investment

Orlando is the cat’s whiskers of stock picking

"The Observer's panel of stock-picking professionals has been undone in our 2012 investment challenge by a ginger feline called Orlando. While the professionals used their decades of investment knowledge and traditional stock-picking methods, the cat selected stocks by throwing his favourite toy mouse on a grid of numbers allocated to different companies. The challenge raised the question of whether the professionals, with their decades of knowledge, could outperform novice students of finance – or whether a random selection of stocks chosen by Orlando could perform just as well as experienced investors." Continue reading →

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Themes for 2013: Eight trends to follow in 2013 and beyond.

"Rather than attempt to predict the unpredictable – that is, specific events and price levels – let’s look instead for key dynamics that will play out over the next two to three years. Though the specific timelines of crises are inherently unpredictable, it is still useful to understand the eventual consequences of influential trends. In other words: policies that appear to have been successful for the past four years may continue to appear successful for a year or two longer. But that very success comes at a steep, and as yet unpaid, price in suppressed systemic risk, cost, and consequence." Continue reading →

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What’s Inside America’s Banks?

"Some four years after the 2008 financial crisis, public trust in banks is as low as ever. Sophisticated investors describe big banks as 'black boxes' that may still be concealing enormous risks—the sort that could again take down the economy. A close investigation of a supposedly conservative bank’s financial records uncovers the reason for these fears—and points the way toward urgent reforms." Continue reading →

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Catherine Austin Fitts: Coming Clean Beyond the Fiscal Cliff

"Here are the most significant challenges we must address to put our federal fiscal house in order. Each includes a brief description. Click on the link that follows for more discussion of the particular challenge, including examples and stories from my experience as well as other recommended references." Continue reading →

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India’s Gold Mania

"Less than 1% of the world’s gold is mined in India. The rest comes from somewhere else. Still, India can’t get enough. It is the largest consumer of gold in the world, buying nearly a third of production in recent years. Some estimates say that 10% of all gold is held in India. Indians save roughly 30% of their income, as opposed Americans, who save 5%. Plus, Indians are getting richer all the time. Once a very poor country, the rich and middle classes now outnumber the poor in this nation of 1.2 billion. The country has the sixth-largest economy in the world." Continue reading →

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Indian man buys $230,000 solid gold shirt as investment

"More than two dozen goldsmiths toiled for 15 days for lender Datta Phuge, who custom ordered the seven-pound top to wear for New Year's festivities, according to the Pune Mirror. The shirt is crafted from 14,000 22-karat gold rings linked together and comes with six Swarovski crystal buttons and a belt also made of gold. Phuge said he considers the shirt 'an investment which will keep appreciating.'" Continue reading →

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Doug Casey – Let’s Do A Tour Around The World

"I think time is growing short, as the economy emerges from the eye of the current hurricane. After which it will encounter several more even bigger ones. There you have it. But don't look at this as idle information. I suggest you allocate some time, call your travel agent, and get going." Continue reading →

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North Korea Enlists German Help to Prepare Economic Opening

"Pyongyang may be preparing to open up its economy. A report in a prominent newspaper claims the regime has enlisted the aid of German economic and legal experts to lay the groundwork for foreign investment in North Korean companies. The move could be made as soon as this year. Still, even as there are many in the country's leadership who are in favor of opening up the country to investments from Japanese, South Korean and Western companies, the professor the paper cites notes that it is far from a done deal. 'The military in North Korea,' he told the paper, 'will not want to give up power.'" Continue reading →

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Peter Schiff Doubles Down on Inflation Prediction

"Schiff looked at Bureau of Labor Statistics price changes for 20 goods and services between 1970 to 1980 and again between 2002 and 2012, decades that Schiff says were both periods of large deficits and loose monetary policy. Schiff found that his basket of goods increased 61% faster than CPI for the period between 2002 and 2012. In contrast, his basket rose just 5% faster than CPI from 1970 to 1980. 'How can you believe these statistics when the numbers are so flawed?' Schiff asks in response to his research on CPI." Continue reading →

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How The Swiss National Bank Went “All In”, Three Times And Counting

"The nation's central bank is printing and selling as many Swiss francs as needed to keep its currency from climbing against the euro, wagering an amount approaching Switzerland's total national output, and, in the process, turning from button-down conservative to the globe's biggest risk-taker. Switzerland's virtue is the root of its problem: broad confidence in the Swiss currency and economy has investors hungry for francs to escape euros, the currency of its shaky European neighbors." Continue reading →

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