January 31, 2025 | The Casino Enters “Peak Complexity”

Finance hasn’t been simple for a long time. Starting more or less in the 1980s, traditional instruments like stocks and bonds were joined by futures, options, private equity, junk bonds, and bespoke derivatives like credit default swaps. “Quants” now build “black box” trading algorithms to arbitrage the relationships between these things, and clients place bets […]

January 31, 2025 | Hunt: Global Capacity Under-Utilization Leading Unemployment Higher

Hoisington Management’s Fourth Quarter 2024 Review and Outlook is now available at this link. Always worth a mull. Here’s the main takeaway: “…fundamental determinants of inflation indicate the prospects for slower price increases are even more significant than in any year since the late 1990s. In addition to the growing factory capacity glut and rising UR […]

January 31, 2025 | Will Gold Replace USD as World Reserve Currency?

Will Cryptos drastically plunge in a market correction?

January 31, 2025 | Democrats Vow to Take Fight Against Trump to the Streets

  The Trump Administration rescinded the freeze on federal programs, vowing to eliminate woke agencies in the coming weeks. The Democrats have become outraged over the president’s numerous, swift measures to undo the damage caused under Biden. The left believes in democracy when it suits them. The Dems lost control of both chambers of Congress […]

January 30, 2025 | The Rise of DeepSeek: Redefining the Future of AI?

The artificial intelligence (AI) landscape is on the brink of a seismic shift with the advent of DeepSeek, a Chinese startup that has developed an innovative AI model capable of rivaling top-tier offerings from global leaders such as OpenAI and Meta. DeepSeek’s groundbreaking approach, which combines cost-effective hardware with optimized software solutions, threatens to upend […]

January 30, 2025 | Global Debt Reaches 326% of GDP

  Total global debt has peaked to 326% of global GDP, adding an additional $12 trillion of debt in the last three quarters of 2024, according to the Institute of International Finance. This figure surpasses what we saw amid the pandemic and is expected to continually rise and governments continue to borrow with no intention […]

January 30, 2025 | Trump Tariff War vs Canada About to Start

Gold makes record highs. Receive 50% Off VR Trader Newsletters! Enter Promo Code 2022HALFOFF.

January 30, 2025 | Will Nvidia Survive Hit from Deep Seeking Missile?

Gold finally giving life to miners

January 29, 2025 | President Trump’s Tariff Agenda Weighs Heavily On Canadian Energy Sector

President Trump moved quickly to show he meant business with his Tariff’s. Colombia’s leftist President would not let US planes land in his country with deported criminals that were his citizens. President Trump threatened 25% tariffs immediately and 50% a week later. This would have severely hurt the Colombian economy which exports crude oil and […]

January 29, 2025 | US Seeks to Boost Semiconductor Chip Manufacturin

  The chip shortage has been at the top of mind over the last week after the launch of DeepSeek, a novel AI service intended to compete with ChatGPT. Semiconductor manufacturers have left the US and previous plans to attract domestic production have failed. President Donald Trump has proposed a new idea to force production […]

January 29, 2025 | Recession Watch: Did the Everything Bubble Just Pop?

Real estate, being expensive to finance and highly volatile at market peaks, is frequently a catalyst for recessions. And as Wolf Street’s Wolf Richter reports, housing is sending “peak cycle” signals. The supply of new houses for sale is spiking to previous bubble levels: In some formerly hot markets, it’s even worse: Houses aren’t selling at today’s price/mortgage […]

January 29, 2025 | Pent-up Listings Hope for Spring Demand

The Bank of Canada (BoC) cut interest rates by 25 bps this morning, bringing the overnight rate to 3%, 200 bps lower than when the central bank started easing in June 2024. Moreover, the BoC announced it would restart quantitative easing (Treasury buying) in March to reduce longer-term yields/interest rates and increase liquidity in the […]

January 28, 2025 | Tariff Threats Successful – Colombia to Accept Returned Citizens

  Tariffs never work, but threats often do when it is known they will be carried out. Donald Trump threatened Colombia with massive tariffs, sanctions, and travel bans if the nation refused to take back thousands of illegal Colombian migrants. Within ONE HOUR, Colombia agreed to all terms and conditions. Two repatriation flights to Colombia […]

January 28, 2025 | Insolvency Cycle Picking Up

‘Maximizing shareholder value’ has been about pumping up near-term valuations at the expense of long-term financial health and viability.  Private equity is excellent at this. Kristina Partsinevelos joins CNBC’s ‘The Exchange’ to discuss the latest data on bankruptcies. Here is a direct video link.  Households are increasingly struggling. The American consumer is showing some signs of […]

January 27, 2025 | Market update – DeepSeek Hits Big Tech

  A surge in interest around China’s AI model, DeepSeek, shook markets today, with the Nasdaq falling 3.07% and Nvidia plunging nearly 17%. This development raises concerns about the sustainability of AI investments, particularly whether costly infrastructure like chips and data centers will deliver returns. Nvidia, valued at over $3 trillion, faces growing skepticism as DeepSeek […]

January 27, 2025 | American Tech Exceptionalism Under Review

The trouble with overconfidence and securities priced to perfection is that something always happens to upend the narrative. Underdogs often accomplish more for less; it’s a question of when, not if. Necessity has always been the mother of invention because constraints drive ingenuity. Anna Edwards, Guy Johnson, Kriti Gupta and Mark Cudmore break down today’s […]

January 27, 2025 | Biden’s Pardons are Unconstitutional

  COMMENT: Dear Marty I read your article about Fauci’s pardon being unconstitutional, but I have something to add. The basis for pre-emptive pardons being unlawful can be found in ancient English constitutional law, see the Prince of Orange’s 1688 Declaration of Reason that preceded England’s 1688 Bill of Rights. This carries over to USA via […]

January 27, 2025 | Poorer Than You Think

Happy Monday Morning! A good reminder from the economics team at National Bank highlights the sobering proposition that a Canadian household would need an annual income of approximately $186,963 to afford a mortgage on a median-priced home in this country, at which point the government thinks you’re rich and taxes you into oblivion. In places […]

January 26, 2025 | Nifty Trick Keeps the Bull Alive

    I still expect Bitcoin to notch one or two more record highs on the hourly chart, but they will likely be the dying gasp of the bull market that began in 2009. There is reason to doubt that the broad averages will be swept up in this fetid blast of flatulence. That would […]

January 26, 2025 | Is 666 also the Number of the Universe?

      QUESTION: Hi Martin, I am unsure if I have informed you of a little thing I noticed about the ECM a while back that I was recently reminded of and you may find interesting. I’ll keep it simple. The square root of 666 is 25.8069….. / 3 = 8.6023…. coincidence or relation? […]

January 25, 2025 | Has Trump Propelled Us Into World War III?

  QUESTION: What happened to Trump and his claim he would end the war with Ukraine instantly? What does your computer have to say about this boast? SL ANSWER: I think Trump’s post on Truth Social was a HUGE MISTAKE, and I am very, very, very disappointed. He slapped Vladimir Putin across the face, and what […]

January 25, 2025 | Trump’s Biggest Policy Change Is Great For Gold

The president has definitely hit the ground running. But his most impactful policy move isn’t an executive order or cabinet appointment. It’s this: President Trump says he’ll ‘demand that interest rates drop immediately’ (CNBC) – President Donald Trump lobbed his first volley at the Federal Reserve, saying Thursday that he will apply pressure to bring down interest […]

January 25, 2025 | This Week in Money

• Ross Clark:  Stock Markets, Gold, Oil, US Dollar, Canadian Dollar.
• Rick Ackerman:  (10:00) Bitcoin, US Dollar, Optimization.  Special Offer!
• Allan Mark Angell:  (51:43) High End Real Estate, Condo Sales, Spring Market.

January 25, 2025 | Tech Talk for Saturday January 25th 2025

The Bottom Line Primary focus this week is on central bank news released on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve is expected to maintain its Fed Fund Rate at 4.50% and the Bank of Canada is expected to lower its lending rate to Canada’s major banks to 3.00% from 3.25%. Investors will be watching closely for guidance […]