…Calmly observing the changing world

The citizens of the UK are struggling.  Their internal political system has been completely unable to cope with two seemingly opposite forces which erode what is left of the ancient empire. One is the fight to remain free from the ever expanding and intrusive EU bureacracy that eminates from Brussels. Her majesty’s subjects were never [...]

The financial world is split between the people who “get it” and those who “don’t get it.”  Which side is which depends on whom you ask, but one thing is sure, no one has any respect for the rating agencies. And there has been plenty of investor ridicule of the agencies lately, as S&P shown [...]

Machiavelli proposed that you could determine how well a population was governed by the changes in its population over time: the more the better.  A very sober thought, then, for the inhabitants of Detroit that the census found 238,270 fewer of them than in 2000. It almost goes without saying that those governing the city [...]

I could write more than one treatise on what is and isn’t money – and certainly many people smarter than I have tried to do this in the past.  There is a lot to learn from such an exercise, but it largely remains just that – an exercise – and not something that impacts daily [...]

One of the supposed roles Saudi Arabia uniquely holds, is that in time of crisis, it obligingly increases the production of oil.  It has recently promised to do just that.  In a perfect world, turmoil in the Middle East that causes a supply disruption in oil would be offset by increased Saudi production. Unfortunately, reality [...]

The lore of bull markets dictates that before the end of the bull market in gold there will be a wild mania, where the price soars to astounding heights in bubble of epic proportions.  Of course, it’s difficult to tell when you’re in the bubble – which is a bit fun since ignorant experts from [...]

Despite the reputation of the weekly unemployment report as not particularly relevant on a weekly basis, this week’s report has gotten a lot of traction.  Unemployment numbers are down 34,000!  The recovery has finally kicked into gear – jobs for all are just around the corner! Of course, the cheering of last week’s data is [...]

While the press core is enthralled at the prospect of the Obama administration’s renaissance (no matter how unlikely), and statiticians pour over census data, most normal Americans are making last-minute preparations for Christmas gatherings. Not the number crunchers over at Moody’s though. While admittedly it was a dud, they fired a shot across the political [...]

“Germany cannot keep paying for bail-outs without going bankrupt itself,” said Professor Wilhelm Hankel, of Frankfurt University. Daily Telegraph (Ottowa Citizen) Well, I guess we’ll find out.  Despite significant opposition from the actual citizens of Germany, the bailouts seem unlikely to stop for the time being.  You see, the bailout-proponents wisely set aside a lump [...]

As the trick-or-treaters darted from house to house under a waning crescent, seeking to mount up chocolate treasure, the markets have bided their time – seemingly for ages.  In all likelihood, the market is done treading water and (perhaps after a false start) will again pick its direction. Dial L for Landslide With likely voters overwhelmingly [...]