Since the summer, financial experts continued to repeat themselves that the Federal Reserve was going to taper its $85 billion per month bond-buying initiative this month. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke kept hinting at it and even noted that it might not taper its quantitative easing program if the economic data didn’t support such a move. Despite the warnings, CNBC, CNN … [Read more...]

The S&P has rallied 19 percent in 2013, which is impressive by any measure. But the market did far better in 1987, when stocks added more than 30 percent from the beginning of the year to Aug. 8. The problem? The market ended up tanking in the second half of that year—dropping 36 percent from the Aug. 25 peak to the October low, before closing out 1987 nearly exactly … [Read more...]

Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., and Matt Smith, Commodity Analyst at Schneider Electric (EPA:SU) appeared on CNBC on August 5 to discuss the outlook on gold and energy prices. Schiff said “A lot of shorts have come into the market. Speculative longs have exited based on three false narratives. One, the US economic recovery is gathering momentum. I … [Read more...]

Global shares have plummeted after Federal Reserve indicated it will stop the quantitative easing that has kept US economy afloat. Markets were roiled today by a suggestion from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that the central bank may be done with its monetary stimulus next year. While stocks and commodities took a pounding on the news, the dollar … [Read more...]

The Federal Reserve will keep its version of the monetary printing press running a while longer, though Chairman Ben Bernanke provided hints Wednesday that the days of extreme easing are coming to a close. At a news conference, the central bank chief said if the economy continues to improve the asset-purchasing program could start winding down towards the end of 2013 … [Read more...]

At his March dinner at the Jefferson Hotel with a small group of Senate Republicans, President Obama made something of an admission. “The problem you have reforming Medicare is that for every dollar Americans pay into the system, they’re going to get three dollars out in benefits. Americans don’t understand that,” Obama said, citing a study from the Urban … [Read more...]

Manufacturing (NAPMPMI) in the U.S. unexpectedly shrank in May at the fastest pace in four years, showing slowdowns in business and government spending are holding back the world’s largest economy. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 49, the lowest reading since June 2009, from the prior month’s 50.7, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s … [Read more...]

The U.S dollar is shrinking as a percentage of the world's currency supply, raising concerns that the greenback is about to see its long run as the world's premier denomination come to an end. When compared to its peers, the dollar has drifted to a 15-year low, according to the International Monetary Fund, indicating that more countries are willing to use other … [Read more...]

Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to end its extraordinary stimulus programs. Reducing the Fed's efforts to keep borrowing rates low would "carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery," Bernanke said in testimony to the Joint Economic Committee, a … [Read more...]