Bud Conrad, Chief Economist Bud Conrad, the chief economist for Casey Research, sat down with Jim Puplava on the Financial Sense Newshour to discuss the ongoing debt crisis, the fate of the Euro, Fed policy, and other key issues. "The situation is that the world's economy is not well balanced. We in the US have taken over the bank debt by bailing out banks and taking over Fannie and Freddie, but we haven't handled the government debt and deficits in a way that we can get through this storm." Click play below to listen to his interview in its entirety. http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/fsn2011-0816-1.mp3 Our country’s debt crisis will devastate you if you don’t adjust your … [Read more...]
Recession Watch- Where are We Now?
Recessions are generally caused by a shrinking money supply and/or an increase in demand for cash. In the last two years the M1 money supply has grown by 40% and still the economy is weak, the unemployment rate is high... basically no recovery. Why? In this article Terry Coxon discusses the slow recovery and how it compares to previous recessions. ~Tim McMahon, editor Economically Sleepwalking Terry Coxon, Senior Economist Until the Great Depression of the 1930s, the average length of a recession was 21 months. The misery that began in October 1929 lasted five times that long – 105 months.... the government pursued an array of policies to prevent prices from falling, which had the … [Read more...]
Five Things You Need to Know About the Economy
By David Galland, Managing Director, Casey Research At any point during the recent negotiations in Washington over the debt, did you seriously think for even a second that the U.S. was about to default? Of course, in time the U.S. government (along with many others) will default. However, they are highly unlikely to do so by decree or even through the sort of legislative inaction recently on display. Rather, it will come about through the time-honored tradition of screwing debtors via the slow-roasting method of monetary inflation. Yet most people still bought into the latest drama put on by the Congressional Players – a troupe of actors whose skills at pretense and artifice might … [Read more...]
Its Weight in Gold: The Real Prices of Things
Fiat currencies By Charles Vollum, Casey Research Fiat currencies the world over are being manipulated by central banks, which is distorting asset and commodity prices. Successful investing requires that investors have a good idea of what things cost and what they are really worth – and using the world's oldest and most stable form of money, gold, to compare prices is one way to get that insight. To that end, below is a sampling of current prices measured in grams or milligrams of gold. Price comparisons are against prices as of June 10. Fiat Currency Watch: Change from: Price in Gold Week ago Year ago USD 20.3 mg 0.7% -20.4% CAD 20.8 … [Read more...]
If the Dollar Goes, What Happens to Your Portfolio?
By Jeff Clark, BIG GOLD Have you considered what will happen to your portfolio and all the other areas of your life if the dollar fails? The ramifications will be widespread, painful, and inescapable if you’re not properly diversified. Last month, I attended the Global Currency Expo sponsored by EverBank®. The overarching theme, as you might expect, was that diversification out of one's home currency is paramount. While there were plenty of traders on hand, it was the big-picture talks that had the most pressing messages. I came away feeling that I needed to reexamine my exposure to the dollar. Have you considered what will happen to your portfolio?and all the other areas of your … [Read more...]
Where is the Global Economy Headed?
Roy Furr, Contributing Author To be forewarned is to be forearmed. I'm writing today after spending the last three days in Boca Raton, Florida, attending The Next Few Years: A Casey Research Summit. If you're not already familiar, the purpose of this summit was to bring together many of the world's top economic and investing minds to share with us where they believe we're headed in the months and years ahead. The cast of speakers was impressive, to say the least. They brought a variety of view points, an almost overwhelming amount of data and analysis, and a perspective on what the current world means for investors that would be hard to build on. Yet, with all this variety of … [Read more...]
The “Recovery” in Consumer Loans Isn’t Real
By Bud Conrad, The Casey Report The amount of loans being provided by our banking system is a good reflector of the strength of our economy. Below is a big-picture view that shows the total loans in the U.S. as the Fed reports in its H.8 each week. We can see that loans outstanding declined at a rapid rate at the beginning of the current great recession, but there seems to be a recovery in the little jump at the end of the chart, as highlighted by the two small black arrows. A little closer look shows that the Consumer Loans segment is the source of the optimism that we see in the total. … [Read more...]
Market News
Check out the latest news on the economy in this video: … [Read more...]
Japan in Debt — Are They the Next Bailout?
Everybody has heard about the European countries that are in severe debt but have you heard about Japan? They are in real trouble and it will be interesting to see how this one plays out. -- editor Collection Call By David Galland, Managing Director, The Casey Report Hello, is this Japan I’m speaking to? Yes. (tentative). May I ask who’s calling? It’s the ACME collection agency. We’re calling today because of your outstanding obligations. Is there a problem? We’re hoping not, but your creditors are beginning to worry you won’t be able to keep up with your debt service. Oh. Why the sudden concern? It was an item in a recent RMB Currency Trader. And I quote: The Land … [Read more...]
The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Cowbells
As governments all over this planet scratch their heads trying to solve the global economy problems, the free market is quietly fixing it where government is willing to step back. -- Lisa McMahon, editor The End of the Statist Quo By David Galland, Managing Director, Casey Research Here at Casey Research, we have been rather negative about the economy for many moons. To be otherwise in the face of the decades-long trend toward ever more government – along with its increasingly destructive and expensive meddling in the free markets – would have been foolish. And, so far, we have been right. However, I for one am beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. It won’t … [Read more...]
