August 18, 2025 | Would-Be-Sellers Dwarf Buyers in Many Markets

The housing unaffordability crisis is not just about current interest rates, which are historically average (4.71% 5-year fixed in Canada and 6.57% 30-year fixed in America). Homebuilders are already offering buy-down rates in the 3 percent range in the US and Canada. Still, new home sales have contracted year over year, while the inventory of […]

August 17, 2025 | Trump Must Outrun the Inevitable Bear Market

Trump looks like a hero now, but he could become a goat when the bull market ends. He campaigned as the man who would make America great again, and no one should doubt the sincerity of this quest or his commitment to returning the nation to its core values. To judge from his accomplishments so […]

August 16, 2025 | Trading Desk Notes for August 16, 2025

Quote of the week “Mood is now more important than earnings to the stock market.” Alyosha, Market Vibes, on Substack.   The bullish mood is driving global stock indices to record highs. Long live FOMO, TINA, and YOLO.   The S&P is up ~35% from the April lows, the NAZ is up ~45%, the TSE is up ~27%, […]

August 16, 2025 | This Week in Money

• Victor Adair: Stock Markets, Oil, Gold, USD, Canadian Dollar, Euro, Commodities.
• Rick Ackerman: (22:13) Trump’s Tariffs, AI, Gold, Stock Markets.
• Robert Campbell:  (1:02:02) US Real Estate, California, Gold, Interest Rates, Health Tips.

August 15, 2025 | Canada vs. Trump: Is Confrontation The Only Option?

Canada, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, is taking a beating from U.S. tariffs. But Carney refuses to cave to President Donald Trump’s demands—raising the question: Is confrontation with the U.S. Canada’s only choice? The trade war between Canada and the U.S. intensified on August 1, 2025, when Trump slapped a new 35% tariff on Canadian goods (energy products […]

August 15, 2025 | Climate Lockdowns in Canada

Entering the forest has become illegal in three Canadian provinces—Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Entering woodlands can result in massive fines or even jail time. Why? The Canadian government believes it must ban the public from accessing nature to prevent forest fires.     Air Force veteran Jeff Evely committed a crime by participating […]

August 15, 2025 | Will China Soon Hold the World’s Reserve Currency?

Are the stock markets close to topping out?

August 14, 2025 | Real Estate Downturn Picking up Steam

If we had a dime for all the times people say silly things, like “You’ll never lose money in real estate” or “high-end properties always hold their value.” Not true, never has been. The current real estate correction cycle is well-earned after years of easy money speculation and uneconomically high prices. Three years into the […]

August 14, 2025 | What Might Destroy Bitcoin’s Value?

Cannabis stocks light up the market

August 13, 2025 | All’s Well That Ends Well

Margin debt (people borrowing against their security portfolios) has now topped $1 trillion for the first time in history, +25% over the past year alone. Other, lesser, margin-abuse peaks occurred before major bear markets/recessions (grey bars below) since 1995, courtesy of Rosenberg Research. Among professionals, dry powder is also in short supply. Trend-chasing portfolio manglers managers are all […]

August 12, 2025 | Militarizing the Capital

Trump’s decision to send the National Guard into Washington, D.C., will be defended as a matter of national security. History teaches us this is not about protecting the people at all. The National Guard was deployed to protect the political class from the people. The United States is now following the same path we have […]

August 11, 2025 | Housing Downturn is Bigger Economic Story Than Tariffs

As policymakers focus on tariffs, bursting real estate bubbles pose a significantly larger threat in terms of relative economic impact, and that’s now happening in several major economies simultaneously. Homes are the foundation of the household balance sheet and assets in the banking system. A 2025 Bank of Montreal report, “A Long Way Home”, concurs with our […]

August 10, 2025 | AAPL Back Again as an Engine of Illusory Wealth

You’ve got to hand it to DaBoyz for reviving Apple as a ‘wealth’-effect dynamo. The company couldn’t innovate its way out of a wet paper bag, and it doesn’t even have a horse in the AI race. And yet, the stock recently lurched back to life, emulating those two bull-market superstars, Microsoft and Nvidia. Indeed, […]

August 9, 2025 | Trading Desk Notes for August 9, 2025

Creative destruction: move fast and break things This week was short on scheduled market-moving economic data (setting aside the poorly bid bond auctions), but Trump (God bless’em) kept things lively.   Trump imposed a 39% tariff on Switzerland and a 50% rate on India (if they don’t stop buying Russian crude oil). Additionally, he imposed a 100% […]

August 9, 2025 | This Week in Money

• Ross Clark: Stock Markets, Gold, Oil, USD, Canadian Dollar.
• Eric Hadik: (9:50) Stock Market Cycles, USD, Canadian Dollar, Bitcoin, Precious Metals.
• Hilliard MacBeth:  (34:19) Canadian Real Estate, Money Laundering, Gold, Stock Markets, Outlook for Electric Vehicles.

August 8, 2025 | Stablecoins: Washington’s Secret Weapon Against the Debt Spiral

The US Treasury plans to borrow over $1 trillion in Q3 2025, raising federal debt over $28 trillion. With foreign buyers pulling back from US Treasuries, the recent GENIUS and CLARITY Acts may signal a creative solution: using stablecoins to help fund America’s debt. What are Stablecoins? Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to […]

August 8, 2025 | Bank of England Cuts Interest Rates

  The Bank of England has cut its base interest rate to 4%, even as it warns of rising inflation. “We’ve cut interest rates today, but it was a finely balanced decision. Interest rates are still on a downward path, but any future cuts will need to be made gradually and carefully,” Governor Andrew Bailey […]

August 8, 2025 | Is a Gold Backed Currency Likely Soon?

US company earnings booming while others lag

August 7, 2025 | Liberation Day 2.0?

Last night at midnight, goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union became subject to tariff rates of 10% or higher. Products from the EU, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh are taxed at 20%. See the full list of U.S tariffs in place around […]

August 7, 2025 | Trump/Putin, Tulsi, Tariffs, Military, Arrests

Gold, Cryptos, Markets

August 7, 2025 | Is It Time to be Nervous in the Stock Market?

Do Cosmic Events really affect financials?

August 6, 2025 | Crude Oil Falls >US$5/b From Last Week On Growing Supplies And Weak Summer Demand.

Crude oil prices have declined >US$5/b from a week ago (today’s low US$64.66/b versus US$70.13/b last week) as weak demand and rising inventories (see EIA section) offset President Trump’s aggressive moves on secondary sanctions and increasing tariffs on Russian oil buyers. Today the US increased tariffs on India from 25% to 50% as a result […]

August 6, 2025 | Having Skills vs. a College Degree

  One of my gym homies is a young man that is going to college to get a degree in Real Estate Development. “No college professors are going to teach you how to be successful in that business,” I told him. Instead, I advised him to quit college and go work for an experienced real […]

August 5, 2025 | The Rare Earth Crisis

QUESTION: If Trump imposes sanctions on China for buying Russian energy, what do you expect China to do? Rob ANSWER:  The deeper you look, the more it becomes abundantly clear. America’s defence supply chain is built on materials it doesn’t control. Missiles, fighter jets, radar systems, drones — all depend on a steady stream of […]