There is an enormous dichotomy in foreign exchange markets that has wide-ranging implications for the global economy.  In Europe, most currencies float freely against the U.S. dollar. In Asia and the Mideast, most do not.
What this has meant in practice is two things. First, as the U.S. dollar has weakened, it has done so [...]

That was the title of an e-mail I received from my bank today. Here is what the e-mail looked like:

In my last post, I presented you with a bunch of data on debt levels broken down by sector of the economy (see “A brief look at the Asset-Based Economy at economic turns”).  I found it interesting that a secular pattern seemed to be at play when looking at the household debt charts.
Notice the three [...]

Gold hit a record high of $1,044.30 an ounce, beating the previous record of $1,032.35 set back in March and up a monster $26 on the day. The impetus is the crashing dollar, brought down by a report (later denied) that OPEC states and the Chinese were organizing a secret abandonment of the US dollar [...]

The Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly raised rates by 25 basis points to cool down its economy. It will “gradually reduce stimulus” in anticipation of sustained recovery. Australia has probably been the major economy least affected by the global economic slowdown, so one would expect the RBA to be the first major central bank to [...]

The U.S. dollar is getting crushed again today.  I have been waiting to see if and when it hits parity with the Swiss Franc. Today’s action brings us that much closer. The dollar is losing ground against the dollar bloc (Kiwi, Aussie and Loonie) as well as against the Franc and Euro.

What gives? Allegedly, [...]

Very funny.

Mark Mobius is one of the most famous Emerging Markets investors and right now he is bullish on Emerging Markets despite a huge rally in shares from late last year. Mobius turned bullish right as shares troughed and has remained so ever since.
Mobius likes the so-called ‘Frontier’ Markets more than the well established BRICs.  [...]

How about all three. Faber released another provocative newsletter this month that has a little grist for investor of all stripes.
Boom. His short-term outlook is bullish because he believes money-printing will underpin the market even after the 60% increase in the S&P 500 from March 2009 lows. This puts him in the same camp [...]

Bill Gross is a bond man.  In fact, he is often called the “Bond King” because Pimco, the organization where he is founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer, is the largest bond fund in the world. In Bondland, what Gross says has a lot of weight.
And Gross has been talking about a “new normal” of deleveraging, [...]