The Prime Minister of Australia called for an early election in the hope that he would be able to gain a larger majority in Parliament, permitting his reform agenda easier passage. After more than a week one of the closest elections in half of a century, has finally been decided. The conservative coalition led by Malcolm Turnbull will retain power, but it will be by a majority of just one vote. The stability of the new government is likely to be even […]
Jeffrey Hagenmeier
Weekly Market Review & Target Fills July Week 2
The big news for markets this week is the rebound towards the end of the week in global indexes, following the precipitous drop that started the week on continuing Brexit fears, as well as a slowing United States and global economy. The American Dow Jones Industrial Average after losing some 300 points earlier in the week, has now pushed past 18,000, in a rally this morning with a gain of 200 points. This was due to the positive June jobs report. The […]
The Next European Union Crisis Unfolds: Banks In Italy
The 28 nation European Union (EU) has been in a state of disarray, since the Great Recession and the resulting financial meltdown in 2008 and 2009. The collapse in the American real estate market left banks, investment firms and numerous individual investors with mortgage backed securities that proved to be toxic. So many of these investments were nonperforming assets, that the entire banking financial system was in danger of collapse. Following the economic downturn, governments across Europe were left with entitlement outlays that were […]
Weekly Market Review & Target Fills July Week 1
The big news for markets this week was the rebound in global indexes, following the precipitous drop that followed the Brexit vote last week. The electorate in the United Kingdom have voted to leave the European Union. There had been a total loss of $3 trillion USD (United States Dollar) in world equities as a result of Brexit earlier this week. The American Dow Jones Industrial Average after losing close to 900 points in two days has now pulled nearly even, to […]
Weekly Market Review & Target Fills June Week 4
The big news of the week is the vote in the United Kingdom (UK) concerning the continuing participation of the country in the European Union (EU). The vote yesterday known as Brexit, was 48.1% to remain and 51.9% to depart from the bloc. Voter participation in the referendum hit 72.2% of the electorate. As a result of the Brexit vote, world equities in Asia dropped precipitously. In Japan for example, the Nikkei dropped 7.9%. In Europe, the major exchanges also fell on […]
Collapse Of The European Union: Fractures Widening
The European Union was founded with great fanfare back in 1993, with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. There have been dramatic changes on the continent since this momentous event. Both economic and political forces have descended on Europe, that are now threatening to undo the unity that was achieved over two decades ago. With the accession of Croatia in 2013, the number of nations within the bloc swelled has to 28. Investors have grown increasingly anxious about the direction that the European Union has […]
Weekly Market Review – June Week 3
The big news for the week is the now historical marker, when Germany’s key benchmark 10 year bond hit zero and went negative at -0.01%. It is a strong indication that central banks are losing control over monetary policy in Europe and worldwide. The European Central Bank has printed massive quantities of notes, negative interest rates, quantitative easing in the purchase of government and now corporate bonds. Yet, economic growth in the Euro-zone remains lethargic. The other news for the week is […]
Kazakhstan Nearing An End Of An Era
Disturbing the relative tranquility of the country, the people of Kazakhstan earlier this month watched a band of Islamist insurgents raid two hunting supply shops for weapons in north-western portion of the nation. Following that the group said to number 26, attacked an army base. There was a night of clashes, which led to a checkpoint near the city of Aktobe to also come under fire the next day. When it was all over, 18 vigilantes, 4 civilians and 3 security men […]
The Economic And Political Collapse Of Venezuela
As the economy of Venezuela nears collapse, the leftist government of President Nicolas Maduro resolutely attempts to cling to power. The opposition would like to end the present regime through a referendum, while Maduro is going to court to block this effort. Meanwhile, the country is descending into chaos. The shortage of basic consumer necessities is becoming increasingly widespread and violence is spreading, as the citizenry becomes desperate. Venezuela has is now one of the world’s most violent countries. Food riots and savage […]
Weekly Market Review & Target Fills June Week 2
The big news for the week is the increasingly likelihood that the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) the equivalent of the central bank in the United States (U.S.) will not raise interest rates in the short term. This was the result of the preceding weeks jobs report which saw just 38,000 jobs added to the economy in May, when 164,000 was expected. The Fed has indicated that 100,000 is what is needed just to keep pace with population growth. It is the smallest […]