“GDP rose 7.9 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter versus expectations of a 7.8 percent rise.
Industrial production rose 10.3 percent year-over-year versus expectations of a 10.2 percent rise.
Retail sales rose 15.2 percent versus expectations of a 15.1 percent rise.
Fixed asset investment growth fell 0.1 percentage points to 20.6 percent.
We will have all of the details here momentarily…”
Full article
” American Express Company (AXP) today reported fourth-quarter net income of $637 million, down 47 percent from $1.2 billion a year ago. Net income from the quarter included the restructuring charge, rewards expense and cardmember reimbursements that were announced last week. Diluted earnings per share was $0.56, down 45 percent from $1.01 a year ago.”
Comments »“Intel (INTC) this afternoon reported Q4 revenue in line with expectations and profit per share that topped analysts’ expectations, and a forecast for this quarter’s revenue slightly below estimates.
Revenue in the three months ended in December rose to $13.5 billion, yielding EPS of 48 cents.
Analysts had been modeling $13.52 billion and 45 cents.
For the current quarter, the company projects $12.7 billion in revenue, slightly below the $12.9 billion analysts have been projecting.”
Comments »U.S. equities had support from good economic data, (initial claims and housing tarts,) the announcement that the Bank of Japan will embark on QE infinity, and that the GOP is considering a proposal to raise the debt ceiling. All in all we did not close at the highs of the day, but the bulls can claim victory.
New highs were made in the trannies, mid cap sector, S&P 500, and the small cap sector.
The markets were led higher by consumer cyclicals, capital goods, conglomerates, and healthcare.
All the bears can cling too is the low volume…which is troublesome, but not until panic occurs. For now we can grind higher.
A word of advice: HEDGE YOURSELF AS WE ARE APPROACHING UNSTABLE FROTH TERRITORY. IT MAY LAST IN A BACK AND FORTH MOTION FOR A FEW MONTHS, BUT IT WILL END ! Tomorrow’s documentary will show clearly why we are in some serious trouble.
DOW up 88
NASDAQ up 18
S&P up 8.6
Gold up $3.6
WTI up $1.05
“Jan 18 (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan will next week mull scrapping its 0.1 percent floor on short-term interest rates and pledging to buy assets open-endedly until 2 percent inflation is foreseen, sources familiar with the central bank’s thinking said.
Such steps would surprise the markets, which have been expecting the central bank to settle on the more conventional step of topping up its asset-buying and lending programme by another 10 trillion yen ($113 billion).
Under relentless pressure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for bolder steps to beat deflation, the central bank is likely to double its inflation target to 2 percent and consider expanding monetary stimulus again at its two-day rate review that ends next Tuesday, sources told Reuters last week.
Instead of topping up the asset-buying and lending programme again, the BOJ may pledge to buy assets open-endedly until 2 percent inflation is in sight, without setting a specific date for completing the purchases, the sources said….”
Comments »“Citi’s resident technical analyst, Tom Fitzpatrick, is known for his bearish calls and his favorable outlook for gold.
Fitzpatrick was just on CNBC this afternoon, and he laid out an extremely bearish thesis on the stock market
.
The current market rally reminds the Citi analyst of the final rallies into the market tops of both 2000 and 2007 – and he sees stocks entering a bear market sometime soon.
Fitzpatrick told CNBC:
I think in the short term, we still a little bit of legs here. If you look at the S&P 500 – we’ve just moved to this new high above 1475 – it’s actually very similar to the way we traded into the highs in 2007 and 2000.
So, I wouldn’t be surprised that there is a little bit of legs here – maybe even up toward 1495 – but what there isn’t is momentum. Most of the momentum came in the first move up from last year, and we’re seeing a loss of momentum here similar to what we saw there.
Also, we’re seeing in the big picture…”
Comments »“In December, Goldman Sachs commodity analysts caused quite a bit of chatter when they called the end of the bull market in gold.
The bank’s central thesis is that the U.S. economic recovery finally takes off in 2013, and Goldman expects that to drive a selloff in the gold market as investors rotate away from traditional “safe-haven” investments.
At the time, the analysts wrote, “We lower our 3-, 6- and 12-mo gold price forecasts to $1,825/toz, $1,805/toz and $1,800/toz and introduce a $1,750/toz 2014 forecast. While we see potential for higher gold prices in early 2013, we see growing downside risks.”
Now, Goldman has decided to up the ante a bit. Yesterday, its commodity analysts introduced a new call: gold at $1200 per ounce by 2018.
In a note to clients, Goldman analysts Christian Lelong, Max Layton, Damien Courvalin, Jeffrey Currie, and Roger Yuan write, “Assuming a linear increase in US real rates back to 2.0% by 2018, as proxied by the 10-year US TIPS yield, we expect that gold prices will continue to trend lower over the coming five years and introduce our long-term gold price of $1,200/oz from 2018 forward.”
What about monetary demand for gold and inflation, though?
The analysts answer that question:
Beyond real interest rates, fluctuations in the monetary demand for gold also exert an influence on gold prices. Our forecast currently embeds physical gold demand from ETFs and central banks growing in 2013 at the 2009-2012 pace, with ETF purchases slowing in 2014. In our forecast, this steady monetary gold demand helps slow the decline in prices over the coming years. Given the risk around this assumption, we also considered alternative paths for physical gold demand but found that, while not negligible, the impact of gold prices to stronger or weaker monetary demand for gold remains modest compared to the influence exerted by real rates and the Fed’s QE. As a result, it would require a significant further increase in monetary demand for gold to change our outlook for gold prices. While a very significant increase in monetary gold demand by EM investors and central banks could hold the potential for such a large impact, it is also worth noting that a decline in gold prices pushing ETF gold holdings sharply lower would in turn precipitate this fall in gold prices….”
“In a briefing with reporters today at House Republicans’ retreat in Williamsburg, Va., Rep. Paul Ryan said that the House GOP is discussing a possible “short-term debt limit extension,” but that the “worst thing for the economy” would be a lift in the debt ceiling without any spending cuts.
Ryan suggested the lift in the debt ceiling could be extremely short, so that it could be addressed with another fiscal battle — the sequester — in March.
Ryan also urged President Barack Obama to prioritize payments under the debt limit to ensure there is no default on the country’s obligations….”
Comments »[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XHNJyti1gE 450 300]
“This article was originally posted on the ‘Forbes’ website, but it was removed within a few days: The article is no longer available to read but thank you ‘Google’s cache’ for catching a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Jan 14, 201316:16:57. It got 2000 shares on Facebook before Forbes deleted the article. Makes you wonder what is “Forbes” hiding?
In 2000, New York legislators recognized the ubiquitous and unambiguous connection between violence, especially gun violence and mass murder, and the widespread prescribed use of psychiatric drugs. Senate Bill 7035 was introduced in the New York State Senate that year requiring police agencies to report to the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) on certain crimes and suicides committed by a person who is using psychiatric drugs, including assault, homicide, sex offenses, robbery offenses, firearms and other dangerous weapons offenses, kidnapping and arson. The preamble to the bill read, in part:
Comments »There is a large body of scientific research establishing a connection between violence and suicide and the use of psychotropic drugs in some cases. This research, which has been published in peer reviewed publications such as the American Journal of Psychiatry, The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and The Journal of Forensic Science, has shown, among other things, that: certain drugs can induce mania (a psychosis which can produce bizarre, grandiose and highly elaborated destructive plans, including mass murder);. . .and certain drugs can produce an acute psychotic reaction in an individual not previously psychotic.
The bill died in committee. Since that time, there have been at least 12 additional high-profile mass murders linked to the use of psychiatric drugs, about one a year. And, in virtually every mass school shooting during the past 15 years, the shooter has been on or in withdrawal from psychiatric drugs. Here is a partial list of 24 such horrific events that occurred since 1998, not including the Virginia Tech shootings and the recent Sandy Hook shootings where the authorities continue to suppress information about whether and to what extent the shooters were on or in withdrawal from a psychiatric drug.
These examples are not unique. According to the Citizens Commission On Human Rights International (CCHR), between 2004 and 2011, there were 12,755 reports to the U.S. FDA’s MedWatch system of psychiatric drugs causing violent side effects including: 1,231 cases of homicidal ideation/homicide, 2,795 cases of mania and 7,250 cases of aggression. Since the FDA admits that only one to ten percent of all side effects are ever reported to it, the actual occurrence of violent side effects from psychiatric drugs is certainly nine or ten times higher than the official data suggest….”
This story only get more strange as you sift through the data…
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An1yHCzdNhQ 450 300]This is f’d up too….
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMINqFGNr-w 450 300] Comments »Texas joins Wyoming is said legislation and 5 other states plan to follow suit….
“Austin, TX – State Representative Steve Toth (The Woodlands) has begun the process to file legislation assisting the protection of the Second Amendment of the United State Constitution. The “Firearms Protection Act” bill would make any federal law banning semi-automatic firearms or limiting the size of gun magazines unenforceable within the state’s boundaries. Anyone trying to enforce a federal gun ban could face felony charges under the proposal.
“We can no longer depend on the Federal Government and this Administration to uphold a Constitution that they no longer believe in. The liberties of the People of Texas and the sovereignty of our State are too important to just let the Federal Government take them away. The overreach of the federal administrations executive orders that are do not align with the Constitution, are not very popular here in Texas,” said Representative Toth…”
Comments »[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGJDKTcsdw 450 300]
Comments »[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obklljhbjlo 450 300]
Comments »New highs everywhere you look….
Gold doing a cup and handle bull wedge.
WTI hitting 4 month highs.
The world is saved from the boogeyman.
Rejoice!
Comments »
Sounds a bit far fetched for me….given i love a good conspiracy theory. There is much more to this story. Developing!.
Comments »” A top SandRidge Energy Inc investor called on the company’s board to investigate allegations that Chief Executive Tom Ward and a company run by his son engaged in “persistent front running of the company.”Mount Kellett Capital, which holds about 4.5 percent in SandRidge, said in a letter on Thursday that it was reviewing allegations by another investor, TPG-Axon, that Ward and his son acquired mineral rights and sold them to SandRidge or other oil and gas companies at a profit.It said the company’s board should hire an independent law firm and a forensic law firm to look into the allegations, and that Ward should be suspended until completion of the probe.WCT Resources – an Oklahoma company owned by trusts benefiting Ward’s three adult children and run by his son, Trent – is a business partner with SandRidge, according to SEC filings…”
Comments »Serious questions need answers! Z.H. asks:
”
Comments »“As we forge ahead into the year 2013, I wanted to post an article going over the complete yearly forecast path, as suggested by the various time cycles that I track – and also with other indicators such as seasonal patterns, the Bradley indicator, and also the post-election ‘presidential cycle’ pattern in stocks.
With the above said and noted, the projected path for 2013 looks somewhat similar to that seen in 2012, though with a larger percentage correction being expected in the second-half of the year – primarily due to the position of the larger 180-day, 360-day (18-month) and four-year cycles. In- between, there should the normal up-and-down gyrations along the way, ideally with a peak in here in January ideally giving way to a low in February, prior to returning to strength again into late-Spring or early-Summer, setting up for that important top with the 360-day wave….”
Comments »
