Archive for August, 2011
The Increasingly Murky Niche of Penny Stock Trading
There’s been a lot of noise lately about what I like to call “The Increasingly Murky Niche of Penny Stock Trading.” Sounds like the title of a Roald Dahl book? Well, this subject may be equally dark and eccentric. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of penny stocks, here’s how Investopedia defines them: [...]
Market Rallies on Hopes for Fed Intervention?
On Tuesday, markets in the U.S. rallied. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 all showed big jumps. Curiously, data reported on Tuesday did not seem to support a rally, rather it may have confirmed ongoing fears that the U.S. economy has entered a double dip recession. New home sales were below expectations by [...]
Bank of America in Turmoil
Despite a rally on Wall Street, Shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) traded lower again on Tuesday, tumbling nearly 4%. Year-to-date, shares of the bank are down over 50% now. That is a significant decline for a stock that many once held high expectations for. Last January, CNBC’s Jim Cramer argued that Bank of [...]
Forget QE3, Bring On OT2?
On Friday, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke will give his annual Jackson Hole speech. Anticipation is running high that Bernanke will use the opportunity to present a new plan to boost the economy. Last year, Bernanke used his speech at Jackson Hole to lay the groundwork for the second round of quantitative [...]
Will the End of Gadhafi’s Regime Harm the Canadian Dollar and Russian Ruble?
On Monday, rebel forces in Libya had managed to take the majority of the capital city Tripoli. Further, it was announced that the rebel forces had captured Gadhafi’s sons, perhaps indicating that end of the dictatorial Libyan regime was near. The conflict in Libya has been raging for nearly six months. Over that time, the [...]
Fed’s Governors Make Rounds Prior to Jackson Hole
On August 9, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met to discuss interest rates. Following the meeting, the Fed released a statement saying that it would keep interest rates low for an extended period of time. Notably, three of the FOMC’s members dissented from the statement, arguing that a promise to maintain interest rates near [...]
Bank of Japan Ponders Further Intervention
On Thursday, officials with the Japanese government met with officials at the Bank of Japan to discuss the recent record appreciation of the Japanese yen. Since the beginning of July, the yen has been steadily appreciating, particularly against the U.S. dollar. During the first week of August, the Bank of Japan intervened in an effort [...]
Civil War at the Fed?
On August 9, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met to discuss monetary policy. As was widely anticipated, the Fed voted to maintain rates near 0% and released a statement saying that the Fed would intervene, if necessary. Perhaps what was most interesting was that the FOMC had, for the first time in nearly 20 [...]
Forty Years After the End of Gold-Backed Money
Monday August 15 marked the 40th anniversary of former President Richard Nixon’s decision to cease gold-dollar convertibility, effectively ending the gold standard once and for all. Since then, the global economy has existed solely in the realm of fiat currency. Following the Second World War, the United States and its allies created the Bretton Woods [...]
Will the Sarkozy-Merkel Meeting Lead to Inflation In the Eurozone?
On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met to discuss possible solutions to the ongoing eurozone crisis. It seemed the meeting ruled out more solutions than it proposed new ones though. As a result, shares on stock exchanges around the world plunged. The Dow Jones closed down over 70 points. The [...]
