ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION
June 5, 2020 | Tempering May’s ‘Less Bad’ Jobs Report
There was a massive surprise in the latest Canadian employment report with the economy adding about 290,000 jobs last month. While welcoming the dramatic surprise, Frances Donald, chief economist at Manulife Investment Management, says we shouldn’t feel too comfortable because it remains a very painful labour market. She wonders how many jobs are possibly being […]
June 5, 2020 | Civil Unrest Ignites on Schedule
George Floyd’s death has sparked civil unrest throughout the world. In Athens, Greece, protestors flung firebombs at the US embassy. In France, President Macron urged citizens not to compare France with the US as he does not feel police brutality, racism, or government control is an issue there. French citizens seem to disagree as 2,500 […]
June 4, 2020 | The Road Ahead – A Complete Mess
QUESTION: There is a theory that the markets are rising because of the riots as the anarchy makes it more likely that Trump will win re-election. I’m wondering if the Dems remove Biden and replace him with a better candidate if this will cause the markets to tank. SMD ANSWER: I understand that is the fundamental […]
June 4, 2020 | 10 Ways To Improve Unity and Prosperity in Turbulent Times
Like never before, providers of materials essential to society are under pressure to accept and lead change. Finding inspiration in this dynamic setting means seeking out ideas that can survive in the real world. Stewart Muir looks at some of the ways that people – especially those who work in natural resource fields – are […]
June 4, 2020 | Are Wild-Eyed Speculators About to Make Mr. Market’s Day?
The shockingly powerful rally from March’s bombed-out low has stalled in a very unshocking place, three ticks beneath a secondary top recorded just before stocks really fell apart. So far, the pullback has been shallow, implying bulls are sizing up the challenge presented by all-time highs achieved in mid-February. Getting there would be quite a feat, […]
June 4, 2020 | Marginal Producers: More Leverage to Higher Gold Prices?
I was 4-wheeling across the Nevada desert in a truck full of geologists some years ago, when someone asked which major gold producer I liked best. I don’t remember my answer, but I’m sure it would have been the most consistently profitable at the time. The geophysicist in the group disagreed. He argued in favor […]
June 4, 2020 | The V
If you’ve spent the pandemic with your butt in sweatpants and you money in cash, don’t feel too proud. It’s time to put on your pants. From hitting a virus-induced low on March 23rd, stock markets have just had the best 50-day run in history. Like, ever. The gains have been 40% or better for […]
June 4, 2020 | Welcome To The Third World, Part 31: California Makes Its Case For A Bailout
Just a few months ago, California was running surpluses and spreading the wealth around — at least to its affluent voters and public sector employees — as if the good times were here to stay. Fast forward to the present and it’s all over. Tech stock IPOs – a huge source of capital gains tax […]
June 4, 2020 | Week 11 of the U.S. Labor Market Collapse: Signs of Having Hit Bottom, Finally
To determine if the collapse of the US labor market hit bottom, the combined number of people still receiving unemployment benefits under state programs and under federal programs – such as gig workers receiving benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program – need to stop growing. And for the first time since this fiasco started, […]
June 3, 2020 | Buy an iPhone to Help Pump the Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100, bloated with helium-inflated FAANG stocks that portfolio managers never sell, appears all but certain to achieve new record highs, probably within the next 2-3 days. With the index trading 250 points lower a week ago, I’d said that a two-day close above 9585 would all but clinch a move to at least […]
June 3, 2020 | Gold & Silver “Washout” – Get Ready For A Big Move Higher
Gold and Silver moved lower early on June 2nd and 3rd. Our research team believes this is a “Washout Low” price rotation following a technical pattern that will prompt a much higher rally in precious metals. This type of washout price rotation is fairly common before very big moves after Pennant/Flag formations or just after […]
June 3, 2020 | Falling Into Place
One wants to be careful about seeing things as previously predicted, but not so careful so as to not recognize when things seem to be playing out exactly as expected. Recent news stories and events seem to be in accord with a number of my central themes, but I’ll present the case as I see […]
June 3, 2020 | Inflation into 2021
QUESTION: Hi, Martin You have referenced the three different types of inflation in previous posts. Please speak to what we can expect to see manifest from this record money printing/stimulus from the Fed. Thanks, MD ANSWER: This cycle will be on the back of shortages in commodities. This has been what the computer is forecasting […]
June 3, 2020 | Will Our Central Planners ‘Choose’ To Crash Our Virtual Markets?
It is obvious to me that our virtual stock markets are rigged, managed, pumped up, and manipulated in real-time (daily). This situation has been going on for some 12 years. The recent mini-crash in March, 2020, lasted a few days…and then when growing dire events developed (unemployment, riots, looting, etc.), our central planners (with their own […]
June 3, 2020 | Hopium
“I am stunned by the number of agents who think things will return to normal by year end,” says a grizzled old GTA realtor who risks it all by reading this blog. “Condo rentals are everywhere. Some estimates as high as 10,000 for the entire GTA. Needless to say rents are dropping.” Buyers in retreat. […]
June 2, 2020 | Conspiracies Behind the Curtain
Emmy-winning correspondent @adamhousley: ANTIFA has been claimed to have been hijacked by Chinese Cyber Ops and Russia & Iran (see NY Magazine). The most volatile swing state for the election is where the George Floyd’s death in police custody took place. Mike Erlandson, a former chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer Labor Party, said he watched […]
June 2, 2020 | The Inevitable
A year ago it looked like the guys running Canada would spend $20 billion more than they raised. Not good. Now that’s $252 billion more. Ooops, wait. We forgot the emergency money to cities, off-reservation native folks, pregnant women and… well… you know. Plus what happens when the CERB ends and a few million people […]
June 2, 2020 | Scheer Intelligence: Big Banks Get Sweetest Deal From COVID-19 Bailouts
It’s been over a decade since the 2008 banking meltdown, and yet many Americans are still living with the consequences of the financial crisis and the Obama administration’s decision to bailout banks over people with their own tax money. As Covid-19 spread around the world, and the economic impacts of the public health crisis began […]
June 2, 2020 | US Stock Market Sets Up Technical Patterns – Pay Attention
The recent “melt-up” in the US stock market after a moderate downside price move in early May 2020 has set up a number of technical patterns that traders need to pay attention to. This melt-up trend may continue for a bit longer, but price levels and actions are beginning to set up very clear patterns […]
June 2, 2020 | V-Shaped Mania on Wall Street Cannot End Well
With the nation in deep crisis, stocks continued on their heedless path higher. The seemingly demented rally is demonstrating yet again that bull markets at some point decouple so completely from reality as to mock those who thrive by promoting them. By now, the spun story that investors are looking past the pandemic and focusing […]
June 1, 2020 | Election Year Cycles – What to Expect?
Every election year over the past five US Presidential election cycles has presented a unique set of price rotation events. Particularly evident in strongly contested US Presidential candidate battles where the voters are consumed with pre-election rhetoric. The 2007-08 election cycle was, in our opinion, very similar to the current market cycle in terms of […]
June 1, 2020 | Antifa Coming Soon to Your Neighborhood?
Just when toilet paper supplies were starting to loosen up, we learn there’s a run on pepper spray. Do people who live in or near big cities dare leave home without it? You may be in greater danger than you think, what with Antifa threatening to fan out into the suburbs. More effective than pepper […]
June 1, 2020 | ‘Something Has to Happen’
Three months into the Great Mortgage Deferral and just 90 days to go now before… the cliff. On a call with analysts last week CMHC’s head economics guys had this warning: “Something has to happen to avoid having these deferrals escalate into foreclosure.” Whoa. This is a seriously meaningful statement, coming from the federal housing […]
June 1, 2020 | Supreme Court is Once Again Inspiring Civil War
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, I find it really amazing how you have forecast politics, markets, war, disease, and even said in 2014 race riots would return. I understand it is not you personally. What do you see from here with these riots even taking place in London? PH ANSWER: Civil Unrest has been taking place […]