MurkyMarkets.com

The battle of the dead cat bounces

Christopher Galakoutis — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:59:00 -0400

The drop in gold and oil since mid-July reminded me of the movie title “Gone in 60 seconds”.

It sure felt that way, with significant gains washed away in a matter of days.

What is important to remember, however, is that the gold and commodity bull market remains intact...

Oil is not in a bubble

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:35:00 -0400

I find it quite comical that, after last week’s correction in the oil market, several talking heads on US television are calling for a continued decline down to the $70-80 level.

Apparently there is this magical supply spigot that can be turned on and crash the price. It is no...

Gold gearing up

Christopher Galakoutis — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:54:00 -0400

That the US dollar can rally on the back of a Euro zone rate increase last week speaks to an absolute market delusion.

The market chose to focus on the dovish statement from the ECB, which was construed as dollar friendly, in that it is believed the ECB will now go on hold and raise rates...

Single dissenting vote speaks volumes

Christopher Galakoutis — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:40:00 -0400

The U.S Federal Reserve is not concerned about inflation. If it were, there would have been more the one person dissenting at today’s policy meeting.

As we expected, the Fed left rates unchanged at 2% as they closed out their two-day meeting today, disappointing some who were...

Any dollar 'rally' is not sustainable

Christopher Galakoutis — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:15:00 -0400

The comments about the dollar from Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson – only a couple days apart in the past week -- were welcomed by Wall Street. At long last, relief for the long-suffering greenback was on the way. Or so the story goes.

But why did these two powerful offici...

Severe commodities correction looming?

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:23:00 -0400

With oil moving up in what seems like parabolic fashion to some, there are calls from several corners including respected analysts for it to correct, and hard.

I’m not so sure of that. Of course it can correct, every asset in a bull market does on a regular basis.

But...

Paddling upstream on a hope and a prayer

Christopher Galakoutis — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:49:00 -0400

The credit crunch has been story number one in the financial markets for a number of months now, with the US fed and other central banks around the world having injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to calm markets down.

And while it appears the worst may be o...

Uranium stocks finally catch bids

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:53:00 -0400

A few days does not a trend make, but this past week may have been a notable one for uranium stocks when we look back a few months from now.

One of the star stocks of the sector, Cameco, for instance, broke above its 200 day moving average and resistance at the $40 level to reach a five-...

World food riots portend trouble for the US dollar

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:57:00 -0400

On a trip to Canada recently I couldn’t help but notice the extensive media coverage paid to the worldwide food price inflation, as well as the riots breaking out in many countries over food shortages.

And of course the list of reasons given by the so-called ‘economists’...

Blue Sky lies

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:33:00 -0400

In an article published in the Wall Street Journal on September 1, 1981, Alan Greenspan wrote that the US dollar could be as good as gold in a fiat money world if the US, “created a fiscal and monetary environment which in effect makes the dollar as good as gold, i.e., stabilizes the genera...

Confusion reigns supreme

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:44:00 -0400

It is a political season so why not extend the art of the flip-flop to the mainstream financial media?

Portraying the dollar decline of the last few months as a positive thing for US stocks -- in terms of the wonders of foreign exchange translation back to dollars by multinational corpora...

Markets get tossed credit lifeline

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:07:00 -0400

The Federal Reserve regulates the flow of money and credit to the US economy. It can do this in several ways, including purchasing of assets in the open market and through freshly printed reserve notes. Another is by way of the fractional reserve system.

Banks are required to...

Catastrophe averted?

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:07:00 -0400

It is very rare indeed that one lives through world-changing events. Rarer still that the event in question is recognized for what it is while underway.

That is where I believe we are in this continuing credit crisis. The fed last week lowered rates to 2.25%, back down the yo-...

The disaster of epic proportions is here!

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:43:00 -0400

This is not your typical Sunday evening.

Gold is up almost 30 dollars to over $1030 on the news of the Bear Stearns buyout by JP Morgan for 2$ per share, a cataclysmic collapse in value for one of Wall Street’s largest and historic investment banks.

In addition, a simultaneo...

Russian Roulette and the long bond

Christopher Galakoutis — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:18:00 -0400

Russian roulette is a game where participants place a bullet in a single chamber of a handgun. The cylinder is loaded with the one bullet, and then closed and spun, thus the location of the bullet is unknown. Participants then aim at their own heads and pull the trigger, risking death...

Inflation nation

Christopher Galakoutis — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:50:00 -0500

Isn’t it time to put the deflationist argument to rest?

Why would the US central bank want to destroy the source -- i.e., its currency -- of their great wealth, we are asked by the deflation camp. They won’t, the argument goes, with the bankers reversing their money prin...

Banks need low rates to survive

Christopher Galakoutis — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:52:00 -0500

With the inflation genie out of the bottle there is much squirming going on. Sure there is still as much debate about whether the recession will suppress the inflationary wave now slowly becoming obvious even to the loudest nay-sayers of just a few months ago.

They argue that the Fe...

US money supply growth? Look to China

Christopher Galakoutis — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:46:00 -0500

Like the earmark hidden so deep inside a new appropriations bill committee report that it takes a magnifying glass to find, so too the lengths we apparently need to go in figuring out the degree of money supply growth in the US.

But is it really such a mystery?

The US Feder...

The currency shuffle

Christopher Galakoutis — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:58:00 -0500

We’ve all heard the saying, “cash is trash.”

Well, that saying is truer today than at any other time in memory. And no currencies are being spared, evidently.

Oil busted through 100$ today to close near 101. Gold is almost at 950$. Everything th...

The vicious cycle of inflation

Christopher Galakoutis — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:35:00 -0500

Does anyone truly believe there is 2% inflation in the US? I don’t, and neither do the various markets I like to follow.

Platinum sliced through 2000$ like a warm knife through butter this past week. Natural gas looks like it may finally be on track to play a little catc...