Let's go over some observations on what has now become a fully subsidized economy and stock market - taking from the future to push up economic activity and stock market values today. (1) First, a housing report came out today ... let us say we were shocked. Just shocked I tell you about the results. I mean when the same exact data point happens 32 times in a row, it is right to be shocked and drive the stock market up on the incremental new data point. Because as we know the stock marke

Where are we now? Still in the Twilight Zone economy as far as we’re concerned. US stocks ended strongly on Friday. And they’re set to rise again today if Europe’s strong morning performance is anything to go by. Commodities are up too. Nymex crude oil futures are at $74.24 a barrel at writing. Gold is trading at $953.50 an ounce – not far off Friday’s one-week high. “No rally can be sustained with yields and P/Es so poorly valued,” says underground investor Chris Weber, writing for DailyWea

I am the first to admit that I read too many books on economics and trading. Instead of watching the latest version of “America’s Got Talent”, you will usually find my nose stuck in some trading or economics text, or magazine. I come from an academic family, so reading was deeply ingrained in my daily habits since I was a youngster. In an earlier post I recommended the following books for your perusal: Dr. Burton Malkiel, “ A Random Walk Down Wall Street ” (efficient market theory) Ben

Natural Gas on Friday (August 21, 2009) closed at ~$2.80/MMBtu – a 7-year low. If we assume that the price will rise to $5 my mid-November of this year, is UNG (the Natural Gas ETF) a good way to play this increase? Here are the key things to consider: What does the UNG fund contain? Does it own Natural Gas? No. Instead it invests in future contracts and swaps on the NYMEX and ICE exchanges. On August 11th, it owned the September contracts. The September contracts terminate on August 26th.

by Ahmad HassamThe US Dollar Index is used by traders to get the big picture of the overall trend of the dollar. It is widely quoted in the press and on quote services. The US Dollar Index is traded on the New York Board of Trade at Finex and at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The Federal Reserve Board had introduced the US Dollar Index in 2003. The index is the result of the Smithsonian Agreement that had replaced the Bretton Woods Agreement. The US Dollar Index is similar to the Feds Do