Investment Watch Blog

by Charles Hugh-Smith Now the corporate lemmings have rushed into mobile advertising. Given that corporations are run by people, and people are social animals that run in herds, it shouldn’t surprise us that corporations follow the herd, too.Take the herd move to forming conglomerates in the go-go late 1960s: corporations suddenly started buying companies in … Read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaLW9L0h-0E Good evening, Viktor Orbán gave his state of the Hungarian nation speech on Sunday. We have a Hungarian friend who was the first to get the tape for us, and translate it as well. By the way, Mr. Orbán would very much like to connect directly with President Trump, but something – or someone … Read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1svVbc3wLw  

by northmantrader Markets are red hot, but it keeps getting downright frosty in macro land. Bulls will say none of this matters because an easy Fed trumps fundamentals. And that may turn out to be correct, but it’s too early to tell. Fact is stocks are on their 8th week of uninterrupted gains since the December … Read more

France has seen weekly clashes between the yellow vest protesters and the police for three months now. More than 1,900 demonstrators have been injured, some of them seriously. Protesters say the police are using inappropriate force against them.   h/t salvia_d

by WARREN MOSLER Trumped up expectations fading: Highlights Doubts about future economic growth diminished optimism among small business owners to the lowest level in 26 months, according to the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index, which fell 3.2 points in January to 101.2, below consensus expectations as well as the range of analysts’ forecasts. Though still above the long-term … Read more

By Dagny Taggart New Mexico has a new governor, and she really doesn’t like guns. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, was sworn into office on January 1, replacing pro-gun Republican Susana Martinez. In early December, the National Rifle Association (NRA) warned the citizens of New Mexico to expect “unprecedented attacks” on their Constitutional rights. While the New … Read more

by Frank Holmes, CEO, U.S. Global Investors This Valentine’s Day might best be remembered for two things in particular. One, for the first time in 153 years, candy lovers won’t be able to pick up a box of Sweethearts, those classic heart-shaped candies bearing sweet nothings like “BE MINE” and “CRAZY 4 U.” And two, … Read more

by Michael Snyder Our health insurance system is theoretically supposed to prevent Americans from going bankrupt when they are hit by huge medical bills.  But in case after case, that is simply not happening.  Even though more Americans are “covered by health insurance” than ever before, a new study has found that “about 530,000 families … Read more

Wolf Richter wolfstreet.com, http://www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter “A development that is surprising during a strong economy and labor market”: New York Fed Serious auto-loan delinquencies – loans that are 90 days or more past due – surged to 4.47% of total auto loan balances in Q4 2018, according to New York Fed data this morning. This put the auto-loan delinquency … Read more

by Michael Snyder Almost everyone that goes out to visit one of our major cities on the west coast has a similar reaction.  Those that must live among the escalating decay are often numb to it, but most of those that are just in town for a visit are absolutely shocked by all of the … Read more

from Financial Survival Network John Rubino returns… Much like the soldier during the Vietnam War who notably quipped – We had to kill the village to save it, Paul Krugman probably believes that we need to kill the economy before it can be saved. He should be thrilled with the Trump Admin’s debt on steroids policy. After … Read more

Wall St. For Main St., Released on 2/11/19 Jason talks about the Fed debating if balance sheet should be a regular tool.

RT America, Released on 2/11/19 President Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Monday launching the American Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative which outlines “bold, decisive actions to ensure that AI continues to be fueled by American ingenuity, reflects American values and is applied for the benefit of the American people.” But is this … Read more

by TrailDust The candidates are sufficiently creepy to hold our attention… But there are other factors we need to deal with beyond the wild-eyed socialists and demagogs of the DNC. These factors are the voting blocks the Demonrats rely on. The constituencies the Demonrats need most are as follows: These voting blocks are admittedly overlapping. They represent specific angles … Read more

via visualcapitalist: In 2018, the re-emergence of volatility took many market participants by surprise. After all, aside from a few smaller, intermittent spikes over the course of the current bull market, volatility has largely been in a long-term downtrend since the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis. Whether there is more volatility lurking ahead this year … Read more

Authored by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” —US President Dwight D. Eisenhower There are many versions of that Eisenhower quote he learned in the Army. Nixon, who probably heard it from Eisenhower directly, modified it to “… plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Both are variations on the theme, “No … Read more

by DCG From SF Gate: Gov. Gavin Newsom will withdraw most of the California National Guard troops who were deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border last year, saying the state needs them to prepare for wildfires and fight drug trafficking rather than bolster President Trump’s response to a “manufactured” immigration crisis. Newsom said he will rescind authorization Monday … Read more

by Dave Kranzler of Investment Research Dynamics I get a kick out of these billionaires and centimillionaires, like Kyle Bass yesterday, who appear on financial television to look the viewer in the eye and tell them that economy is booming. Kyle Bass doesn’t expect a mild recession until mid-2020. Hmmm – explain that rationale to the 78%+ households who are living … Read more

from Zero Hedge When Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), a/k/a Trump’s tax code overhaul in early 2017, the big expectation for tax season 2018 – the first tax-filing season under the new tax law – was that virtually all Americans would end up receiving a bigger refund. And yet, as numerous analysts … Read more

by sundance ABC conducted an extremely interesting interview with former Trump Attorney John Dowd that the media outlet will likely keep far away from their mainstream broadcast and print reporting. The interview is exceptionally interesting because Dowd outlines how incredibly false all prior reporting has been surrounding the Mueller investigation and the background of the contacts and discussions … Read more

Join Mike Maloney as he explores the question of whether or not the United States has already entered recession territory.