Author Archive: Jeremy Parkinson
EC Thinking Clearly About Forecasting
There’s a pernicious rumor making the rounds that economic and market forecasts are accurate. There’s also a misguided notion embraced in some corners that all predictions are worthless at all times under all conditions. Both of these extreme views are unproductive, bordering on dangerous. Yes, peering into the future is hazardous work and it’s a […]
What Have The Nonpartisan Research Agencies Ever Done For Us?
(For the youth of today, here is the reference.) I see Americans for Tax Reform is against reappointment of Doug Elmendorf as CBO head. It is a remarkable document, insofar as it is so full of factual errors that the head spins. Montgomery at WaPo provides a point-by-point rebuttal of each of Grover Norquist’s assertions. Here’s a debunking of one […]
Experts Weigh In On Solving Retirement
There were a couple of very interesting retirement articles posted last week that are worth pointing out. The first on was from the LA Times and focused on research and comments on the research from Alicia Munnell from the Boston College Center for Retirement Research which, cutting to the chase, concludes most people will not have the […]
Morning Call For November 24, 2014
OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ14 +0.24%) this morning are up +0.18% and European stocks are up +0.99% at a 1-3/4 month high after German business confidence unexpectedly rose for the first time in 7 months. European bank stocks and government bonds also rose on speculation the ECB will expand stimulus after ECB President […]
Central Banks: When We Succeed, We Fail
Goosing stocks ever higher will eventually push wealth inequality to the point that it unleashes social instability. Central banks around the world share a few simple goals: 1. Defeat deflation by sparking inflation–in the cost of goods and services, not wages. 2. Weaken the currency to boost exports and counter beggar thy neighbor devaluations by other exporting […]
Oil & Dollar At Crucial Long-Term Areas – Weekly Market Outlook
While the release of the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes on Wednesday of last week was supposed to be catalytic, the market seemed a little disappointed – and disinterested – in the fact that Janet Yellen and her cohorts didn’t really say much (or decide much) of anything during last month’s gathering. It wasn’t until Friday’s […]
Facebook Looking To Profit With News
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)’s desire to become a reliable ‘personal newspaper’ for its world-wide user base could mean more trouble for the ailing news media segment. Editorial decisions about what users read will not be decided from a journalistic perspective, but rather from an algorithmic standpoint. In other words, Facebook will target readers with news they […]
Financial Repression Authority With Axel Merk
Gordon T. Long and Axel Merk discuss financial repression. Audio Length: 00:24:42
A Conversation
Imagine a financial adviser* approached you with an investment opportunity** without telling you specifically what it was. And right up front he tells you it’s likely to generate a zero to negative return over the coming decade. What would you say? I imagine any investor with any common sense would respond by saying something like, […]
Germany Surprises, Helps Euro Tick Up
The US dollar has begun the holiday-shortened week on a firm note, but the stronger than expected German IFO report helped steady the euro near $1.2400. Although Japanese markets were closed earlier today, the dollar rebounded toward JPY118.40, as participants recognize official jawboning was more about the pace of the yen’s decline than the level. The […]
