Archives for July 2013

July 2013 - Page 2 of 18 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

How to Buy Physical Silver

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If you don't already know how to buy physical silver, you need to now before it's all gone…

Even with silver prices down for the year, sales of physical silver have hit record highs. The public has been buying a record amount of silver bullion coins from the U.S. Mint in the first half of 2013, with sales hitting 24.03 million ounces.

The acting director of the Mint, Richard Peterson, said that demand for such coins remains at an "unprecedented level." He expects record sales for the year overall.

If you want to buy silver bullion coins, act now.

If you want to explore other options, we have a list here of what you should consider. As you bulk up your asset protection strategy, there are a number of ways to include physical silver.

Meet the New "Masters of the Universe" and Profit from Them

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When I first got into the financial industry some two decades ago, the hottest career was in investment banking, the home of the financial "Masters of the Universe."

Hedge funds in particular were all the rage.

A good gig at a company like Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) was the place to be, so I joined Goldman in their hedge fund group to learn the business from some of the best and brightest minds.

Working for a hedge fund quickly became Wall Street's glamor job, the new address for the Masters of the Universe.

Then, after the financial crisis hit and many hedge funds took their licks, the smartest minds and smartest money moved elsewhere — and unlike investment banking, this isn't off limits to you, the retail investor.

Let's take a look at each one…

What the Financial Press isn't Telling You About China’s Subprime Crisis

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China is the world's second-largest economy, a simple fact that underscores the importance of its financial health to investors worldwide.

And unfortunately, thanks to China's subprime crisis, it's not doing as well as we're led to believe.

The Chinese stock market has fallen to levels unseen since the 2009 global financial crisis, and short-term interest rates have reached as high as 25%.

We've been told by the mainstream financial press the Chinese economic crisis is being caused by shadow banking.

The term has been demonized by reporters outside China. But that's not the whole story. In fact, there is a valid reason for shadow banking to thrive in China:

"Chinese banks are mostly state-owned, and they rarely lend money to the private sector. Thus, there has always been strong demand for financing outside of official banking circles," says Money Morning Global Investing & Income Strategist Robert Hsu.

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Larry Summers or Janet Yellen, Who Will Obama Pick as Head of Fed?

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With Ben Bernanke prepared to step down as Federal Reserve chairman within the next year, the human resource debacle of locating the next Federal Reserve chair is underway.

Despite reports of Timothy Geithner, Alan Blinder, or Roger Ferguson being modest replacements (the latter I personally endorse), it seems that the candidacy has been narrowed to two.

The next Federal Reserve chair will be a choice between one of the biggest enablers of the financial crisis, Larry Summers, and the more-qualified, but politically unknown, Janet Yellen.

Here's my insight on each candidate…

What a Summers Federal Reserve Would Look Like…

FOMC Meeting: Look to Statement for QE Clues

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Don't expect a definitive answer from this week's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on when the Fed will begin tapering its massive quantitative easing program.

Instead, the focus will be on the FOMC's statement, which will be scoured for clues about when scaling back QE3 could begin.

"We do not expect any modifications to the asset purchase pace or forward guidance at this meeting, so markets are likely to hang on every word change in the statement," Michael Hanson, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research, said in a research report.

This month's FOMC meeting is the last before September, the month the markets have been expecting the Fed to announce "the taper."

Brian Gardner, senior vice president of Washington Research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said the economic outlook will be key to finding taper clues.

"We do not expect any changes in policy (either for large-scale asset purchases or for Fed funds rates) but the commentary on the state of the economy could be significant," Gardner said in a research note. "As Fed officials have recently reinforced their intent to look at the outlook for the labor market and the economy, any change in the Fed's description of the economy could provide a better idea of when the Fed might taper asset purchases."

But, Gardner added, "Our guess is that any change in language will be nuanced and keep the markets guessing about when the Fed will taper."

He said Friday's jobs report may ultimately be as significant as the FOMC statement in terms of gauging when tapering would take place.

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Five Medical and Scientific Breakthroughs Ready Now

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The problem with the future is that it's always another day away. We're bombarded with tantalizing glimpses of incredible medical and scientific breakthroughs, always just around the corner. But the truth is that many of these technologies are moving off the drawing board and into the concrete testing phase. In some cases, they're even being […]

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U.S. Unemployment: Three Million Jobs in America are Waiting to be Filled

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There is another side to the U.S. unemployment problem: Believe it or not, there are three million jobs going unfilled.

Employers can't seem to find the right match for more than 200,000 manufacturing jobs alone.

The transportation, utilities and trades sectors have almost half a million jobs open, waiting for the right applicant.

These positions are for vocational or skilled workers, who are in short supply.

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How Obamacare Will Affect Medicare

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We've talked about how Obamacare will affect our regular health insurers and routine doctor visits, but how about how Obamacare will affect Medicare?

We've all known for a while that the future of Medicare, the program than provides health insurance to seniors, is in dire straits. What we're just finding out is that Obamacare is making it worse.

The White House's decision earlier this month to postpone part of U.S. President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform (the employer mandate that will fine businesses that don't offer employees insurance) underscores how flawed the bill is and how unprepared we are for its full roll-out.