Weak Dollar

Article Index

The Five Factors That Could Rescue U.S. Stocks

By , Contributing Writer, Money Morning -

When the stock market is enduring as much trouble as it has been lately, it pays to remember that there are still many positive catalysts that are in place and working to buoy securities prices.

Let's take a few moments to consider the top candidates:

  • A Friendly Fed: The current U.S. Federal Reserve under Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is the most accommodative in history and is likely to keep short-term interest rates at or near zero for the remainder of this year. Occasionally there will be rumblings of an increase - as there was in The Wall Street Journal last Monday, but they are likely just smoke screens.
To find out about the other four factors - as well as three possible profit plays - please read on ...

Read More…

Seven Signs of the Fed's Eventual "Exit Strategy"

By , Money Morning -

Looking for an exact date when U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his fellow central bank policymakers will raise interest rates?

Experts refer to this eventuality as Bernanke's "exit strategy" - a financial euphemism for the interest-rate increases that are certain to come ... at some point.

That's just it - those experts can't tell you when that exit strategy will begin. I can't tell you that, either (Sorry, loaned my crystal ball to Miss Cleo for her new infomercial).

But what I can give you that the pundits can't is a "Road Map to Higher Interest Rates," which spells out the specific events that should precede the most-heavily anticipated U.S. central bank interest-rate increase in history. Follow it and you should be perfectly positioned to profit when the time comes.

(Remember, a few months ago, I introduced Senior Secured Floating Interest Rate Bonds, or SSFRs, an investment that you'll want to own when interest rates rise.)

So, without further ado...

Read More…

Will Copper Become the "New Gold?"

By , Money Morning -

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable American icons in the world.

And as she towers 305 feet above Ellis Island, what's Lady Liberty wearing? Copper - 60,000 pounds of it.

Clearly, copper's big in art. It's also a key metal that keeps the world economy humming. Copper consumption has grown at an average annual rate of 4% since 1900. China and India - which some analysts describe as the combined market of "Chindia" - where one of every three human beings resides, needs loads of this element to meet its modernization requirements for electricity and infrastructure.

Copper is also used in today's currency, where most U.S. coins are actually 92% copper, and 8% nickel.

But there's no denying that, given the choice, nearly everyone prefers gold. It's valuable, it's seductive and it's mystical.

Ancient kings fought wars to amass it. Yet, for thousands of years, its most enduring role has arguably been in the form of money - as a store of value.

That's because fiat-paper-currency experiments have never lasted, and always ended badly.

Increasingly, followers of the Austrian School of Economics are nostalgic for gold to regain its former glory, perhaps "backing" a new international currency.

But despite gold's much longer history as true money, some believe that copper - the much humbler metal - could be positioning itself to upstage gold.

To find out more about the forces that will transform copper into the "New Gold," read on...

If China Sneezes, Wall Street Will Catch A Cold

By , Contributing Writer, Money Morning -

Investors who needed proof of China's increased importance in the post-financial-crisis world only have to look at the nervousness of recent weeks to get a glimpse of the future.

When U.S. stocks fell sharply late Friday, they capped off a harrowing 10-day span that has seen the broad U.S. market benchmarks drop by nearly 7%. Emerging markets are down 9%. Not surprisingly, investor fear has sent volatility rocketing 40% - the largest two-week increase since the global financial crisis went nuclear back in October 2008. 
 
Complicating matters was the continued strengthening of the U.S. dollar - something we've been discussing and warning about for a few weeks. With fear on the rise among global investors, many are abandoning risky positions in emerging-market stocks and bonds and moving cash into the safety of U.S. Treasuries. This bolsters the dollar, which was up 4% in two weeks. That exerts a lot of pressure on commodities. Crude oil fell more than 7% during the week. Gold is down 5%. 

The corporate bond market - which has been red hot lately, helping to underpin stock-market gains - continued to advance, but slipped relative to ultra-safe government debt. Tim Backshall of Credit Derivatives Research wrote in a note to clients that both high-yield and investment-grade credits have been making the longest and most consistent run of lower lows versus ultra-safe U.S. Treasuries since February 2008. 

While government debt has the edge for the moment, the long-term corporate-credit bull market remains intact, according to WJB Capital Group Inc. strategist Brian Reynolds. He sees the credit bears making a run at credit-derivative products that insure against bond defaults, which are a cheap way to try to manipulate the market.

Indeed, the cost to protect against default at banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), not to mention Greece, jumped noticeably last week. But the damage has been limited as bears have failed to get traction against the instruments that they used to catalyze the 2008 credit crisis.

This lays the groundwork for a powerful snapback rally for stocks.

To find out more about the China Surprise, read on ...

Fed Gambles on Low Inflation and a Stable Housing Market

By , Money Morning -

The so-called "exit strategy" has yet to enter the picture.

U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers yesterday (Wednesday) announced that the benchmark Federal Funds rate would remain in its record-low range of 0.00% to 0.25% for an "extended period." And policymakers also said that the nation's central bank would continue with its plan to wind down its purchases of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities.

The term "exit strategy" is a financial euphemism for boosting interest rates. By keeping short-term interest rates at what many experts say are artificially low levels, the Fed is betting that inflation will remain subdued in the short and medium-term and that the beleaguered U.S. housing market will be able to stage its recovery without crutches.

Read More…

My Confrontation With Ben Bernanke: The One Question He Refused to Answer

By , Guest Columnist, Money Morning -

The Secret Service agents watched me warily as I approached U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

I didn't waste any time. After introducing myself, I showed him a copy of the talk he gave at the American Economic Association (AEA) meetings in January 2007. I circled all the times he used the words "panic," "crisis," and "stress" in his speech, entitled "Central Banking and Bank Supervision of the United States."

A total of 36 occasions.

I asked him point-blank: "Did you know in advance that a financial crisis was headed our way?"

He looked nervous. I could tell he was uncomfortable with my question. He looked at me stoically and smiled.

And he refused to answer.

But there was no doubt in my mind what the correct answer was. I think he was worried about his job if he said, "Yes."

Read More…

Why Gold Beats the Market Manipulators

By , Money Morning -

There's one investment that Wall Street manipulators can't touch - and neither can the Fed or the U.S. government. Right now, that investment is gold. Taking a stake in a hard asset like gold may well be the surest way to make some money for yourself despite the shenanigans on Wall Street.

Read More…

Two Ways to Profit From Wall Street's "Soft Commodity" - Cotton

By , Contributing Writer, Money Morning -

Some of the best investment opportunities can happen simply by ignoring the Wall Street herd and venturing onto the road less traveled.

Take such traditional "breakfast club" commodities as sugar, cocoa, coffee and orange juice. They all enjoyed a great year, despite bearish forecasts of doom and gloom. Sugar and cocoa even traded at multi-decade highs.

Similarly, cotton got a bad rap going into 2009, though it motored into the end of the year with a tidy profit, rising on the standard laws of supply and demand.

Read More…

Investment News Briefs

By , Money Morning -

With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. Top AIG Lawyer Quits Over Pay Restrictions, Gets Millions in Severance; Biggs & Faber: S&P 500 Has Room to Run, Dollar Will Rebound; Consumer Confidence Rises for Second Month in a Row; U.S. Home Prices Unchanged in October; China Audit Finds $35 Billion in Fraud by Officials; GM Holds Fire Sale on Remaining Pontiacs and Saturns; Oil Moves Closer to $79 Outgoing American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) General Counsel Anastasia Kelly will get "several million dollars" in severance after she quit over federal pay curbs, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal . Kelly was entitled to the money under AIG's severance plan, which says certain executives can resign and collect severance if their pay is significantly reduced, the people said. Kelly's pay stood to take a large hit after the Obama administration "pay czar" Ken Feinberg capped annual salaries at $500,000 for executives at companies that received billions in bailout money. The exact amount of severance was not specified. Hedge fund manager Barton Biggs and contrarian investor Marc Faber both said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that the dollar and the U.S. equity market may gain up to 10% in the next two years. "History would suggest that after such a severe economic shock like we've just had that the odds are that we're going to have a pretty good burst of growth in 2010, 2011," Biggs said. "I don't see any reason why we can't have a further rally in the dollar and a further rally in stocks. And my guess is that the next move in both could be on the order of 10%." Both Biggs and Faber recommended investors buy U.S. stocks on March 9, 2009 when the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was at its lowest point in 12 years.

Read More…

Investment News Briefs

By , Money Morning -

With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. Nikkei Hits Three-Month High; Obama to Small Banks: Step Up the Lending; Tax Credit Fuels 7.4% Gain in November Home Sales; OPEC Leaves Oil Output Unchanged; WSJ: Apple Approaches CBS, Disney About Internet Television Service; Report: Computer Hackers Stole Millions of Dollars from Citi; Federal Court Upholds Ruling on Patent Infringement by Microsoft; Buffett Adds Comcast COO to Berkshire Board A weaker yen and strong technology stocks helped Japan's Nikkei 225 finish 1.9% higher at 10,378.03 yesterday (Tuesday), the highest level in three months. Most shares of tech companies gained after Barclays Capital (NYSE ADR: BCS) upgraded its rating on Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) from overweight to market weight on Monday. "The U.S. dollar strength is undoubtedly helping out the Nikkei," Cameron Peacock, an analyst at IG Markets told MarketWatch.com. "With Japan being such an export-focused economy, the weaker yen is a real positive for Japanese companies' earnings." The White House will seek to remove bureaucratic barriers that prevent community banks from lending so they can help businesses seize "enormous opportunities" for growth, U.S. President Barack Obama told the heads of a dozen small lenders yesterday (Tuesday). The president encouraged the bankers to keep the nascent recovery of the U.S. economy going by increasing their lending to small businesses and supporting the financial reform measures being proposed on Capitol Hill.

Read More…

How to Profit From the Oil-Price Spike of 2010

By , Money Morning -

Oil prices staged a remarkable rally this year on the back of a weak dollar and a nascent economic recovery. In 2010, it's likely that these same factors will combine with an increase in global energy demand to push oil prices back up over $100 a barrel.

With stockpiles still high and energy demand rebounding sluggishly, most forecasts are calling for the "black gold" to edge up into the low-triple-digit price range. That's 40% higher than where oil is trading right now - but is still well below the record high of nearly $150 a barrel that was established in 2008.

Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald is even more bullish. He believes that a price of $100 a barrel is "easily attainable" and says that some sort of unforeseen market shock could cause crude oil to spike as high as $150 barrel by the end of 2010.

Read More…

Investment News Briefs

By , Money Morning -

"New" GM to Begin Bailout Repayment; Dollar Drops to 15-Month Low, Gold Continues Record Highs; SEC to Investigate Trading Prior to 3Com/HP Deal; Sprint Pays Down Loan, Stock is Upgraded; Canon to Buy Europe's Largest Printer Maker; Hitachi to Raise $4.6 Billion in Stock and Bond Sale; Cisco Ups Bid for Video Conference Equipment Maker; Millions of U.S. Taxpayers May Unexpectedly Owe, Treasury Says

Read More…

Gold Prices Soar to Record High on Report of Secret Plan to Dethrone the Dollar

By , Money Morning -

Gold prices surged to record high $1,045 an ounce yesterday (Tuesday), after a report surfaced that global oil producers are planning to stop using the U.S. dollar for oil trade. "There's no telling the veracity of these reports, but the general trend has been going in this direction anyway: a weaker dollar and rising gold," […]

Read More…

Weak Dollar Narrows Trade Deficit, but Inflation Blunts Consumer Demand

By , Money Morning -

By Jason SimpkinsAssociate Editor The trade deficit narrowed significantly in the month of March, as developing markets took advantage of a weak dollar and stocked up on American goods.   The gap shrank 5.7% from a revised $61.7 billion in February to $58.2 billion, the Commerce Department reported. Imports decreased 2.9% as the country experienced sluggish […]

Read More…