April Blog Archives 2014

April Blog Archives


4.30.14 - U.S. Economic Growth Stalls In First Quarter of 2014

Gold prices fall slightly lower after Fed comments, but climbed nearly 1% for the month. U.S. stocks higher on Fed statement and a better-than-expected jobs report. Gold last traded at $1,295 an ounce. Silver at $19.17 an ounce.

Some might be shocked by the latest news on the growth of the US economy in the 1st quarter of 2014; but those who have been paying attention to the economic data, and not to speeches coming from Fed officials, are not surprised.

The U.S. economy slowed drastically in the first three months of the year. Some economists and the Federal Reserve are blaming the slowdown on cold weather. We shall see if that theory holds up. The fact is, disappointing employment reports and mixed signals from other statistics pre-dated the harsh winter of 2014.

Growth slowed to a barely discernible 0.1 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, the Commerce Department reported today. That was the weakest pace since the end of 2012 and was down from a less-than impressive 2.6 percent rate in the previous quarter.

The anemic growth last quarter is surely a topic for discussion at the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, which ends later this afternoon. No major changes are expected. The Fed will likely announce a fourth reduction in its monthly bond purchases because of the supposed gains the economy has been making.

The scant 0.1 percent growth rate in the gross domestic product (the country's total output of goods and services), was well below the 1.1 percent rise economists had predicted.

Not everyone is buying into the Fed's story that the economy is improving.

According to economist Michael Pento, the Federal Reserve's move to eliminate its monthly bond purchasing program will cause a "collapse in asset prices and a severe recession". The longtime Fed critic said the withdrawal of Quantitative Easing will cause a sharp decrease in housing prices and stocks despite consensus predictions that the effects will be minimal. These quotes from Pento are telling:

"Very soon the amount of QE will be close to, if not exactly at zero. And without banks supporting asset prices by consistently creating new money at the behest of the Fed, stocks and home prices have nowhere to go but down.

I anticipate the reduction of the wealth effect to intensify as the taper progresses. Since the economic 'recovery' was predicated on the rebuilding of asset bubbles, a long delayed and brutal recession will start to unfold later this year.

The real question investors need to answer is to determine how long Janet Yellen will wait before admitting the economy is completely addicted to QE, and that there is no escape from the Fed's constant manipulation of money supply growth and asset prices."

The economic malaise America seems trapped in has many side effects. One of them is losing ground economically to foreign countries--most notably China.

The US is on the brink of losing its status as the world’s largest economy and is likely to slip behind China this year, sooner than widely anticipated. The US has been the global leader since overtaking the UK in 1872. Most economists previously thought China would pull ahead in 2019.

One other economic factor the US government statistics mislead the public on is inflation.

According to Moody’s, the latest reported inflation rate is sitting around the 1.5% range, a modest inflation rate to say the least. But that rate may be misleading.

The way the US Labor Department calculates inflation has changed over the years and one can no longer look at inflation calculations as a good representation of what is truly happening in the economy.

What are the true inflation numbers then? If we go back to 1980 and apply the formula used in 1980 to 2014, we find current inflation is in the 8.5% – 11% range.

In fact, according to Bloomberg, food costs are up 19% year to date in 2014 alone. Additionally, if you adjust gas prices from January 2009 for the inflation rates reported by the BLS, regular gas per gallon should cost about $2.00-$2.05 per gallon. Been to the pump lately? We are 75% higher than that at most stations, which is a good demonstration of just how far off the inflation numbers really are.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, co-anchor of Squawk Box on CNBC, is warning of the possibility of another financial crisis.

He bases his concerns on debt.

Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, two professors of economics, studied centuries of financial crises and panics and repeatedly came to the same conclusion. "If there is one theme to the vast range of crises we consider," they wrote in their book, This Time Is Different, "it is that excessive debt accumulation, whether it be by the government, banks, corporations or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during the booms."

There is now more sovereign debt in the system than ever. In rich countries, the burden on governments of a graying population, expanding welfare payments and shrinking tax-paying workforces has been significantly compounded by huge increases in government debt in the wake of the last crisis.

This time, the culprit may not be banks or mortgage companies. Sorkin says the focus should be on cities, municipalities and countries that have run up huge debt levels that they may not be able to service. These are the seeds of another economic and financial crisis.

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4.29.14 - Weak Housing Market Hurting U.S. Recovery

Gold prices flat after weaker-than-expected consumer confidence data. U.S. stocks higher, house prices flat in February. Gold last traded at $1,299 an ounce. Silver at $19.53 an ounce.

There are more signs today of economic trouble in the US and overseas as well as evidence of the decline in the purchasing power of the US dollar over the long-term.

Two weeks ago we reported Gallup had conducted a survey that indicated Americans viewed real estate as the best investment category. Since then, we've seen multiple negative reports from the real estate market and today is no exception.

Home prices cooled off in February, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. Prices were relatively unchanged compared to January. Overall, the housing market isn't doing much to drive an economic recovery and most economists maintain real estate must form a key component of any true economic recovery.

"Five years into the recovery from the recession, the economy will need to look to gains in consumer spending and business investment more than housing," said David Blitzer, spokesman for S&P. "Long overdue activity in residential construction would be welcome, but is certainly not assured."

"Sales of both new and existing homes are flat to down," said Blitzer. "The recovery in housing starts is faltering. Home prices nationally have not made it back to 2005 levels."

Long-term trends are no more encouraging.

The home ownership rate in the U.S. has declined to the lowest in almost 19 years as rising property prices and mortgage rates have held back demand.

The share of Americans who own their homes was 64.8 percent in the first quarter, down from 65.2 percent in the previous three months, the Census Bureau said in a report today. The rate is the lowest since the second quarter of 1995, when it was 64.7 percent.

One of the reasons for the weakness in real estate has been the disappointing employment picture - both persistently high unemployment and underemployment.

In 20 percent of American families in 2013, not one member of the family worked; according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

A family, as defined by the BLS, is a group of two or more people who live together and who are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In 2013, there were 80,445,000 families in the United States and in 16,127,000 (or 20 percent), no one had a job.

The BLS designates a person as “employed” if “during the survey reference week” they “(a) did any work at all as paid employees; (b) worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; (c) or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family.” Members of the 16,127,000 families in which no one held jobs could have been either unemployed or not in the labor force. BLS designates a person as unemployed if they did not have a job but were actively seeking one. BLS designates someone as not in the labor force if they did not have a job and were not actively seeking one. (An elderly couple, in which both the husband and wife are retired, would count as a family in which no one held a job.)

Of the 80,445,000 families in the United States in 2013, there were 7,685,000 - or about 9.6 percent - in which at least one family member unemployed.

Fresh concerns about the job market are pushing down consumer confidence.

Americans grew concerned in April that jobs have become more difficult to land, prompting an unexpected drop in confidence. The Conference Board’s sentiment index decreased to 82.3 from 83.9 a month earlier.

For those who are working, a long-term statistic culled from data released by the Census Bureau paints a stark picture of the declining purchasing power of the dollar in the hands of America's breadwinners. The real median income of American men who work full-time, year-round peaked forty years ago in 1973. In that year, median earnings for men who worked full-time, year-round were $51,670 in inflation-adjusted 2012 dollars. The median earnings of men who work full-time year-round have never been that high again. In 2012, the latest year for which the Census Bureau has published an estimate, the real median earnings of men who worked full-time, year-round was $49,398. That was $2,272 below the peak median earnings of $51,670 in 1973.

The US is not the only country with employment problems. In fact, some European nations are in an outright depression based on unemployment figures. One such nation is Spain, where the unemployment rate just hit 26%.

The implosion of a decade-long property bubble in 2008 flooded the country in debt, tipped the economy into a double-dip recession and wiped out millions of jobs.

Economists had been hopeful Spain's economy was recovering, but the latest unemployment figures suggest the economy is still in deep trouble which, in turn, clearly means the European Union economy is vulnerable to a renewed financial crisis, especially with tensions in Ukraine flaring up.

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4.28.14 - U.S. Sanctions Against Russia "Causing Damage" To Russian Economy

Gold prices end slightly lower on stronger-than-expected U.S. home sales. U.S. stocks end choppy session higher on positive economic data and heavy selling of Internet stocks. Gold last traded at $1,299 an ounce. Silver at $19.59 an ounce.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to take center stage on the global news scene, producing exogenous factors the financial markets simply cannot ignore.

Deadly clashes in eastern Ukraine and warnings of broader US sanctions against Russia have sent tremors through Moscow’s financial markets and forced the country to cancel a sovereign debt auction.

Russian president Vladimir Putin admitted for the first time that the US sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea are “causing damage” to Russia’s economy. Will Russia retaliate in some way against the US dollar? What will the deteriorating Russian economy mean for its trading partners in the European Union? The answers are yet to be seen.

Signs of Russia’s growing economic distress became even clearer Friday as the country's central bank raised interest rates for the second time since March in an attempt to defend the ruble against capital flight while Standard & Poor’s cut Russia’s debt rating to one notch above junk.

Two separate incidents raised tensions substantially over the weekend.

1: Russian jets entered Ukrainian airspace Friday night in what was seen as a provocative action. Ukrainian officials say they fear Russian jets and ground movements are a prelude to invasion. The flights came as Russia increased military exercises along the Ukrainian border, including moving a broad array of fixed wing and rotary aircraft, infantry and armored troops.

2: Members of a German-led military observer team are being held hostage by pro-Russian forces in the separatist stronghold of Slavyansk. This team was paraded before the media on Sunday with a rebel leader calling them “prisoners of war”.

President Obama responded by telling Russia it should cooperate with international observers in Ukraine, not stand by while they were detained by pro-Moscow "thugs."

Obama also made his first public comments on new international sanctions due to come into force early in the week against Russia, saying they were a punishment for Moscow's "provocation" in eastern Ukraine.

On Saturday, G7 nations said they would impose new sanctions on Russia within days, which could produce additional economic and financial fallout.

In gold market news, gold market action has been choppy and corrective in recent weeks, but a key technical indicator is providing a bullish signal--namely the so-called " Fibonacci retracement" of the first quarter rally move continues to hold. Meanwhile, gold demand from China continues to be robust. Some market observers had worried a slowdown in the rate of growth of the Chinese economy might result in a decrease in Chinese demand for gold. Quite the opposite has occurred. Chinese gold imports from Hong Kong jumped 27% in the 1st quarter. Keep in mind that the 27% increase over 2013 is an increase over a record year for demand for gold in China. Last year China reported record gold import figures through Hong Kong of 1,139 tons in 2013 – almost double those of 2012. So far in Q1, Chinese imports are even higher in 2014.

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4.25.14 - Stock Market Tumbles On Growing Global Tension

Gold prices end higher as tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalate. U.S. stocks tumble on global tensions and a batch of disappointing results. Gold last traded at $1,300 an ounce. Silver at $19.69 an ounce.

The financial world is once again focused on Ukraine as tensions between Vladimir Putin's Russia and Ukraine are once again flaring up.

The US stock market is down sharply across the board, sliding into the loss column for the week. Likely due to geopolitical strife overshadowing other news and market factors.

Ukrainian forces reportedly killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels as Russian troops resumed military drills along that nation's border with Ukraine.

Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors, warned of specific fallout from the conflict:

"If Russia plays hard ball and cuts off the supply of natural gas to Europe, prices would go up for consumers and hurt consumer spending, and make the price of doing business more expensive. If there is less discretionary spending and less economic growth in Europe, it would hurt the growth of our companies doing business in Europe."

President Barack Obama had a conference call with European leaders today to talk about expanded sanctions and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned the Russian economy would be targeted so long as tensions in Ukraine continued.

Obama and four key European allies agreed on Friday that Russia had failed to live up to the terms of the Ukraine peace accord, and would coordinate on a response to "impose costs" on Russia.

"The president noted that the United States is prepared to impose targeted sanctions to respond to Russia's latest actions," the White House said in a statement after Obama's conference call with French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The fallout is already being felt by some. Visa, the world's largest credit and debit card company, said U.S. sanctions on Russia were crimping its transaction volumes and that revenue growth would slow more this quarter.

Meanwhile, gold is rising today in response to the tensions in Ukraine, providing a vivid reminder of its role as a safe haven in times of geopolitical tensions that tend to erode the value of paper investments.

In other news about gold, a renowned financial expert is pointing out once again that Federal Reserve policies will send the price of gold higher - much higher.

Peter Schiff, chief executive officer of Euro Pacific Capital, reiterated to MarketWatch his long-running belief that gold has the potential to hit $5,000 an ounce:

"So far this year, gold is the best-performing asset class, but I think the pullback we have seen over the last few weeks is just another indication of how much negative sentiment remains. Ultimately however, the fundamentals will prevail. The Fed will keep printing [dollars] and gold will keep rising.

"I believe the consensus expectation that the U.S. recovery is real and that the Fed will end its [quantitative-easing] program and normalize interest rates is wrong. Over the past few years the Fed had become [a] serial mover of goal posts, delaying the decision to end stimulus more than anyone would have predicted. When the Fed has to admit that its forecast of a sustained recovery is wrong, it will come to the aid of a faltering economy with even more QE. When that happens, gold will rally."

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4.24.14 - Gold Jumps On Growing Global Turmoil

Gold prices end higher as tensions between Ukraine and Russia intensify. U.S. stocks ended volatile session higher on positive earnings and upbeat data. Gold last traded at $1,290 an ounce. Silver at $19.69 an ounce.

A series of news reports today seem to be shouting for investors to take advantage of low gold prices in seeking safe harbor for their hard-earned wealth.

Foremost on many minds is continuing tensions in Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin issuing fresh threats that Russia will move to "protect" Russians in Ukraine.

Putin seems to be close to following through on those threats with Russian forces holding more war games on the Ukrainian border.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of a "catastrophe" if Russia moves against Ukraine militarily.

Merkel was initially more cautious than other Western leaders on the Crimean crisis, but in recent days she has pushed the European Union to match U.S. sanctions. EU action is critical because Europe does 10 times as much trade with Russia as the United States, buying most of its gas and oil exports.

The prospect that EU measures could be implemented as soon as Monday has weighed down Russian markets.

But make no mistake, such sanctions would cut both ways at a time when Western European nations are still trying to recover from a severe economic and financial crisis. Add to this the concerns over Chinese economic growth and the escalation of tensions in Ukraine and it all spells trouble for world financial markets.

Investors can't even take solace in positive US economic news.

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week.

Jobless claims increased by 24,000 to 329,000 in the week ended April 19, the most in a month, the US Labor Department reported today.

Economists had expected 315,000 claims.

This is just the latest in a series of bad employment reports we've been highlighting. The Fed keeps telling America the economy is getting better, while claiming credit for that improvement.

But not only are Americans not seeing that improvement themselves, but the economic statistics don't reflect an improving economy.

This has serious implications for the dollar. As more investors realize the US economy is NOT healthy, dollar-based assets like US stocks and bonds will suffer.

Persistent unemployment is not the only economic problem confronting investors. As we've started reporting in recent weeks, signs of cost-push inflation are starting to appear in the US economy.

CNBC reports more and more US firms are feeling the squeeze of rising prices for a variety of items and services.

Hooker Furniture reports rising leather costs forced it to raise prices last quarter. Yum! Brands reports higher-than-expected commodity inflation, and therefore, higher menu prices. Lighting company Acuity Brands said prices of some of the commodities it uses are rising and the Georgia-based company said it's feeling the impact of higher health-care and wage costs as well.

On its earnings call, McDonald's management discussed the increase in hourly minimum wage costs that took effect in 13 states at the beginning the year.

All told, the management discussions this earnings season are providing a glimpse at what some analysts say the market may be quietly figuring out ... a higher rate of inflation.

Chipotle Mexican Grill said beef prices are up 25 percent since the fourth quarter, and it expects a 10 percent jump in cheese prices this year and higher avocado costs. It is raising prices company-wide for the first time in nearly three years.

The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB index, which includes agricultural and other commodities, is up more than 11 percent so far this year.

The bond market is signaling inflation as well. The spread between yields at the long end of the Treasury curve and the short end has flattened.

It may be too early to tell just yet, but with other aspects of the US economy stagnant, rising inflation could be signaling the onset of "stagflation," the combination of rising inflation and flat or negative economic growth.

That phenomenon first appeared in the 1970s, when the S&P 500 fell some 45% over 21 months in a vicious bear market, while the price of gold tripled.

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4.23.14 - Expert Predicting Crash Of U.S. Dollar

Gold prices end higher on Ukraine tensions, weakness in U.S. equities and downbeat economic data. U.S. stocks fall on disappointing housing and manufacturing reports. Gold last traded at $1,283 an ounce. Silver at $19.42 an ounce.

A slew of economic reports combined with some stark predictions from respected market analysts emerged today. Investors would be wise to take notice.

60-year market veteran Richard Russell, who edits and publishes the world-renowned Dow Theory Letters, warned investors this week that the US dollar will crash in a matter of months.

Russell also stated he is buying all of the physical gold and silver he can, “while they are still available.”

Russell also added: "I think the bear market that started in 2007 was interrupted, BUT NOT ENDED, by the Fed. Somewhere ahead, I believe this bear market will run to conclusion. I also believe that the great recession never ended, but was masked by the 'manufacture' rally in the stock market. The US will lose its reserve currency advantage within a few years or probably less time. Our defense against a weak economy is always to print more money. In a matter of months, I see the dollar crashing.”

His predictions suggest the stock market remains extremely vulnerable, especially after five years of rising prices and because a decline in the value of the US dollar would have substantial implications for gold. Since the dollar is currently the world's reserve currency of choice, gold, which is the ultimate form of real money, serves as its natural rival. Any sharp decline in the value of the dollar will tend to push the price of gold higher and also stimulate demand for gold. What's more, because gold is priced in dollars, a decline in the value of the dollar will tend to push the price of gold in dollars higher.

Russell is not the only market analyst who's sounding the alarm.

Hedge-fund manager David Einhorn, who runs Greenlight Capital, issued a similar warning to his clients in his quarterly letter: "Now there is a clear consensus that we are witnessing our second tech bubble in 15 years. What is uncertain is how much further the bubble can expand, and what might pop it."

Einhorn, who is famous for his prediction of the Lehman Brothers collapse, cited three indications of a bubble:

-The rejection of conventional valuation methods;
-Short-sellers forced to cover due to intolerable mark-to-market losses; and
-Huge first day IPO pops for companies that have done little more than use the right buzzwords to attract the right venture capital.

Some economic reports released this week are certainly not supportive of continued growth in the stock market.

The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in April though the rate of growth fell short of what economists expected and was lower than the March reading.

Financial data firm Markit said its preliminary or "flash" U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index dipped to 55.4 in April from 55.5 in March. Economists polled by Reuters expected a reading of 56.0.

Meanwhile, a similar gauge in China signaled economic weakness in their economy.

The preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was 48.3 in April, below the expansion-contraction dividing line of 50. In other words, the Chinese manufacturing sector is contracting, not expanding.

The stock market may not be the only market in peril. The real estate market is exhibiting symptoms of a malaise. Yesterday we reported weakness in sales of existing homes in the US. Today there is a report of similar weakness in the sale of new homes.

Sales of new single-family homes plunged last month, hitting the slowest pace since July. In March, home sales fell 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, led by drops in three of four U.S. regions. Economists had expected an annual rate of 450,000 in March, so this report showed an unexpected, drastic decline.

Finally, there is yet another factor which partially explains the across the board decline in US and European stock markets today: Ukraine (again).

Ukraine edged closer to a new round of hostilities after the government in Kiev said it’s resuming operations to oust militants from eastern cities and Russia pledged to defend its citizens in the neighboring country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country is prepared to retaliate if its “legitimate interests” are “attacked directly,” drawing a parallel with its actions during a 2008 war over the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia. A military operation is under way after its suspension for the Easter holiday, with security agencies seeking to eliminate all militias operating in Kramatorsk, Slovyansk and other cities, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Vitali Yarema told reporters in Kiev today.

“Russian citizens being attacked is an attack against the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said in an interview today with the state-run television broadcaster RT. “If we are attacked, we would certainly respond.”

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4.22.14 - America's Middle Class Is Declining

Gold prices fall on more technical pressure and a rally in U.S. equities. U.S. stocks higher, S&P 500 and Nasdaq set for sixth-straight day of gains. Gold last traded at $1,281 an ounce. Silver at $19.36 an ounce.

There are two disturbing, interrelated long-term trends in the US economy that have implications for investors as well as the financial markets.

Long-term trend #1: The decline of the middle class

The American middle class is the engine of growth for the US economy. That's why its decline in recent years is so worrisome. In fact the American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction. A New York Times analysis shows that across the lower and middle income tiers, citizens of other advanced countries have received considerably larger raises over the last three decades.

After-tax, middle-class incomes in Canada now appear to be higher than they are in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans.

Median income in Canada pulled into a tie with median United States income in 2010 and has most likely surpassed it since then. Median incomes in Western European countries still trail those in the United States, but the gap in several — including Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden — is much smaller than it was a decade ago.

This has serious implications for the value of the US dollar as wealth is migrating out of America to overseas markets.

Long-term trend #2: Expanding income inequality

While the wealthiest Americans are outpacing many of their global peers, middle and lower income Americans are losing ground.

Although economic growth in the United States continues to be as strong as it is in many other countries, a small percentage of American households fully benefit from it.

This suggests most American families are paying a steep price for high and rising income inequality.

Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the 21st Century, believes increased inequality in the U.S. contributed to the financial crisis that slammed the housing and financial markets in 2007 and 2008: "One consequence of increasing inequality was virtual stagnation of the purchasing power of the lower and middle classes in the United States, which inevitably made it more likely that modest households would take on debt ..."

And that borrowing, as we know, left many mortgage holders with much more debt than they could handle. Foreclosures soared, mortgage lenders failed and some top Wall Street firms, heavily involved in the mortgage-backed securities market like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, went bankrupt.

Increased income inequality contributed to the Great Depression as well, suggesting that this long-term trend could produce more financial crises going forward.

In other economic and financial market news, the inevitability of rising interest rates after years of loose Federal Reserve monetary policy is set to take its toll on the bond, real estate and stock markets. Investors have enjoyed historically low interest rates for several years now and are largely unprepared for the flip side, when rates rise. Rising interest rates are destructive for existing bonds and bond funds, the investment vehicles investors sought for safety in the first place. Their decline in the face of rising rates will be a rude awakening for investors.

Rising rates are also tough on stocks as new bonds and cash equivalents, such as money market funds, provide competition for equities.

Finally, rising rates are just as destructive for real estate as they are for bonds as the costs of borrowing increase.

That could be why we've seen a decline in home sales for the third month in a row. Just yesterday Gallup reported that Americans saw real estate as the best investment over the long-term. Recent market action tells a different story.

Sales of previously owned homes fell in March for the third consecutive month. Closings fell 0.2 percent to a 4.59 million annual rate, the lowest level since July 2012, the National Association of Realtors reported.

Meanwhile, gold has been on a 4-day losing streak, there are technical signs that the market is set to turn bullish.

Ryan Detrick, Chief Technical Strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research sees gold heading to $1,420 an ounce and says a reversal of the key moving averages is a positive technical indicator for gold. “Recently the 50-day moving average has moved above the 200-day moving average, a bullish cross,” Detrick noted. “This can be a sign that the bulls are going to take charge here.”

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4.21.14 - Americans Most Trusting In Real Estate, Gold And Stocks

Gold prices end lower on an improving economic landscape. U.S. stocks higher, S&P 500 extends winning streak. Gold last traded at $1,288 an ounce. Silver at $19.35 an ounce.

The Gallup organization has released its latest poll of US investor sentiment and the results show Americans tend to be most trusting in real estate, gold and stocks.

Gallup's April 3-6 Economy and Personal Finances poll asked Americans to choose the best option for long-term investments: real estate, stocks and mutual funds, gold, savings accounts and CDs, or bonds.

Real estate came in at number one, with stocks and gold tied for second.

Americans' trust in real estate may not be so well-founded. It wasn't terribly long ago that real estate collapsed and brought the rest of the economy down with it (from 2007-2009). The reality is the broader economy is still trying to fully recover from that mess. Moreover, critics maintain the government agencies and policies (Fannie Mae and subprime mortgages encouraged by government regulators) that contributed to the real estate collapse in those days have never been held accountable or reformed for the integral roles they played in precipitating the crisis. In other words, there is no guarantee we won't see a repeat of what we saw in 2007-2009.

Furthermore, real estate has benefited greatly from loose monetary policies from the Federal Reserve, specifically low (or even negative) real interest rates. If and when those interest rates rise, they will start to strangle the real estate market.

As for stocks, a separate study would seem to contradict the Gallup poll.

More than five years after the financial crisis, the average American is still wary of the stock market, according to a survey released by Bankrate.com today.

The survey of over 1,000 households showed that 73% are "not more inclined to invest in stocks."

The survey suggests average Americans remain leery of Wall Street even though stocks have been rising for more than five years. Who could blame individual investors who have experienced two major downturns in the past dozen years or so. First with the technology bubble in 2000, then the bear market of 2008.

A lot of individual investors got burned twice. As a result, they've sworn off investing in the stock market.

Many Americans simply don't trust Wall Street, including some very prominent Americans. Back on March 30th, author Michael Lewis appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes to warn Americans that the stock market was rigged by ultra-sophisticated, high speed trading programs utilized by big brokerage firms.

The SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have confirmed they are investigating, as has the New York Attorney General.

Now some other Americans are taking action: they are suing.

On April 18, 2014, plaintiffs lawyers’ filed a securities class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against 42 defendants including fourteen brokerages, sixteen securities exchanges and twelve high-speed traders. The roster of defendants includes the major exchanges, such as the NYSE and NASDAQ, as well as trading platforms such as the BATS Global Markets; major banks, such as BofA, UBS and Barclays; and a long list of trading firms large and small.

The lawsuit, filed by the City of Providence, Rhode Island, is brought on behalf of an ambitious putative class; the action purports to be brought on behalf of all public investors “who purchased and/or sold shares of stock in the United States between April 18, 2009 and the present (the 'Class Period') on a registered public stock exchange (the 'Exchange Defendants') or a United States-based alternate trading venue and were injured as a result of the misconduct.”

In other economic news, recently we have detailed signs of cost-push inflation emerging in the US economy. More evidence is coming out now.

US Regular gasoline prices are their highest since March 2013 having risen over 12% (40 cents) in the last two months to $3.67 per gallon.

Along with skyrocketing food prices, particularly beef, this is just the latest sign that, despite sanguine government inflation statistics, the cost of living for average Americans is going up.

This couldn't be happening at a worse time in terms of Americans' ability to cope.

In addition to persistent high unemployment, America is especially experiencing persistent underemployment.

For Americans who can't find jobs, the booming demand for temp workers has been a path out of unemployment; but now many fear it's a dead-end route.

With full-time work hard to find, these workers have built temping into a de facto career; minus vacation, sick days or insurance. The assignments might be temporary — a few months here, a year there — but labor economists warn that companies' growing hunger for a workforce they can switch on and off could do permanent damage to these workers' career trajectories and retirement plans.

The primary cause for this the so-called mainstream media dares not reveal? Obamacare. Companies have more of an incentive than ever to hire part-time, temp workers to avoid having to provide health insurance benefits.

In addition to temporary workers, there is something else growing rapidly in America: government.

Government has been growing in two ways:

1. Existing government programs, such as Medicare and Medicare, have been mushrooming.

2. New government programs have been created.

The US General Services Administration recently published figures on the number of federal assistance programs designed to target individuals, as well as state and local governments. There are now 2,236 such programs. That is up from 1,425 in 2000.

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4.17.14 - Labor Market Struggles To Gain Momentum

Gold prices end lower on upbeat U.S economic data and safe-haven appeal. U.S. stocks higher as traders cheered upbeat earnings reports. Gold last traded at $1,293 an ounce. Silver at $19.60 an ounce.

Weekly jobless claims have risen yet again, but the cheerleaders on Wall Street and in the so-called mainstream media still insist on trying to put lipstick on this pig of an economy.

Claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 304,000 last week, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level.

Government, particularly the Federal Reserve, is taking credit for what it says is an improving economy and a better employment situation. Other, unbiased, observers are not so sure.

Lindsey Piegza, chief economist for Sterne Agee, says she doesn't see momentum building in the labor market. If frigid weather alone could explain the disappointing batch of employment reports from over the winter, then the economy would have seen a bigger bounce as companies played catch-up with their hiring, Piegza said. The economy would have added more jobs than the 192,000 jobs created in March, she said.

"Taken together, the labor market is losing momentum from the start of 2013 and it's really not painting an encouraging picture for the next 12 or 24 months," Piegza said.

John Ryding, the chief economist for RDQ Economics, questions whether monetary policy can truly spur more hiring.

Manipulation of interest rates and the dollar by central bankers cannot take the place of sound, underlying economic fundamentals and those just don't appear to be in place. That's why, for months now, we have kept seeing disappointing economic reports and statistics. Meanwhile, the Fed keeps telling us everything is looking brighter. But most Americans don't see any evidence of this claim.

For those who are currently employed, the government-sponsored Ponzi schemes known as "entitlement programs," have placed a huge, unsustainable burden on their shoulders. The latest census report shows that 86 million full-time workers are sustaining 148 million benefits recipients. Eventually, there will be too few carrying too many and the economic implications of that reality are something the policymakers in Washington refuse to recognize or address.

In other financial market news, hedge funds posted their worst first-quarter results since 2008, according to financial data service Preqin, whose “All Hedge Fund Strategies” index shows a gain of 1.2 percent since the start of the year. That compares poorly to many other categories of investments, including gold, which was up some 8% during the first quarter.

The Chinese understand the value of gold and that's why Chinese demand for gold, both from investors and the Chinese government, has been skyrocketing.

As we have previously reported, this trend is expected to continue, with Chinese gold demand slated to rise another 20% to 25% by 2017. One reason for official Chinese demand for gold is the desire to supplant and eventually replace the US dollar as a medium of exchange and reserve asset.

The combination of rising demand for gold and the inevitable devaluation of the dollar has tremendous implications for those who choose to hold gold and those who choose to hold dollars. Gold, priced in dollars, will see its value increase as the value of the dollar continues its fall over the long-term.

NOTE: Swiss America Trading will be closed tomorrow (April 18) in observance of Good Friday. We hope you and yours have a blessed Easter! Check back Monday for the latest market news.

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4.15.14 - Gold Presents Major Buying Opportunity

Gold prices fall sharply on profit-taking and a stronger U.S. dollar. U.S. stocks end higher on upbeat earnings reports. Gold last traded at $1,300 an ounce. Silver at $19.49 an ounce.

As millions of Americans rush to meet tonight's deadline for filing their federal income taxes; gold has entered a correction, tensions continue to escalate in Ukraine and economic reports raise concerns about the health of the US economy.

The price of gold is off about 2% on technical-driven profit taking today after five days of consecutive gains. Despite the sell-off, there is evidence higher prices are in store.

Richard Ross, global technical strategist at Auerbach Grayson, says today's correction is providing a good buying opportunity, as the charts are doing something they haven't done in a while: flash a buy sign.

"There are some signs that make gold very attractive at these levels," said Ross. "I'm not a gold bug per se but I do like a nice chart and I think that's what we can see here with gold. It has a lot of things in its favor."

Pulling out his fundamentals hat, Ross also sees a weaker dollar, lower interest rates and volatility in the equity markets as tailwinds for bullion.

One of the recent bullish indicators for gold has been rising Chinese demand, making China the world's number one consumer of gold. According to the World Gold Council, that trend will continue over the next few years, with Chinese gold demand rising by another 20% by 2017.

Another factor that could potentially drive global investors to gold as a safe haven is the continuing tension in Ukraine. This tension ramped up yet again today as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine was on the verge of civil war as the country launched a military operation against pro-Russian militants in the separatist East.

The government in Kiev is taking the battle to the restive East of the country after armed pro-Russian activists occupied administrative buildings in cities including Donetsk, a regional center of more than 900,000 about 62 miles from the Russian border. An attempt to head off the mounting insurgency may escalate tensions with Russia, which has 40,000 troops massed on Ukraine’s border after its annexation of Crimea last month.

In addition, a Russian fighter jet buzzed a US Navy destroyer in the Black Sea yesterday, making as many as 12 low-level passes over the ship in a clear effort at intimidation.

In more mundane economic news, new economic reports were released today which all show reasons to be concerned about the US economy:

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.2% in March, slightly higher than 0.1% economists had forecast. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said increases in the shelter and food costs accounted for most of the rise. Consumers are especially feeling the hike at the grocer where beef is at a record high and milk, and some vegetables, are also climbing in price.

In fact, beef prices are at their highest levels in 27 years and the drought in California is expected to drive fruit and vegetable prices up across the board anywhere from 14% for corn to 34% for lettuce in coming months.

• Confidence among home builders in the market for new, single-family homes remained in a holding pattern in April, ticking up just one point.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 47 from a downwardly revised reading of 46 the month before. The reading disappointed analysts who had expected it to rise to 49. A reading of more than 50 indicates more builders view market conditions as favorable than poor. In other words, more builders view market conditions as unfavorable or poor today than favorable.

• U.S. business inventories rose a bit less than expected as sales rebounded, suggesting a slow pace of restocking could weigh on economic growth. The Commerce Department reported that inventories increased 0.4 percent in February after rising by the same margin in January. Economists had forecast inventories increasing 0.5 percent in February.

Businesses accumulated too much stock in the second half of last year and are placing fewer orders with manufacturers while they work through the pile of unsold goods.

Add to these concerns; severe weather, the expiration of long-term unemployment benefits and food stamps cuts ... all of which add up to a gloomy forecast for growth.

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4.14.14 - Gold Jumps On Growing Tensions In Ukraine

Gold prices close higher on a sharp decline in equities as tensions grow in Ukraine. U.S. stocks boosted by stronger-than-expected retail sales and results from Citigroup Inc. Gold last traded at $1,327 an ounce. Silver at $20.01 an ounce.

Things are once again heating up between Russia and Ukraine, pushing gold to a 3-week high today.

Earlier, pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine ignored an ultimatum to leave occupied government buildings in eastern Ukraine while another group of rebels attacked a police headquarters as a threatened military offensive by government forces failed to materialize.

In addition to gold, palladium also rose--to a 2 1/2 year high--on fears that a new round of escalated sanctions will curb supplies of the metal, a key component in pollution control devices on automobiles and other engine-powered products. Much of the world's palladium comes from Russia.

Ukraine aside, there is reason to believe gold will rise in the near future due to a decidedly cloudy picture for the US dollar. There is a growing movement to dump U.S. dollars in global trade in favor of local currencies or even gold. Russia and China appear to be spearheading these efforts, with new bilateral trade deals that bypass the U.S. dollar. These developments are all very bearish for the U.S dollar.

Given the debt levels of the U.S. government, unprecedented money printing to bail out the banks and keeping the economy afloat over the past 5 years; it is tough to see a scenario in which the dollar strengthens in a sustained manner going forward.

Whether the dollar collapses suddenly or dies a slow death, you will want to have gold in your portfolio to protect your wealth.

Other markets are in precarious condition, particularly the US stock market.

Another horrific stock market crash is coming, and the next bust will be “unlike any other” we have seen.

That’s the message from Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chief investment strategist of GMO, a Boston-based firm with $117 billion in assets under management.

Grantham pulls no punches when he discusses who he holds responsible for the coming financial carnage. In a recent interview with The New York Times, he calls Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen “ignorant” and said the Federal Reserve all but killed the economic recovery.

He also says that he isn’t putting his clients’ money into the market right now.

Grantham isn’t the only one worried about a market collapse.

“We have no right to be surprised by a severe and imminent stock market crash,” explains Mark Spitznagel, a hedge fund manager who is notorious for his hugely profitable billion-dollar bet on the 2008 crisis. “In fact, we must absolutely expect it."

Others seem to have already had advance notice that a fall was coming.

Insiders at some of the hottest private and publicly traded internet companies unloaded substantial personal stakes ahead of the recent decline in the tech sector.

The selling has stirred unease among some investors, who see the sales as opportunistic moves revealing a lack of confidence in their companies’ stock prices.

“Individuals selling before going public is always a bad sign,” said Mr Sebastian Thomas, a portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors.

“It’s a yellow flag with regard to what’s really going on with the company,” said Mr Thomas. “It makes you worry what they are trying to sell to investors.”

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4.11.14 - Experts Calling For U.S. Stock Market Correction

Gold prices closed slightly lower, but gained for the week as investors worry about the sharp losses on Wall Street. U.S. stocks suffer big weekly loss, Nasdaq now below 4,000. Gold last traded at $1,319 an ounce. Silver at $19.95 an ounce.

Merill Lynch used to be bullish. Not anymore. Bank of America/Merill Lynch is now calling for a "10% to 15% correction" in the US stock market later this year.

They may be a little tardy in their call. All major stock markets around the world are sharply lower today. In fact the Nikkei index in Tokyo saw its largest weekly fall in three years this week. Shanghai and Hong Kong were also down. The news was the same in Europe. And today, all three major US stock indices are down, egged on by a disappointing earnings report from financial services giant JPMorgan.

One famous market expert believes conditions in the stock market will get far worse before they get better. Marc Faber told CNBC yesterday that he expects a crash in the stock market worse than the one experienced in 1987, when the down fell 20%+ in one day. Faber points out that underlying earnings have not supported stock market performance for some time and will eventually precipitate a major sell-off.

Of course exogenous events could touch off such a sell-off in stocks. One possible factor that has been largely forgotten but could re-emerge is the economic crisis in Europe, which has never been truly resolved. A panel of European university economists warned yesterday that the Eurozone debt crisis persists and could re-erupt on a larger scale.

National debt for several European nations remain precarious. Italy's debt is 130% of its annual GDP. Greece's is 170%. These conditions are a recipe for disaster if there is an economic downturn. Economists also worry that European politicians act as if the crisis is history and they say that is far from the case. A crisis over the Ukraine, a crisis involving Iran or the impact of a slowdown in the Chinese economy could all create the conditions in which Europe could be dealt an economic catastrophe.

Meanwhile, here in the US, the second sign of rising inflation in the past week appeared. The Producer Price Index was up 0.5% during March, the fastest rate in nine months, owed largely to higher costs experienced by clothing retailers, grocers and wholesalers of chemical goods--a broad base of inflationary pressures.

What’s more, some inflationary pressure could be building in the pipeline. The price of unprocessed goods such as animal feed or sheet metal has risen by 5.8% in the past 12 months, the biggest increase since last summer. If those costs keep rising, they could eventually push up the price of wholesale goods and filter into consumer products.

This could introduce a whole new economic factor into the investment calculus.

Expectations of higher inflation could further buoy gold prices; along with a softening dollar. Banking giant HSBC's take on the recently released Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting minutes was that policies over the near-term would weigh on the dollar and support higher gold prices.

Finally, Harvard University released a study this week indicating that each American worker's personal share of our government's national debt is a whopping $106,000. In other words, every employed American would have top pay $106,000 to pay off the national debt. If the debt was spread across every person living in the US, that figure would "only" be $52,000.

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4.10.14 - Gold Jumps On Dovish Fed Minutes

Gold prices up over 1% on dovish Fed minutes. U.S. stocks lower on downbeat trade data from China and better-than-expected jobless claims. Gold last traded at $1,320 an ounce. Silver at $20.09 an ounce.

The sell-off in stocks was renewed in earnest today in the wake of minutes from the last Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting.

All the major stock indices, particularly the tech-heavy NASDAQ, are sharply lower thus far and the price of gold is up more than $13.

The minutes suggested officials will be cautious on increasing interest rates going forward.

Ordinarily this would buoy stocks, but not right now. The stock market action is being dominated by continuing worries about high-tech stocks and a flurry of disappointing earnings reports.

The Federal Reserve's flip-flopping statements on monetary policy bode well for gold.

Today the markets were also greeted with the news that claims for unemployment had plunged to their lowest levels since 2007. But, the devil is in the details and the details suggest this number does not represent a trend.

The issue at hand has to deal with seasonality. The drop in jobless claims may be more the result of statistical quirkiness than a dramatic improvement in the job market. The problem is these numbers are notoriously volatile around March and April. Unemployment claims for this time of year are historically impacted by holidays, such as spring break, Easter and Passover. It remains to be seen whether this is the start of a trend.

Meanwhile, China's economy lost momentum in the first quarter and growth in 2014 could fall short of the government's official target . This could jeopardize global growth as many world economies are dependent on China for both the supply and demand side of the equation. It is no wonder millions of Chinese are turning to gold.

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4.9.14 - Stock Sell-Off May Not Be Over Yet

Gold prices ended slightly lower, but climbed higher after release of Fed minutes. U.S.stocks rally after Fed minutes revealed a more dovish stance than investors expected. Gold last traded at $1,305 an ounce. Silver at $19.77 an ounce.

The stock market has rebounded somewhat over the past two days but there are indications that the sell-off could resume.

Technical analyst Louise Yamada says the stock slide isn't over just yet.

"I don't think the pullback is already over," Yamada, of Louise Yamada Technical Research Advisors, said on Tuesday. "I think that it's an interim pullback, and we've certainly seen what we've expected, in the Internet and biotechs coming off. And I think that although they may bounce, there's probably still a little bit more to go on the downside."

The selling could spread to other sectors, such as aerospace and consumer discretionary stocks. Yamada says the weakness in stocks lines up well with broader bearish indicators, such as the fact that 2014 started with a weak January, and is a midterm election year.

Another sector that has been in the spotlight recently has been banking. US banking regulators on Tuesday ordered the eight largest "too big to fail" banks to raise capital levels in a bid to address weaknesses seen in the 2008 financial crisis.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the robust capital standards -- the banks will need to raise a reported $68 billion in additional capital -- were "essential to reduce systemic risk and mitigate the distortions imposed by institutions deemed too big to fail."

The banks affected are Bank of America, The Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Wells Fargo.

The move is designed to help ensure banks can remain on their feet when the funding market for banks suddenly dries up in a crisis, as happened in 2008, when governments were forced to step in and prop up financial institutions.

This is just the latest sign that there are serious concerns about the health of the banking sector and its ability to withstand an economic and financial crisis.

Let's face it: you don't keep ordering banks to prepare for crisis if you don't have a concern that a crisis is on the way.

The Federal Reserve may be imposing policies on the private sector but the private sector has its own opinion of Federal Reserve policies. Wall Street in particular has been the beneficiary of the Fed's loose money policies. Now that the Fed is tapering Quantitative Easing and making noises about eventually raising interest rates, Wall Street is protesting.

The latest Fixed Income Forum Survey from global rating agency Fitch Ratings showed that money managers desire the Federal Reserve to maintain their loose monetary policy. According to the data, 70% of the respondents said the Fed’s monetary support is either important or critical.

Rising interest rates are negative for the bond market as they depress the prices of existing bonds.

The money managers also see one major risk to the economy: the labor market. Most believe the employment situation is worse than reported in official statistics--something we've been pointing out for months.

There is another long-forgotten factor that may be creeping back into the economy: inflation, in the form of rising prices. Extreme weather has thinned the nation's cattle herds, roiling the beef supply chain from rancher to restaurant. As a result, beef prices have reached all-time highs in the U.S. and aren't expected to come down any time soon.

The retail value of "all-fresh" USDA choice-grade beef jumped to a record $5.28 a pound in February, up from $4.91 the same time a year ago. The same grade of beef cost $3.97 as recently as 2008.

Soaring beef prices are being blamed on years of drought throughout the western and southern U.S. The dry weather has driven up the price of feed such as corn and hay to record highs, forcing many ranchers to sell off their cattle. That briefly created a glut of beef cows for slaughter that has now run dry.

The nation's cattle population has fallen to 87.7 million, the lowest since 1951, when there were 82.1 million on hand, according to the USDA.

Finally, as we have reported repeatedly over the past several months, there is a long-term trend to supplant or even replace the US dollar as the world's reserve currency. One candidate to step up into the dollar's place is the Chinese yuan.

Numerous reports have shown nations declaring interest in or directly discussing diversifying away from the US dollar. Standard Chartered bank notes that at least 40 central banks have invested in the yuan and several more are preparing to do so. The trend is occurring across both emerging markets and developed nation central banks. Perhaps most ominously, for the dollar, is a former-IMF manager's warning that "The Yuan may become a de facto reserve currency before it is fully convertible."

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4.8.14- Growing Ukraine Tensions Put Pressure On Global Markets

Gold prices closed higher on a lower dollar and more turmoil in Ukraine. U.S. stocks end slightly higher as Ukraine tensions weigh on global markets. Gold last traded at $1,309 an ounce. Silver at $20.05 an ounce.

Violence has erupted in Ukraine once again and investors are assessing the fallout from a three-day sell-off in stocks.

A match appears to have been struck and thrown onto the smouldering tinder of the conflict in Ukraine, as pro-Russian supporters and the Ukrainian army battle.

Around 70 people were arrested in the eastern city of Kharkiv after protestors in favor of a Crimea-style annexation by Russia stormed government buildings. This followed the escalation of pro-Russian protests, which some in Ukraine allege are backed by the Russian government.

These actions add to fears that the Russian government may intervene directly in the struggle, which would lead to further economically-damaging sanctions from the Western governments.

Several hundred pro-Russian demonstrators in the city of Donetsk declared Monday that they were forming an independent republic and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to send troops to the region as a peacekeeping force.

Ukrainian authorities sent security forces to Kharkiv to clear the country’s second-biggest city of separatists as Russia warned that its neighbor’s crackdown risks sparking civil war.

It is clear the crisis is far from over and escalation could certainly have economic and financial implications.

Meanwhile, in the US, the stock market is reeling. In fact, the S&P 500 is now in the red for the year.

Investors are moving out of many areas of the market that performed well in 2013. In particular, the Internet, social media and biotechnology industries are experiencing notable weakness.

Part of the reason for the sell-off has been earnings-driven. In recent weeks a near-record number of S&P 500 firms have issued negative guidance and now earnings reports are starting to trickle in.

Citigroup in particular, the largest financial services conglomerate, is warning investors it is likely to miss a key profitability target. Samsung's results have also come in short of estimates. Samsung is a key maker of cell phones and other tech devices.

Federal Reserve policies also have investors spooked. Investors worry there is too little proof the economy can accelerate enough to counterbalance the Fed's reversal of its easy money policy. In other words, the party is coming to an end.

In a reversal of his more bullish take on U.S. equities in recent weeks, Dennis Gartman said Monday that he's getting out of equities and sticking with cash and gold to ride out the recent pullback.

In Monday's issue of The Gartman Letter, Gartman said he "couldn't recall a time in our history of trading when we've seen such unanimity of trend reversals" as was observed on Friday. "Indeed, the changes were material enough and important enough to mandate that action be taken to reduce our exposure to everything we have on, save for positions in gold," he said.

Other analysts are turning bearish on stocks also: “We believe current valuations make it more challenging for stocks to maintain the momentum displayed since 2013,” said Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets.

Finally, "Tax Freedom Day," will arrive 3 days later this year. That's the day when the nation collectively has made enough money to pay its total tax burden for the year. This year Tax Freedom Day falls 111 days into 2014, on April 21.

By April 21, Americans will have made enough to pay the $3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state taxes — more than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.

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4.7.14 - Global Stock Markets Lower Due To A Sell Off In High-Tech Shares

Gold prices settled lower after last week's U.S. jobs report. U.S. stocks fell sharply on heavy selling of high-growth stocks. Gold last traded at $1,298 an ounce. Silver at $19.91 an ounce.

World stock markets are reeling once again, but this time it isn't Russian troops in Crimea or a negative employment report shaking things up.

Stock markets across Asia, Europe and the US are down due to a sell off in high-tech shares.

The sell-off started Friday when the darlings of the Internet economy, such as Google and Netflix, were hammered as investors had a change of heart and decided prices were too high.

Part of the problem, no doubt, has been outright complacency by investors and overconfidence on Wall Street; something that always seems to coincide with the outset of bear markets. Now that we are heading into earnings report season, the market seems unlikely to turn back to the positive. The latest round of earnings comes as the market seems to be losing some momentum.

Earnings for the companies in the S&P 500 are expected to be down 1.2% in the first quarter, according to estimates from FactSet Research. Most of the 111 companies that publicly shared their earnings forecasts for the first quarter had a negative outlook.

This positions gold nicely to provide a safe haven for investors, since gold has historically moved independently of stocks.

Gold is particularly needed for the future because it stands virtually alone in insulating wealth from the monetary recklessness of the Federal Reserve and other world central banks, the fiscal foolishness of the free-spending US governments and other governments around the world, a possible new financial crisis or even a geopolitical shock.

Meanwhile, gold's internal supply/demand fundamentals have turned positive, with robust demand and supply straining to keep up.

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4.4.14 -Latest Employment Report Fails To Meet Expectations

Gold prices end above $1,300 on weaker-than-expected jobs data. U.S. financial stocks, dollar fall sharply after jobs data. Gold last traded at $1,303 an ounce. Silver at $19.95 an ounce.

The Labor Department released the latest employment report this morning and the numbers indicate the jobs market in the US economy continues to be lackluster at best.

The economy created 192,000 jobs in March, better than during the depths of winter but still short of the labor market rebound many experts had been hoping to see last month. The unemployment rate remained flat from last month, at 6.7 percent, while economists had been expecting a drop to 6.6%.

The latest numbers suggest the economy is still failing to achieve the kind of escape velocity that experts and policy makers have long sought.

The labor participation rate actually increased last month, but that means the unemployment rate is unlikely to keep falling going forward because people who are again looking for work are counted as unemployed, while those who have given up and dropped out of the labor force are not.

About 10.5 million Americans remain unemployed, and 36% have been without a job for at least six months. Meanwhile, another 7.4 million people are working part-time, even though they would prefer full-time hours.

A number of economists look past the "main" unemployment rate to a different figure the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls "U-6," which it defines as "total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers."

In other words, the unemployed, the underemployed and the discouraged — a rate that still remains high.

The U-6 rate rose in March to 12.7 percent.

The US economy isn't the only economy showing weakness. Economists are also worried about China.

Emerging markets, increasingly dependent on China for their own growth, may suffer as the world’s second-largest economy decelerates, the International Monetary Fund reported its latest World Economic Outlook released today.

China's economic issues may be one factor contributing to the growing demand for gold in that country. In 2013, demand for gold in China reached record levels, propelling China past India as the world's largest consumer of gold.

That demand is sustaining itself.

Chinese gold demand is broad-based, coming from both the government and from individual and institutional investors. Some observers had expected Chinese gold demand to abate this year, but so far that doesn't appear to be happening.

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4.3.14 - More Disappointing Economic Reports For U.S.

Gold prices end slightly lower on a higher U.S. dollar after ECB decision. U.S. stocks lower after four days of gains as U.S. jobless claims rise. Gold last traded at $1,284 an ounce. Silver at $19.86 an ounce.

More disappointing economic reports have been released by the US government today as key Wall Street analysts warn of a reversal in the stock market and the financial world continues to wake up to gold's positive performance thus far in 2014.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000, the Labor Department said this morning. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time applications for jobless benefits rising to 317,000. The claims report also showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid rose 22,000 to 2.84 million.

Statistics published by the New York Times also show an especially bleak job market for the medium- and long-term unemployed.

All of this data seemingly fly in the face of claims by Fed Chair Janet Yellen and other members of the Obama administration that the economy is recovering nicely.

Weakness in the US economy tends to drive investors away from dollar-denominated assets and the US stock market, making gold an excellent alternatives as gold has traditionally served as a hedge against weakness in the dollar and has historically moved independently of stocks.

More negative news for the dollar, America's trade deficit has widened.

The U.S. trade deficit climbed to the highest level in five months in February as demand for American exports fell while imports increased slightly.

The deficit increased to $42.3 billion, which was 7.7 percent above the January imbalance of $39.3 billion, the Commerce Department reported this morning.

A higher trade deficit acts as a drag on economic growth because it means U.S. companies are making less overseas than their foreign competitors are earning in U.S. sales. A higher trade deficit also puts downward pressure on the value of the US dollar, since sending more dollars overseas increases the supply of dollars relative to foreign currencies.

Given this overall economic uncertainty and the length of time since the stock market experienced a significant correction or bear market, it's no surprise more expert market observers are issuing warnings about the stock market.

The S&P 500 is a mere 10 points away from a 30% plunge, says Saxo Bank’s chief economist Steen Jakobsen.

He expects equities will peak at around 1,900-1,950 before that big plunge kicks in. Given the S&P 500 is hovering around 1,890, that selloff looks like it’s just around the corner. Instead, it could be a long, slow meltdown.

“We’re not looking at this correction for next month or for the next two quarters, this is for late 2014. If you’re looking at it right now, the market may have an upside of 5%, but then you’re looking at a 30% downside in the final month of 2014,” he says. And if investors only have the potential of around 5% upside from here, Jakobsen says it may be worth backing out of equities starting now.

He predicted the S&P would soon suffer from a decline in real corporate earnings, as well as a "very significant" global slowdown.

Jakobsen says equities, unlike other asset classes, haven’t had a proper correction since the first round of quantitative easing began back in 2008.

Statistically speaking, he says, markets have had a correction of 10% almost every year, and 25% to 30% every five years.

By those numbers, the US stock market is due for a fall.

Jim Paulsen of Wells Capital Management forecasts a similar fall, but perhaps more dramatic.

In 37 trading days, the ongoing bull market would be 1,311 trading days old, says Paulsen.

That is a scary date because it was on the 1,311 trading day after the start of the 1982 bull market that the Standard & Poor’s 500 suffered its biggest one-day crash in history on Oct. 19, 1987. That crash snuffed out what had been a powerful market rally starting in 1982.

Normally these kinds of things are just market oddities. But investors are taking this one seriously since there are such strong similarities with the 1982 bull market and the one the market is currently in. For instance, the current bull run has marked a 175% rally from the low, which is where the 1982 bull was at this point in its run, Paulsen says.

Investors won’t have to wait long to know if the 1987 market is a pattern. The current bull run hit its 1,274th trading day on March 31, 2014. The 1,274th trading day of the 1982 bull market was Aug. 25, 1987, which turned out to be a notable top, Paulsen says.

So, where should investors turn?

Gold would be a good place to turn and it has performed admirably thus far in 2014. Investors are starting to notice.

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4.2.14 - Gold Jumps On U.S. Economy Weakness

Gold prices higher on short-covering and bargain-hunting. U.S. stocks higher on better-than-expected economic reports. Gold last traded at $1,290 an ounce. Silver at $20.05 an ounce.

Gold is on the rebound today due to yet another disappointing report on the US job market.

The U.S. economy created nearly 191,000 new private-sector jobs last month, below economists expectations, according to the ADP National Employment report, a widely-watched private sector employment report.

Weakness in the US economy encourages investors to avoid dollar assets, which is positive for gold.

Of even greater long-term significance to the financial markets is a story that emerged yesterday, but which has escaped the attention of most of the mainstream media. A dozen large investors have filed a joint lawsuit against 12 banks for allegedly conspiring to rig global foreign-exchange prices.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York late Monday, was from a group of investors across the U.S. and Caribbean, including city and state pension plans. The suit alleges the banks conspired with one another - including in chat rooms, via instant messages, and by emails - to rig foreign-exchange rates as far back as January 2003.

The banks named in the suit are Bank of America, Barclays, BNP, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche, Goldman, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, RBS and UBS. In other words, 12 of the biggest banks in the world.

The investors behind the consolidated lawsuit are: Aureus Currency Fund LP, a Santa Rosa, Calif., investment fund; the City of Philadelphia and its board of pensions and retirement; the Employees' Retirement System for the Government of the Virgin Islands; the Employees' Retirement System of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority; Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association; Haverhill Retirement System for the city of Haverhill, Mass.; Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System; State-Boston Retirement System; Tiberius OC Fund, a Cayman Islands fund; Value Recovery Fund LLC, a Delaware fund with offices in Connecticut; Syena Global Emerging Markets Fund LP, a hedge fund in Connecticut; and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

In the complaint, the investors accused the banks of controlling foreign-exchange rates via a "small and close-knit group of traders." They alleged it became possible for banks to rig the market because the traders "have strong ties formed by working with one another in prior trading positions" and by, in many cases, living "in the same neighborhoods in the Essex countryside just northeast of London's financial district."

"They belong to the same social clubs, golf together, dine together and sit on many of the same charity boards," the complaint adds.

This is the kind of high stakes lawsuit that can truly impact the marketplace and can drag on for years in the legal process.

One of President Obama's major speech topics so far in 2014 has been "income inequality," which is curious because income inequality has set records thanks largely to the policies of his administration.

The top 10 percent of earners took more than half of the country’s overall income in 2012, the highest proportion recorded in a century of government record keeping.

In addition to "income" inequality setting records, "wealth" inequality is now at its highest point since the early 20th century.

The danger from this phenomenon is that such gaps contribute to the bursting of asset bubbles historically, something certainly be possible in the near-term.

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4.1.14 - Demand For Gold Remains Strong

Gold prices ended slightly lower as traders look to U.S. economic data for demand clues. U.S. stocks higher, boosted by positive manufacturing data and better-than-expected car sales. Gold last traded at $1,280 an ounce. Silver at $19.69 an ounce.

It is clear that demand for gold coins is alive and well with the smashing success of the U.S. Mint's $5 gold baseball coins. The coins, which went on sale last Thursday, were part of the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin program. All 50,000 of the gold coins were sold by Monday afternoon. The last time the U.S. Mint sold out of a commemorative coin was in 2005.

Demand for gold is also surging in Japan for different reasons. Japanese consumers have scarfed up gold bars ahead of a controversial hike in the country’s sales tax due to hit today. Gold sales increased five-fold in March as talk of the tax emerged.

Aside from dodging the tax hike, Japanese investors may be looking to protect themselves against inflation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic strategy involves heavy money printing by the Bank of Japan to ward off Japan’s persistent deflation problems. Given the fact that Japanese gold demand tripled in 2013, there is clearly more to this Japanese "gold rush" than just the sales tax.

The surging demand for gold may be one factor that translates into higher gold prices in the future.

Asset manager Pecora Capital LLC has forecast that gold will set new records over the next five years as weaker stock markets spur demand for a haven and physical buying from Asia strengthens even more.

Overvalued U.S. stocks will probably retreat when the Federal Reserve ends stimulus. In that scenario, gold could initially slide as money flows toward cash investments before rebounding, a new forecast from Pecora said. " There’ll be a knee-jerk reaction where very temporarily gold prices will drop and then they’ll outperform.”

We could be seeing that happen right now, making current gold prices very attractive indeed.

The weakness in stocks hasn't been seen as of yet, but there is indeed reason to believe it will soon.

Ahead of first-quarter earnings season, Corporate America’s outlook is holding around its most pessimistic levels ever. According to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet, 93 out of the 111 companies in the S&P 500 that have issued an earnings outlook for the first quarter have guided below Wall Street’s consensus estimate. That’s the second-highest number of companies issuing warnings since FactSet began tracking guidance data in 2006.

Yesterday, we reported about Michael Lewis' new book, Flash Boys, in which Lewis asserts that the stock market is rigged by high speed program trading. Today we find the FBI is in fact looking into the firms who utilize those programs.

U.S. federal agents are investigating whether high-speed trading companies violate U.S. laws by using fast-moving market information not available to other traders. Launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about a year ago, the investigation called the High-Speed Trading Initiative, is still in its primary stages, a senior FBI official and an agency spokesman told The Wall Street Journal. High-speed trading based on information about orders that other investors do not have access to and hence putting them at a disadvantage could violate insider-trading laws.

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