no-cover
July 03, 2013
Other

A Change In Visibility

So much for last weeks’ commentary. Global financial markets did what they have for most of the year… exactly the opposite of consensus. Instead of following through on the sell-off that occurred two weeks ago, last week saw an about face. Pattern recognition is quickly becoming a lost art. The spotlight shifted away from...

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11 years ago
no-cover
June 24, 2013
Other

Tapering

It did not take long for the markets to react to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s communique and subsequent clarifications following the Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The result; two successive days in which the Dow Industrial Average, and more importantly the Canadian equity markets, fell sharply only to stage a minor...

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11 years ago
no-cover
June 17, 2013
Other

Technical Backlash

The year has been challenging for technicians. That’s the abbreviated term for technical analysts who attempt to predict market moves based on chart patterns. In the old days – twenty years ago – I use to kid that technical analysts did two things well; 1) they always provided an explanation as to why markets did not move...

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11 years ago
no-cover
June 10, 2013
Other

A Goldilocks’ Bear Call Spread

The US Jobs report that was released on Friday painted an almost perfect goldilocks scenario. Something for everyone! Enough new jobs were created to support the thesis that the US economy is growing, albeit at a tepid pace. At the same time, the unemployment rate rose from 7.5% to 7.6% as more people entered the labour force....

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11 years ago
no-cover
May 27, 2013
Other

Is Japan a precursor of what’s to come?

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, the broadest measure of blue chip stocks in Japan, fell more than 7% during the Thursday (i.e. Wednesday night in North America) trading session, providing investors with another data point evidencing the fickle nature of sentiment and perhaps, more importantly, the influential role of hedge funds in...

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11 years ago
no-cover
May 21, 2013
Other

China’s Ghost

Word from China is sending mixed messages to the world. GDP appears to be picking up particularly over the last quarter. Good news for a world in dire need of stimulus! At issue is what’s behind the growth? The debate centers around a massive infrastructure construction boom that has lead to overcapacity in residential real...

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11 years ago
no-cover
May 13, 2013
Other

The European Union Has Changed Its Focus

Since the European Union (EU) bailout programs began there has been an austerity pre-condition. Mostly the result of German strong arm tactics designed to get member States to restructure social programs so as to level the playing field in a way that supports a single eurozone currency. The challenge is how does one deal with...

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11 years ago
no-cover
May 06, 2013
Other

Buy on a Dip!

Watch the financial news, search the Internet, read the financial press and the most common theme coming from those who are supposedly “in the know” is that the US stock market is ahead of itself. And while those same talking heads are longer term bullish most are waiting for pullbacks to put new money to work. In other...

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11 years ago
no-cover
April 29, 2013
Other

Tweet Fear

Last Tuesday at approximately 1:00 pm EST, a Tweet from the Associated Press (AP) Twitter account read as follows; “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” Within a space of three minutes, US $136.5 billion of the S&P 500 index’s value was wiped out. The S&P 500 index fell...

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11 years ago
no-cover
April 22, 2013
Other

Old Rules No Longer Apply

Over the past 30 years, globalization has made the world a much smaller place. Supported by advances in technology and communications, corporations have sought markets outside their domestic borders. As a middle class takes root in emerging economies, those markets become increasingly important to the bottom line of global...

1940
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11 years ago
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