QUESTION: Is the euro really going up on capital inflows or speculation leverage? ANSWER: We are not picking up any real net capital outflows from the USA to Europe. It appears to be speculation on the currency markets in anticipation of higher interest rates coming down the line. But real capital has not begun to move […]

Asia started today’s broad stock market rally as from the opening bell all core moved from strength to strength. Both the Hang Seng and Shanghai adding +0.8% but the HSI doubled that and more with an impressive +1.8% daily return. HSI was the outlier yesterday recording a decline but with Banks and Finance stocks benefiting, today performance certainly […]

Currency tended to have more of an effect today in Asian trading, well certainly for Japan anyway! The Yen played between low and higher end of 111, edging lower into the close of the session as earnings failed to match expectation. Late in the US trading day, the Yen was flirting with a 110 handle […]

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong; Your computer has proven it can forecast markets, economies, the rise and fall of governments, war, and now even weather well in advance of anyone else. Is this bitter cold just a taste of what is to come? If so, I definitely think it is time to follow you south before you can’t […]

Having witnessed another strong US close on Friday, Asian markets again responded adding to the last week’s gains. The Hang Seng saw strong demand for the housing sector, which was probably the reason that early declines were reversed providing a +0.3% return for the day. Shanghai closed a little better (+0.5%) on the day, but […]

What goes around, comes around. The Democrats intend to turn-up the heat on the Impeachment of Trump. That is all they have to run on in the midterm elections in November. They voted against any tax reform and simply oppose anything offered by the other side. Politics has just degenerated into the obstruction and neither […]

QUESTION: What is your opinion of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg idea of universal income? ANSWER: The idea of free money being touted by Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg only demonstrates that they know nothing about humanity or economics. They see universal free money as a cushion for workers whose jobs might be replaced by automation or […]

  QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Did AIG use the Black-Scholes Model and that is what created the crisis again in 2007? WJ ANSWER: No. It’s my understanding that AIG developed different models, they called a “Value-at-Risk Model,” (VaR) which used a binomial-expansion-technique to start valuing their positions. I believe the original model was developed at Moody’s. However, like the Black-Scholes […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also responding to the Trump Tax Reform. Putin has also taken a step to promote the repatriation of capital from abroad. He is now proposing that only a 13% tax on funds retrieved should be abolished. Additionally, he is proposing that there should once again be an amnesty for Russian […]

The bad loan (“non-performing loan” (NPL)) crisis in Europe is well known and many have been calling for this issue to be addressed. In Italy, the bad loan crisis has reached 21% of GDP. While NPLs dropped to 4.8% of all loans in the EU as a whole during the first quarter of 2017, they […]