November 24, 2010 at 6:47 PM Given the opposing views of the potentially parsimonious new Congress and the continuously accommodative Federal Reserve, there is a movement afoot among Republicans to eliminate the Fed’s “dual mandate.” Prior to 1977, the Fed only had one job: maintaining price stability. However, the stagflation of the 1970s inspired politicians […]
The Duel over the Dual Mandate Read More »
November 17, 2010 at 3:51 PM The continued bull market in the price of gold has been one of the staple discussions in the financial media for the better part of a decade. But, in that time, almost no consensus has emerged to explain the phenomenon. If you ask ten Wall Street pundits to explain
Gold’s Allure Tied to Interest Rates Read More »
November 16, 2010 at 6:47 PM If you ask 10 Wall Street pundits what drives the price of gold you will most likely get a variety of different answers. Some will say its fear or uncertainty, while others may claim it is international strife or the Indian wedding season. However, the truth is the main
Should Gold Fear Higher Interest Rates Read More »
November 9, 2010 at 3:17 PM While it’s true that history repeats itself, the patterns should always be separated by a generation or two to keep things respectable. Unfortunately, in today’s economic world, it seems the cycle can be counted in months. On July 24, 2009, just as the Federal Reserve unleashed its first quantitative
There Was a Fed Chairman Who Swallowed a Fly Read More »
November 3, 2010 at 1:35 PM It seems the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve is of the belief that diluting the dollar is the cure for everything from a recession to male pattern baldness. And like other snake-oil salesmen before him, Mr. Bernanke is heavy on promises and light on results. Here are five
Five Bitter Pills or One Sweet but Deadly? Read More »
October 29, 2010 at 1:14 PM There has been so much discussion recently about “QE 2” that you would think the entire financial sector were about to embark on a transatlantic cruise. Unfortunately, they, and we, are not so lucky. In the year 2010, “QE 2” doesn’t refer to a sumptuous ocean liner, but a
Keep Your Head Above Dollar Read More »
October 22, 2010 at 6:50 PM The latest commentary from Michael Pento, Senior Economist of Euro Pacific Capital: When the euro hit a low of $1.1917 against the US dollar on June 7th, 2010, the airwaves crackled with assertions that the European common currency, beset by Greek debt problems and intra-union discord, was destined to
Don’t Fear the Euro – I’ll Take the Euro in a Pinch Read More »
October 21, 2010 at 12:30 PM By: Neeraj Chaudhary While the US economy continues to weaken (see my recent commentary: Don’t Doubt the Double-Dip), many foreign economies continue to experience solid – even spectacular – economic growth. When the global economic crisis began in 2008, many forecasters doubted that the world economy could return to
Decoupling: Alive and Well Read More »
The Treasury Department this morning announced plans to sell another 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup common stock: “Treasury currently owns approximately 3.6 billion shares of Citigroup common stock and expects to continue selling its shares in the market in an orderly fashion. The sale of 1.5 billion additional shares of Citigroup common stock, as authorized
The Treasury Department’s Racial Favoritism Read More »
October 8, 2010 at 6:53 PM Since the US economy has failed to recover as widely predicted, pressure on the Federal Reserve to conjure a solution has increased. In fact, the Fed now faces the hardest choices in its history. It can either redouble its past efforts to re-inflate America’s bubble economy (risking the destruction
