July interest rate cut from Fed looks like done deal after Powell testimony
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell had an opportunity this morning to talk down the odds of an interest rate cut at the central bank's July 31 meeting in testimony in front of the House Financial Services Committee. He didn't--and I think that makes a 25 basis point...
Special Report: 10 Best Picks for the Last Six Months of 2019
This isn't  time for investing as usual. As whacky as the first half of 2019 has been--the Federal Reserve embraces interest rate cuts, the U.S. and China descend further into a trade war, the U.S. economy turns in better than 3% growth but fears for a slowdown in...
No news is good news so far this weekend
U.S. financial markets are closed today for Memorial Day. (Can't help but think of my Dad who climbed telephone poles to string wire during World War II. "While they shot at me," he would say with a mixture of surprise and outrage. I'm sure you have someone(s) to...
Central banks move into gold and out of dollars
Maybe investors are in love with the U.S. stock market--but global central banks are as enthusiastic about the U.S. Dollar. In the first quarter gold purchases by global central banks were the highest in six years. The move into gold seems to come from a desire to...
Fed lesson today: Don’t count your interest rate cuts before they hatchet
Stocks, bonds, and President Donald Trump were disappointed today when the Federal Reserve left interest rates alone and said that low inflation could be transitory. There's no reason to either raise or lower interest rates at the moment, Fed chair Jerome Powell said...
Good news on the debt ceiling: Government not likely to run out of money until October!
The legislation that suspended the debt ceiling limit on borrowing  by the federal government expires on March 2. The likelihood that Congress will put aside its other conflicts and extend that suspension or pass a clean increase in the debt ceiling is just about nil....
Buying this yen ETF for Jubak Picks to hedge market risk–and maybe gain 5% or so
Yesterday in a post "One consequence of change in Fed policy likely to be a weaker dollar" I noted that a number of Wall Street and big international banks have forecast a drop in the dollar as a result of the Fed's decision to back off on raising interest rates in...
One consequence of the change in Fed policy likely to be a weaker dollar
A number of Wall Street and big international banks are forecasting a drop in the dollar as a result of the Fed's decision to back off on raising interest rates in 2019. Morgan Stanley, for example, says that the dollar has peaked and has forecast the yen climbing to...
Even as deal is struck to end shutdown, gold soars
Gold hit a seven month high on Friday, gaining more than 1%. Spot gold briefly broke above $1300 an ounce. Gold futures climbed 1.5% to $1,298.30 an ounce. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) climbed 1.46% to $122.86 on volume 10% above the daily average. The 52-week high...
China data nudge to global growth fears
Overnight, China reported as larger than expected December trade surplus ($57.06 billion against an expected $51.53 billion) but a December year over year 7.6% drop in imports that argued for a slowdown in China's domestic economy. Economists had expected a 5%...
Adding yen exposure to Jubak Picks and Volatility Portfolios
On December 27 I switched to the  Invesco Currency Shares Japanese Yen ETF (FXY) from the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA) in my Perfect 5 ETF Portfolio in an effort to get more yen exposure and a little more safety during this Bear market. Tomorrow I'm going...Jim’s Stock Alerts
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