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Tag Archives: Featured

Why Wages Have Stagnated–and Will Continue to Stagnate

The only way to reverse declines in labor participation and stagnation in wages and demand is to make it easier to start enterprises and hire people. Mainstream economists are mystified why wages/salaries are still stagnant after 7+ years of growth / “recovery.” The conventional view is that wages should be rising as the labor market tightens (i.e. the unemployment rate is low) and demand for workers increases in an...

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The Great Stock Market Swindle

Short Circuited Feedback Loops Finding and filling gaps in the market is one avenue for entrepreneurial success.  Obviously, the first to tap into an unmet consumer demand can unlock massive profits.  But unless there’s some comparative advantage, competition will quickly commoditize the market and profit margins will decline to just above breakeven. Unfortunately, finding and filling gaps in the market is much easier...

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Insanity, Oddities and Dark Clouds in Credit-Land

  Insanity Rules Bond markets are certainly displaying a lot of enthusiasm at the moment – and it doesn’t matter which bonds one looks at, as the famous “hunt for yield” continues to obliterate interest returns across the board like a steamroller. Corporate and government debt have been soaring for years, but investor appetite for such debt has evidently grown even more. A huge mountain of interest-free risk has...

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Emerging Markets: Preview of the Week Ahead

United States EM FX ended the week on a soft note, despite the weaker than expected US retail sales report. Official concern about strong exchange rates is beginning to emerge. First it was Korea, then on Friday it was Brazil as acting President Temer said his country needs to maintain a balanced exchange rate, neither too weak nor too strong. We expect more pushback to emerge if the current rally is extended....

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2 Men, 3 Women 6-Year-Old Kid Burned, Stabbed By 27-Year-Old Attacker On Swiss Train

Seven people are in hospital with stab wounds and burns, police say, after an attack on a train near St.Gallen, Switzerland. The man set the train carriage on fire using a flammable liquid and also stabbed passengers, including a six-year-old child, police said. Details are sparse for now but The BBC reports, the suspected attacker, described as a Swiss man aged 27, was also taken to hospital after the incident near...

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FX Weekly Preview: Thoughts on the Significance of Ten Developments

Summary: The GDP deflator may be just as important as overall growth for BOJ considerations and the possibility of fresh action next month. Falling UK rates and a weaker pound are desirable from a policy point of view. Dudley’s press conference may be more important than FOMC minutes. Two German state elections that will be held next month comes as Merkel’s popularity has waned. Japan Japan’s Q2 GDP: The...

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Weekly Speculative Positions: Switch to Small Net Long CHF

Speculative position adjustments in the currency futures continued at a low pace in the Commitment of Traders report for the week ending August 9.  There were though two distinct patterns: Speculators reduced their exposure in EUR, CHF and peso. Speculator increased their exposure in JPY, GBP, CAD and NZD. Euro, Swiss Franc, Peso: Lower Exposures The first pattern is found in the euro, Swiss franc,...

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FX Weekly Review, August 08 – August 12: Finally an Improvement of the CHF Index

Swiss Franc Currency Index The CHF index experienced its first good week since many weeks, when we compare it against the dollar index. It is up 1.25%, while the USD index lags with -0.50%. Click to enlarge. Swiss Franc Currency Index (3 years) The Swiss Franc index is the trade-weighted currency performance (see the currency basket) On a three years interval, the Swiss Franc had a weak performance. The dollar...

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Golden Stockpiles – The Key to Gold as a Store of Value and Safe Haven

By Ronan Manly, BullionStar Much is written in the precious metals world about gold’s characteristics, and how the behaviour of the gold price allows gold to play the role of unique financial asset that retains its purchasing power over time, acts as a safe haven, diversifies risk, and provides hedging benefits. However, much of the material written in this area skips over an explanation of how the simple yet powerful...

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Emerging Markets: What has Changed

S&P upgraded Korea a notch to AA with a stable outlook Voters passed the constitutional referendum in Thailand by a wide margin The IMF and Egypt have reached a staff-level agreement on a 3-year $12 bln loan program Argentina’s central bank will begin using a new overnight rate to manage monetary policy Political uncertainty has returned to Brazil In the EM equity space as measured by MSCI, Colombia (+6.3%),...

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