The Retired Investor: Precious Metals Normally Fall in Septemberby Bill Schmick,
04:22PM / Thursday, September 05, 2024 | |
As one of the best-performing areas of the financial markets this year, gold and silver have been added to many investors' portfolios. And while every dip has been used as an excuse to buy, bulls should hold off a bit when making any new purchases.
The price of gold is up more than 20 percent and silver gained over 17 percent so far this year. Despite the sector's performance, there are many portfolio managers out there who won't touch precious metals and probably never will. "Too speculative," "impossible to analyze," and "we are not in the business of gambling" are all explanations I have heard through the 0 Comments
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@theMarket: September Into October Could Be Bumpy for StocksBy Bill Schmick,
03:36PM / Friday, August 30, 2024 | |
We enter September with the three major averages close to or above yearly highs. Momentum is still on the side of the bulls. As such, in the next week or so, markets could attempt to scale those heights and possibly better them.
It is what happens next that concerns me. The next two months are seasonally the worst period for the stock market. However, investors also expect the Federal Reserve Bank to cut interest rates at their meeting on Sept. 17-18. That is normally a bullish development for stocks. We won't know if the Fed will cut rates, but the markets are betting heavily on that outcome.
The macroeconomic data this week certainly reinforced those 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: How the U.S. Can Manage Its Increasing Debt LoadBy Bill Schmick,
04:12PM / Thursday, August 29, 2024 | |
U.S. deficits at $35.225 trillion are going through the roof and interest payments on our debt load account for an increasing share of gross domestic product. We are not alone in facing this trend. The question is what monetary and fiscal policymakers will do about it.
The time-honored, go-to strategy that has worked well for decades among nations in times like these is to devalue one's currency. How does that work?
Readers need to understand that the level of interest rates plays an important role in currency devaluation. For example, the U.S. dollar and U.S. interest rates work hand in hand. When traders buy dollars, they don't just keep their 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Taxing Social Security Benefits Hurts SeniorsBy Bill Schmick,
05:02PM / Thursday, August 22, 2024 | |
In this election season of competing promises, one idea stands out as a good way of redistributing income from the haves to the have-nots. More than 70 million needy Americans would benefit directly by cutting federal taxes on Social Security.
Let's face it, retirees have been getting the short end of the stick for a long time. For years, with interest rates at practically zero, retired savers, unwilling to bet on the stock market, have received scanty returns on their savings.
Fast forward to the pandemic and its aftermath. Elderly Americans, if they were lucky enough to dodge serious sickness or death as the highest-risk segment of the population, they 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Stocks Battle Back to EvenBy Bill Schmick,
02:09PM / Friday, August 16, 2024 | |
It was a good week in the equity market. The bounce back from the 8 percent sell-off at the beginning of the month is but a distant memory. Does that mean we are in the clear for further gains?
Maybe. So far, the financial markets have seen a "V" shaped recovery from the lows of Monday a week past. Technically, that is a rare occurrence after a downdraft of that magnitude. And yet, that is exactly what has happened thus far.
The gains have been helped by a spate of good corporate earnings, with 80 percent of S&P 500 companies beating estimates. A few benign macroeconomic readings suggested continued economic growth, a lessening of inflation, 0 Comments
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