DPC Longacre Square, soon to be Times Square 1904 I’ve said before, and quite a while ago too, – more than once-, that the world of investing as we’ve come to know it is over. It’s still as true as it was then, and I can only hope that more people today understand why it is true, and why I said it in the past. The basic underlying argument then and now is that financial markets have been distorted to
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DPC Main Street north from Sixth, Little Rock, Arkansas 1911 • How The US Dollar Stacks Up Against Major World Currencies (AP) • This Is The Case For A ‘Large, Sharp Correction’ (CNBC) • Copper’s Rout May Be A Red Flag (MarketWatch) • Swiss Central Bank’s Shock Therapy Leaves Policy Vacuum (Reuters) • Swiss Franc Trade Is Said to Wipe Out Everest’s Main Fund (Bloomberg) • Making Sense Of The Swiss Shock (Project Syndicate) • Beware Of Politicians Bearing Household
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Russell Lee Bike rack in Idaho Falls, Idaho Aug 1942 The narrative continues: “The U.S economic underlying momentum is really very good,” Williams said. • Low Inflation No Bar To Rate Rise, Fed Officials Say (Reuters) The Federal Reserve is still on track for a potential mid-year interest-rate increase, a top Fed official said on Friday, citing strong U.S. economic momentum and a falling unemployment rate. “There is no need to rush to raise rates; at the same time we
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Unknown Gurley-Lord service station, San Francisco 1929 The Swiss have unleashed a pretty wild storm in financial markets. All sorts of companies and people today are licking their wounds, and quite a few will simply have to fold. It’s no exception to be so leveraged in foreign exchange wagers that a move of a few percent can wipe you out, let alone one of 30%. Leverage makes sure that right off the bat a whole bunch of foreign exchange brokers,
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Earl Theisen Walt Disney oiling scale model locomotive at home in LA Sep 1951 • Swiss Mess Could Make Oil Plunge Seem Like Minor Hiccup (MarketWatch) • World Deflationary Forces Have Swept Away Switzerland’s Defences (AEP) • Switzerland Shows The Era Of Central Bank Omnipotence Is Over (Krasting) • Swiss Franc Move Cripples, Wipes Out Currency Brokers (WSJ) • Wall Street Is Bracing For Shock Waves From Swiss Franc Move (MarketWatch) • Franc’s Surge Ranks Among Largest Ever in Foreign
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DPC Broadway at night from Times Square 1911 Jeff Cox at CNCB wrote a reasonable piece yesterday, but chose a 180º wrong headline for it. And that matters for understanding the topic he addresses: what is happening in the financial markets. Cox claims that “Market Madness Started With End Of Fed’s QE”, but it’s the other way around. We’ve had six years+ of madness precisely because of QE, and during that whole time people had ever less idea what anything
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Unknown Marin-Dell dairy truck, San Francisco Mar 1 1945 • US Retail Sales Down Sharply, Likely Cuts to Growth Forecasts Ahead (Bloomberg) • US Retail Sales Drop Most Since June 2012 – It’s Not Gas Prices (Zero Hedge) • The December Retail Report: “Disappointing” Isn’t The Half Of It (Stockman) • Swiss Franc Jumps 30% As Central Bank Abandons Ceiling Versus Euro (Reuters) • What, Us Worry? Economists Stay Upbeat as Markets See Trouble (Bloomberg) • Here’s Why Wall Street
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Frances Benjamin Johnston Edgar Allan Poe’s mother’s house, Richmond, VA 1930 • Commodities Tumble to 12-Year Low as US Futures Slide (Bloomberg) • Oil at $40, and Below, Gaining Traction on Wall Street (Bloomberg) • Oil Fall Could Lead To US Capex Collapse: Jeff Gundlach (Reuters) • The Stock Market Is Overvalued Any Way You Look At It (MarketWatch) • Slide in Oil Means Tighter Budgets and Fewer Perks for Gulf Arabs (Bloomberg) • OPEC’s Squeeze On US Oil Independence
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Unknown George Daniels Pontiac, Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco 1948 I was thinking about something along the lines of The Center Cannot Hold and Something’s Got To Give earlier, but then I thought there’s no way I haven’t used those titles before. And then it occurred to me that The Automatic Earth started 7 years ago this month. Just looked it up, it was January 22, 2008. Party next week! Of course Nicole and I had been writing before that
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DPC Madison Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 1906 • America’s Going to Lose the Oil Price War (Bloomberg) • Oil Extends Drop Below $45 as US Supplies Seen Speeding Collapse (Bloomberg) • Here’s Why Oil Is Such A Problem For Corporate Earnings (CNBC) • Oil Crash May Whack Earnings Of Top US Home Builders In Texas (MarketWatch) • Falling Oil Reveals The Truth About The Market (MarketWatch) • U.A.E. Sticks With Oil Output Boost Even as Prices Drop (Bloomberg) • US Manufacturing
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