December 15, 2024 | Demanding Energy

Energy is everything. Or, if Einstein was right, you and I are just energy in material form. Accelerate us to lightspeed squared and we might become something else. All economic activity involves converting energy from one form to another. This requires harnessing sufficient quantities of usable energy. That task is becoming more difficult, to the point economic […]

December 15, 2024 | Which Will Crash First: Stocks or Bitcoin?

I’ll trash bitcoin in a moment — my new hobby — but first a yellow alert for everyone who thinks the stock market’s inevitable collapse is most likely to happen shortly after the first of the year. Although that seems quite plausible, fulfilling popular expectations is not how Mr Market usually works. Think how many […]

December 14, 2024 | Trading Desk Notes for December 14, 2024

What would a turning point in Irrational Exuberance look like? Well, for a start: Some analysts say that retail is the most bullish ever. I don’t know how you measure that, but yeah, it feels that way, and retail is gambling on all kinds of crap – exchange-listed or otherwise.   The COT data as of […]

December 14, 2024 | Rhyming History: France’s First Hyperinflation

Back in the 1700s, France was ruled by a small group of inbred idiot aristocrats who started a series of ruinously expensive wars (see, history is rhyming already). As the bills came due, there wasn’t enough gold to pay creditors, and the government faced that era’s version of bankruptcy. Then along came a Scottish economist/con […]

December 14, 2024 | This Week in Money

• Ross Clark:  Stock Markets, Dow, S&P, Gold, Oil, Canadian Dollar.  Special Offer! 25% Off New Annual Subscriptions!
• Hilliard MacBeth: (10:23) Bank of Canada Rate Cut, Canadian Economy, Real Estate, Canada Joining the USA.
• Martin Straith: (36:49) S&P, Investing, Trump Tariffs and Inflation.  Special Offer!

December 14, 2024 | Tech Talk for Saturday December 14th 2024

The Bottom Line Focus is on the FOMC Interest Rate Decision on the Fed Fund Rate released at 2:00 PM EST on Wednesday. Consensus calls for a 0.25% reduction. The S&P 500 Index currently is following its traditional pattern in the month of December: Flat to slightly lower in the first half followed by the […]

December 13, 2024 | Beware Last 2 Weeks of December – Something is Not Right

QUESTION: You said the computer does not support a bullish view of Trump taking office. Do you know why the computer is showing so many indexes are rolling over to the downside? John   ANSWER: I strongly suggest that this is the time to pay close attention to Socrates, for this clearly shows that something is seriously […]

December 13, 2024 | Anarcho-Capitalist Javier Milei Disrupts Argentina and has U.S. Admirers

Javier Milei is making huge changes in Argentina and U.S. leaders like Donald Trump and Elon Musk are planning to follow his radical moves. Will Argentina survive Milei? Will the U.S. copy his program?   Source: The Economist While Americans were electing Trump the far right and its billionaire backers were making plans to cut […]

December 13, 2024 | Bitcoin Breaks $100K: What’s Next?

We’ve received a flood of questions about Bitcoin this past week after it shattered the psychological $100K barrier. As most investors are aware, Bitcoin’s rally gained momentum following Donald Trump’s vocal support for cryptocurrency earlier this year. Back in July, Trump addressed the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, unveiling plans to establish a strategic national […]

December 13, 2024 | Vaxxecuted, Governor Trudeau, Tariffs, Stupid

Is Bitcoin the new Gold?

December 13, 2024 | Historically – How Have Tariffs Worked Out?

US small business optimism spikes after Trump election

December 12, 2024 | Human Nature is Prone to Self-Harm in Financial Bubbles

Twenty-four years ago, I was studying to become a financial analyst while working at a stock brokerage. Equity markets and animal spirits were soaring; the Nasdaq doubled in 1999 alone. Nortel was Canada’s pride and joy, accounting for over a third of Canada’s TSX stock index. In September 2000, Nortel was trading at C$124 a […]

December 12, 2024 | Volkswagen Protests Heat Up

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume was booed by a crowd of 20,000 employees after stating that the company is not “operating in a fantasy world.” The company already saw 100,000 union members walkout on Monday. “As management we’re not operating in a fantasy world. We are making decisions in a rapidly changing environment,” Blume stated. […]

December 12, 2024 | What to Bet On or Against Under President Trump

Rare Earths shine in looming US vs China trade war

December 12, 2024 | Market Correction Could Happen Sooner than Expected

How much higher can Bitcoin go before correcting?

December 12, 2024 | Should You Be Taking Stock Profits Now?

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December 11, 2024 | Trump Trolls Trudeau – Bank of Canada Takes Note

US-Canada relations under the Trump Administration are beginning on tumultuous footing. Trump has promised to slap Canada with 25% tariffs on ALL imports if it fails to curb illegal immigration and drug trade from the northern border. Trudeau is now threatening to retaliate with tariffs of his own. The Bank of Canada has factored in […]

December 11, 2024 | Are We Running Out Of Copper? This Image Says Yes Ah, the good old days…

Lots of people envy some aspects of their grandparents’ lives, with good reason: Houses used to cost $40,000, college tuition used to be a few thousand dollars a year, and the air used to be free of plastic nanoparticles. Those really were the good old days. But you know who would really like to go […]

December 11, 2024 | Florida’s ‘Condo Cliff’

I regularly hear about people thinking of selling their Florida real estate due to escalating costs. An aged population increasingly feels the same way, and the weak loonie is a final catalyst for many Canadians. Who will be willing to buy from all those looking to sell? After the deadly Florida condominium collapse in Surfside […]

December 10, 2024 | Market Snakes Follow Ladders

Canada’s Venture Composite Index (a basket of economically sensitive micro-cap companies, 44% weighted in materials, 30% information technology, 15.74% in energy, 3.5% health care, 2.48% financials, 1.85% industrials, .58% communication services, and .32% consumer discretionary) appears to concur with former BoC head Stephen Poloz’s recessionary assessment. When the real economy expands, rising demand for commodities […]

December 10, 2024 | Undermining the Debt Creates Recessions and Depressions

Many mistakenly look to the stock market as the leading indication of economic security. The true culprit is the DEBT market, not the stock market, that leads to depressions and recessions. A recession, in comparison to a depression, is merely a minor impact that could be isolated to one nation. Unemployment will typically rise up […]

December 9, 2024 | Housing Vibes

Happy Monday Morning! We’re in a recession, I wouldn’t even call it a technical one. Those were the words from former Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz this past week. It appears Poloz also agrees with our view, that despite the finance ministers best attempt at quieting the animal spirts, this is not a vibecession, but […]

December 9, 2024 | Crash Alert: Priced for Perfection in an Imperfect World

The last few US inflation reports have been ominous, with the general trend morphing from sharp decline to gradual increase. Here’s the Core Services index, which is now rising at a 4% annual rate: Stocks, meanwhile, are priced for perfection, with the second highest price/earnings ratio on record: Investors are getting cocky, as evidenced by the soaring […]

December 9, 2024 | Cash Crunch Set to Intensify in 2025

Some 1.2 million Canadian mortgages are set to renew in 2025. In 2021, those taken out with 3—to 5-year terms had an average interest rate of 2.05%. Today, even after 125 basis points of overnight rate cuts from the Bank of Canada, the average fixed rate on offer with a 20% downpayment is 4.39 to […]