Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, “More jobs have now been created in the recovery than were lost in the downturn… the unemployment rate, at 6.2% in July, has declined nearly 4 percentage points from its late 2009 peak.” (Source: “Labor Market Dynamics and Monetary Policy,” Federal Reserve,…
What led to the 2008/2009 stock market and real estate crash and subsequent Great Recession can be attributed to one factor: the sharp rise in interest rates that preceded that period. In May of 2004, the federal funds rate, the bellwether rate upon which all interest rates in…
One week ago today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 288,000 jobs were added to the U.S. jobs market in April. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% from 6.7 % in March. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2, 2014.) Even the most optimistic of economists weren’t expecting…
I keep hearing about the economy improving, but I keep asking, where? I ask because the facts continue to say otherwise. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports gross domestic product (GDP) came in at just 0.1% in the first quarter of 2014. To remind my readers, in…
From our recent reader survey, I see our readers are not that concerned about what happens in the eurozone. But there’s a phenomenon occurring there that I believe every investor who is interested in gold bullion should be aware of. Let me explain… It’s a known fact that…
It’s amazing how the stock market can easily reverse course from bad to good and vice versa. When the threat of Russia invading Crimea picked up, the stock market retrenched; but it didn’t last long, as the subsequent withdrawal of Russian troops led to a stock market in…
This past Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 175,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in the month of February. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 7, 2014.) The way the media reported it… “Friday’s jobs market report caught the market by surprise,” was what most…
The stock market in France has been on a tear! Below, I present a chart of the French CAC 40 Index, the main stock market index in France. Looking at the chart, we see the French stock market is trading at a five-year high. With such a strong…
Just as the majority of Americans think the U.S. jobs market is improving, there’s a notion in the air that the U.S. housing market has rebounded and is healthy again. I don’t believe this to be true. Just like the government’s official unemployment number is manipulated because it…
As I have been pointing out to my readers, the “official” unemployment numbers issued by the government are misleading because they do not include people who have given up looking for work and those people with part-time jobs who want full-time work. In January, there were 3.6 million…
The stock market may have staged a decent rally last Thursday, but it’s not enough to convince me that the worst is over. In reality, I think there are more downside moves and opportunities to buy on the stock market ahead. The Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ are…
On Friday, we learned that the U.S. economy added a lower-than-expected 113,000 jobs in January and the “official” unemployment rate had dropped to 6.6% from 6.7% in December. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 7, 2014.) How can we create so few jobs and have the unemployment rate…
If you watched the boring Super Bowl game on the weekend, you’d have realized that a strong and superior defense can go a long way against a sound offense. But the battle in the trenches was easily won by the defense, and it’s an analogy I use in…
What happened? The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported this morning that only 74,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in December. Most economists were expecting 200,000 jobs to be created in December—way off reality. The December increase in U.S. payrolls was the slowest pace in almost…
There’s a significant cold spell out there in the Mid-East and Northeastern parts of the country. At the same time, the stock market has cooled down a little, beginning the year on a cautious note. I recently discussed my views for the stock market going forward and while…
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did something that many on Wall Street including myself did not believe he had the inclination to do: he began the tapering process in his final meeting as the head of the most powerful central bank in the world. The Federal Reserve will…
Spain just rejected a massive $30.0-billion proposal from Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE/LVS) to build a casino and entertainment resort near Madrid. The project would have been significant, with 12 hotels, six casinos, and many other amenities injecting some life into the stagnant country where the unemployment rate…
Finally some good news in the U.S. jobs market? The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday that, in November, 203,000 jobs were added to the U.S. jobs market. As a result, the unemployment rate went down to 7.0% from 7.3% in October. In addition to this, the…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the global economy to increase by 2.9% this year and 3.6% in 2014—forecasts which I believe are too optimistic. Why? First of all, we have the Japanese economy, the third-biggest in the global economy, suffering an economic slowdown. Tertiary industry activity (activity…
