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Martin Hutchinson

Article Index

The Case for $5,000 Gold: And How to Profit

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

The gold bug is unstoppable. Prices are up four-fold since 2001... and they're not stopping anytime soon. Could $5,000 per ounce be in our future? Read this report to find out why gold is being pushed through the roof - and four ways to profit from gold's rise.

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Money Morning Mailbag: Investors Show Growing Concerns Over Deflation

By , Associate Editor, Money Morning -

The threat of deflation has been making its rounds as inflationary measures like the consumer price index (CPI) fell for the first time in 13 months in April, dropping 0.1%. Core CPI - which excludes food and energy prices - rose only 0.9%, its smallest gain since 1966. The producer price index (PPI) also dipped 0.1%.

"The recent trend in inflation has been swiftly to the downside," Eric Green, chief U.S. rates strategist at TD Securities, told Reuters. "All measures of inflation are decelerating."

Investment behavior has shown an anxious but mixed sentiment of hedging against both inflation and deflation: Demand for gold metal is outstripping supply by more than 1% per year and has pushed gold prices to record highs, while others have sought out both corporate bonds and U.S. Treasuries for safety.

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Two Energy Stocks For a Post-Oil-Spill World

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

With the failure of the BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) "top kill" strategy, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill takes on a more serious hue, both for the Gulf of Mexico environment and for BP itself. If it indeed proves impossible to cap the oil flow before August, public anger against BP and against deep-sea drilling in general may put BP out of business and set deep-sea drilling around the United States back for years.

The business fallout from the oil spill could be widespread. As was true of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident of 1979, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill could end up causing massive damage to companies that were in no way involved with the BP tragedy. Risks of different types of operation will be reassessed, new rules will be enacted, and the energy business will change radically.

Smart investors will anticipate these changes.

To discover two stocks poised to thrive in a post-oil-spill world, please read on...

The Shift Toward De-globalization is Bullish for Gold

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

You can see signs of de-globalization everywhere. Just look at the intense shareholder opposition to Prudential PLC's proposed takeover of the Asian operations of American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG).

And that's just one example.

The market scare on news that North Korea had, indeed, sunk a South Korean Naval vessel was another. The "flight to safety" in U.S. Treasuries - sparked by the increasing concern about the future of the euro and the viability of Greek government finances - is a third.

All over the world, little by little, the apparently inexorable tide of "globalization" - making the world "flat" in the words of Thomas L. Friedman - is retreating.  If a full-scale financial crisis breaks out in the next few months, that retreat will become a rout. And the world will become de-globalized.



For the warning signs of de-globalization, please read on...

The Tobin Tax: The Fix-It Plan Wall Street Hates … But Can't Seem to Kill

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently came out in favor of a "Tobin tax" - a small tax on financial transactions, proportionate to the size of the transaction. The Tobin tax idea also has been proposed by Britain's former prime minister, Gordon Brown, and was proposed in Congress by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR.

Every time a Tobin tax is proposed, it has failed to gain traction - which isn't surprising: Wall Street, with its international affiliates and legion of lobbyists, hates the idea.

Even so, the Tobin tax idea just refuses to die - which is a good thing, since it is probably the best way of curing some of Wall Street's pathologies.

To understand how the Tobin tax can benefit investors, please read on...

Dodge a Possible Debt Debacle With These Two Stimulus-Plan Safety Plays

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

U.S. President Barack Obama's $862 billion stimulus plan, passed in great haste after his inauguration, has now revealed its true costs and benefits. It didn't revive the U.S. economy - that bottomed about May 2009, before a dollar of it had been spent. Further, combined with the mad wave of similar "stimulus" outlays across the planet, it has destabilized global bond markets - which may end up being very expensive indeed.

For details of the two stimulus-plan safety plays, read on...

For details of the two stimulus-plan safety plays, read on...

Are 'Pure-Play' ETFs a Shrewd Investment – Or a Risk Not Worth Taking?

By , Contributing Writer, Money Morning -

They're called "pure-play" exchange-traded funds (ETFs). And they're the latest rage in the ETF sector.

But are they too much of a risk?

According to Dictionary.com, a mutual fund is an investment company "that gives small investors access to a well-diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and other securities," professionally managed to "match the objective stated in the (fund's) prospectus."

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How to Play Gold – So it Doesn't Play You

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

The Greek bailout has turned gold into a "must have" investment. But the new gold rally will be different from gold rallies of the past. This time around, gold isn't serving as protection from inflation... it's become more speculative. Read this report to find out exactly how to play gold now.

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Money Morning Mailbag: Investors Should Steer Clear of Australia's Mining "Super Tax"

By , Associate Editor, Money Morning -

Money Morning Contributing Editor Martin Hutchinson last week introduced readers to the Australian mining "super tax" that will disrupt the industry's cyclical nature and threaten mining companies' profitability.

Reader questions and comments poured in immediately, especially from our friends in the land down under. Some criticized the government's greed, others saluted the tax, and many wondered what action to take as investors. The result was a passionate, well-informed, and at times combative, reader dialogue. 

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has proposed an additional 40% tax on mining company earnings and hopes to use the revenue to snag some hefty cash piles from the profitable natural resources industry. But instead he is putting the economy in danger of future funding shortfalls: If the mining industry's revenue stream starts to run thin, the projects the money is supporting will be strapped and funds will have to be squeezed from elsewhere.

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Thursday's Wild Stock Market Ride Spotlights 'High-Frequency Trading' as the Latest Worry For Investors

By , Executive Editor, Money Morning • @privatebrief -

Back on April 14, U.S. stocks advanced for the fifth day in a row, causing the U.S. Standard & Poor's 500 Index to close above the 1,200 level for the first time in more than 18 months.

Traders said that a growing confidence in the strength of the U.S. rebound was a key rally catalyst.

But Money Morning's Shah Gilani was worried.

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Blunder From Down Under: Australia's Mining 'Super Tax' Will Squeeze the Global Recovery

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

Australia just this week unveiled a mining "super tax" that the country plans to levy against its natural-resources sector starting in 2012.

This is bad news.

It's not just because mining is Australia's most important economic sector: Australia is also an enormously important supplier of resources to the fast-growing economies of East Asia, where so many of the world's products are now manufactured. The mining super tax will cause prices to rise on the raw materials that are the key ingredients in so many of those products. And that means the levy from "down under" truly is bad news for the overall global economy.

With the newly announced mining super tax, Australia has shot itself in the foot. In doing so, unfortunately, it may also have peppered the rest of us with buckshot.



To find out which countries - and companies - may be most affected by the "super tax," please read on...

Six Ways to Profit as Brazil's Economy Takes Off

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

Is Brazil one of the best emerging markets? Should it be in your portfolio? Martin Hutchinson breaks down the pros and cons of investing in the Brazilian economy. And, he's not as bullish as you might think. Find out the best ways to play Brazil in this report.

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We Want to Hear From You: How Do You Feel About the Status of U.S. Financial Reform?

By , Associate Editor, Money Morning -

When the Securities and Exchange Commission announced last Friday it was slapping Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) with fraud charges, Wall Street - facing financial reform - took a big gulp of reality.

Scores of traders hurried to sell off Goldman shares, causing the stock to sharply fall 12.8%.   Meanwhile, spectators on Main Street cheered the thought of a financial giant - that has faced scrutiny for housing market investments, executive bonuses and bailout money - finally having to face the firing squad.   

Money Morning readers' comments clearly expressed their negative feelings toward Wall Street, our government and the SEC: "Crooks, political snakes, fraudsters, soulless and self-interested leaders, running a corrupt nation..."

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How the Goldman Sachs Fraud Case Could Accelerate Wall Street Reform

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that it had filed a fraud action against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), the news hit the financial markets like a carefully targeted bomb.

The Goldman Sachs fraud case, which relates to the investment bank's subprime-mortgage business, caused the financial giant's shares to nosedive 12.8%. The fallout spread to the broader markets, too, causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop 1.1% and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to skid 1.6%.

That reaction wasn't overblown.

Depending on how rough the SEC wants to play it, the case has the potential to shut down the cartel known as Wall Street. It could even jump-start the kind of sweeping overhaul that legal or regulatory reformists have so far failed to launch.



To see how the government fraud case against Goldman Sachs could force Wall Street to reform, please read on...

Why the Fed Won't Rescue America's Plunging Savings Rate

By , Global Investing Specialist, Money Morning -

In the 1992 election campaign, H. Ross Perot predicted a "giant sucking sound" of U.S. jobs heading for Mexico if the North American Free Trade Agreement passed. Perot seems to have been wrong on that - wherever U.S. jobs have gone, it's not Mexico. 

Nevertheless, if you listen carefully there's still a "giant sucking sound" - but this time it's the sound of U.S. capital headed overseas.

To find out what the Fed must do to keep capital at home, and why it won't act, read on...

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