investment

Sales Prices on Existing Family Homes and What It Means for 2013

"Keep in mind that it is a Bernanke manipulated climb in prices. The capital goods sector (including housing) get the money first, but then it works its way to the consumer sector. Translation: As long as Bernanke continues to print aggressively, housing prices will continue to climb, eventually translating into higher prices for everyday consumer goods. 2013 is likely to be a very bad year for the economy---with tax hikes on top of it." Continue reading →

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What Atlantic Magazine Forgot to Tell You About Mayor Bloomberg

"What the profile doesn't tell you is that at the time, Bloomberg was able to provide the 'inside quote' at which the Fed's chosen Primary Dealers traded with the Fed. This quote was of utmost importance to traders at the time, especially bond traders. They needed Bloomberg's access to this inside quote to understand what the Fed was doing (The Fed didn't announce interest rate targets at the time). It remains to this day unclear why Bloomberg was allowed to provide the inside quote on his machines, when others were denied the ability to do so. I know this for a fact, since I was at the time a consultant to a major firm that was denied the right to publish the quote." Continue reading →

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Why Does Ben Bernanke Set a Specific Point Target for Inflation and Not a Range?

"Because he thinks it is easier to hoodwink the public with a single target inflation rate than with a range. In the book, Inflation Targeting, which is co-authored by Bernanke, point targets versus range targets are discussed. Currently, the Fed has a price inflation target of 2%. Expect price inflation to climb above this level and for Bernanke to do as it says in his book and jawbone that inflation above target is simply 'because of unavoidable uncertainties.'" Continue reading →

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Doug Casey on how to Hedge Against Political Risk in the Greater Depression

"Welcome to Capital Account. Tonight, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama meet for their final Presidential debate, amid tightening polls. While the candidates face off on foreign policy, we talk to our guest, Doug Casey of Casey Research, about his own foreign policy strategy: the strategy of "the international man." We talk to Doug Casey about the increasing number of Americans who are moving their money and property off-shore, and about a smaller, albeit growing number of Americans choosing to renounce their citizenship entirely. What are these people afraid of, and who or what are they trying to hide from?" Continue reading →

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How to Generate Income From the Needs of a Hungry World

"Speculators and hedge funds are hopscotching across the U.S. farm-belt these days, grabbing tracts of land to profit from the rising demand for food. But even better opportunities exist beyond America. Like, for instance, a patch of Earth that has some of the most productive farm and cattle lands on the planet. It’s a place where we can own an asset of true substance and, in a world of near-zero yield, generate additional income. And if the U.S. ever goes pear-shaped, it gives us a place to call home in one of the most-livable countries in the world. Though it’s tiny in size, Uruguay is an ag juggernaut." Continue reading →

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Across Corn Belt, Farmland Prices Keep Soaring

"Farmers are carrying less debt than they were 30 years ago, and low interest rates are also a factor because they make it less costly for farmers to borrow. The federal crop insurance program also plays a role in keeping farmland prices high, by covering a majority of losses in revenue or crop yields. Some lenders have reported that a number of farmers are taking out loans based on the current value of their land to take advantage of the farmland boom. Fed officials and some real estate brokers said these buyers could be in trouble if interest rates rose and crop prices fell." Continue reading →

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Iowa Farms Minting Millionaires as Rich-Poor Gap Widens

"Booming worldwide demand for grain has showered wealth on farmers by tripling Iowa land values in the past decade and setting them up for record profits this year, even in the face of the nation’s worst drought in more than half a century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects. Land that had long produced boxcars full of corn and soybeans is now yielding a new crop: locally grown millionaires. In doing so, it has brought to the nation’s rural areas the kind of income divide that had long been the province of urban America. Average rents are up 43 percent statewide since 2008." Continue reading →

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“But there is no inflation!” – Misconceptions about the debasement of money

"There is no end to ‘quantitative easing’. It will have to continue forever. There is no ‘exit strategy’. The central banks are digging themselves – and all of us – an ever deeper hole. These forecasts have been accurate so far and they continue to be my forecast for the future. And here is another forecast: The present measures will over time be seconded with others that in my book I label ‘nationalization of money and credit’, that is, institutional investors will be coerced via legislation and regulation to remain invested in certain asset classes, the war on cash and the war on off-shore will continue and intensify, ultimately we will see capital controls." Continue reading →

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