Monthly Archives: July 2015

Bank of Canada Admits Recession, The Solution: More Bubbles

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“What made the Canadian recession easy to spot was the Canadian yield curve inverted out to three years following a surprise rate cut by the Bank of Canada on January 21.  It remains to be seen if the US follows. The US contracted in the first quarter, but the second quarter rebound was a bit stronger than I expected.  I awarded Canada the ‘Blue Ribbon’ for the first yield curve inversion of any major country following the great financial crisis. I smell an ‘Operation Twist‘ type move by the Canadian central bank to rectify this horrific ‘recession-signaling’ condition.  If so, the sweet spot for banks and hedge funds to front-run the trade appears to be 5Y or 7Y notes.  Some banks may already be in on it.”

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/07/bank-of-canada-admits-recession-shades.html

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Fed rate-hike speculation lifts U.S. dollar to three-month high

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“The dollar reached its highest in nearly three months against a basket of currencies on Monday on a rise in U.S. bond yields as traders built bets the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates later this year.  A plummet in gold prices to five-year lows under $1,100 an ounce also increased the appeal of the greenback, the world’s reserve currency.  Last week, U.S. Fed Chair Janet Yellen testified before Congress, reiterating U.S. interest rates will go up later this year if the economy continues to expand.  St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard told Fox Business network on Monday there was a higher than 50 percent chance the U.S. central bank will raise rates in September.”

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/20/us-markets-forex-idUSKCN0PU01920150720

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Cheap Oil Is Squeezing Property Owners in Energy Hubs

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“Even as U.S. commercial real estate values surge past records set in 2007, with cash from around the globe pouring into the best buildings in the biggest cities, lenders are becoming more cautious in regions that rely heavily on the oil industry for growth. That could create higher hurdles for borrowers that need to refinance mortgages in places such as Texas and North Dakota.  Lenders are reassessing risks in energy towns as roughly $1.1 trillion of property loans come due across the U.S. over the next three years. About $345 billion is left over from a lending binge on Wall Street that culminated in 2007 with a record $232 billion in sales of securities linked to properties.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-07/oil-rout-squeezes-property-owners-from-houston-to-north-dakota

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How to get a piece of the $400 million ‘Atocha’ shipwreck treasure

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“On July 20, 1985, U.S. treasure hunter Mel Fisher discovered the sunken treasure of the Spanish galleon, Nuestra Señora de Atocha. The ship was part of a fleet of Spanish ships that sank in 1622 after sailing through a hurricane. Fisher spent nearly 17 years searching for the wreck but it proved to be worth his time. In total, more than 40 tons of silver and gold were recovered by Fisher’s team off the coast of the Marquesas Keys, a small group of islands about 30 miles west of Key West, Florida. The treasure was worth roughly $400 million.  To mark the 30th anniversary of the discovery, Guernsey’s auction house in New York will be auctioning off some items from the Fisher collection.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-to-get-a-piece-of-the–400-million–atocha–shipwreck-180158610.html

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China dumped a huge amount of gold on the market and investors are spooked

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“Gold had a ‘mini flash-crash’ in Asian trade on Monday, with the price falling almost 4% in a matter of seconds.  A huge dump of bullion, equivalent to one-fifth of a whole day’s trade in a normal session, came on the market in China this morning in a two-minute window.  ANZ Bank analyst Victor Thianpiriya said that the ‘nature, size and timing of the heavy selling’ suggests someone ‘was taking advantage of low liquidity or some sort of forced selling had taken place.’  If it is ‘forced selling’ then we could be in for plenty more trouble. Forced selling generally means leveraged investors who have used borrowed money to buy gold are being forced to sell to pay back the borrowed cash.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/gold-price-flash-crash-caused-by-five-tonnes-of-chinese-bullion-2015-7

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Commodity Rout Worsens as Prices Tumble to Lowest Since 2002

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“The rout in commodities deepened with prices touching the lowest since 2002 as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates sent gold tumbling.  Raw materials are losing favor with investors as the dollar gains amid signals from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that the central bank may raise rates this year on the back of an improving U.S. economy. Higher borrowing costs curb the attractiveness of commodities such as gold, which doesn’t pay interest or give returns like assets including bonds and equities.  Gold futures sank to the weakest in more than five years while industrial metals, grains, Brent crude and U.S. natural gas also slid as a measure of the dollar climbed to the highest since April 13.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-20/commodities-drop-as-dollar-gain-routs-gold-on-fed-rate-prospects

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Trump Tried to Bulldoze an Elderly Widow’s Home to Build a Limo Parking Lot

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“Donald Trump is leading the GOP primary polls with 24 percent.  In 1994, Trump got Atlantic City to condemn Vera Coking’s home so that he could build limo parking for his Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. The Institute for Justice took on Trump in one of its first big eminent domain cases:  She was able to beat Trump and the city government and win the right to keep her property.  Coking moved to a retirement home in 2010, having lived almost 50 years in her Atlantic City home. Coking’s grandson finally sold the house in July 2014; less than two months later, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino closed for lack of business.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/remember-when-donald-trump-tried-to-bulldoze-an-elderly-widows-home-to-build-a-limo-parking-lot

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Ruling Allows Officials to Seize Your House Because It’s ‘Ugly and Dumb’

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“What many people do not know is that the plan could have been finished without destroying many of the homes that were ultimately seized through eminent domain. Pfizer executives, however, said that they didn’t want their beautiful headquarters ‘surrounded by tenements.’  Think about that. A large corporation was going to receive a gigantic gift, but still felt empowered to demand that people whose homes could have been preserved must nevertheless be forced out because, as the president of NLDC put it, their houses looked ‘ugly and dumb.’ Thus we see one of the hidden consequences of eminent domain – it engenders a domineering, elitist attitude.”

http://affluentinvestor.com/2015/07/this-ruling-allows-officials-to-seize-your-house-because-its-ugly-and-dumb/

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Buy a house in the gorgeous Italian countryside for just £1

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“The price tag is genuine, part of a plan to attract people to three towns which are at dire risk of dying out if they don’t expand their population. Some properties are even being offered for free.  These are crumbling, fascinating houses set in superb locations which have been abandoned and are now at risk of crashing to the ground. They are set in villages which are just a hairs-breadth away from becoming one of Italy’s fabled ‘ghost towns’ – places where natural disaster, lack of jobs and even pirates have driven locals from their homes in search of a better life.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3078943/Buy-house-gorgeous-Italian-countryside-just-1-Village-homes-given-away-stop-blight-ghost-towns-ll-need-promise-18-000-up.html

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Jeep owners urged to update their cars after hackers take remote control

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“Security experts are urging owners of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles vehicles to update their onboard software after hackers took control of a Jeep over the internet and disabled the engine and brakes and crashed it into a ditch.  A security hole in FCA’s Uconnect internet-enabled software allows hackers to remotely access the car’s systems and take control. The Uconnect hack affects driving systems from the GPS and windscreen wipers to the steering, brakes and engine control.  The security researchers notified Fiat Chrysler nine months ago.  The update requires users to manually update their cars by visiting the manufacturer’s site, downloading a programme on to a flash drive and inserting it.”

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/21/jeep-owners-urged-update-car-software-hackers-remote-control

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