Financial News

Commodities Investment: A Decade of Hits

A quick look at the 14 commodities in the market over the last 10 years shows that investing in any of them over that 10-year period would have been a good bet, and now analysts are speculating on the next 10 years of commodities performance. Of particular interest are stand-out performers is gold at a 19% annualized return, and whether the commodity will continue to see gains. Many investors believe that gold will not be able to sustain its continual rise, while others believe persistent global debt concerns will help keep it in the position of a safe haven investment. As for the other commodities, the general consensus is that the continued urbanization of large population sectors like China will stoke significant future demand. For more on this continue reading the following article from Money Morning.

What a decade!…

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Saturday, January 21st, 2012 Financial News No Comments

Bankruptcy in Scotland

Bankruptcy (sequestration) is a form of insolvency. Often seen as a ‘last resort’, bankruptcy can be especially helpful for people who can’t afford to repay their unsecured debt – and need to have part of it ‘written off’.

Bankrupts are protected from any legal action from their lenders as soon as the bankruptcy starts. Any unsecured debt that they cannot afford is written off as part of the bankruptcy, and while their bankruptcy is ongoing they won’t have to pay more towards it than they can afford once they’ve accounted for their monthly essential expenses like rent / mortgage and utilities. However, the value of any assets (including property, savings and investments) can be distributed between their lenders until as much of the debt as possible is cleared.

Bankruptcy usually lasts for one year, after which the bankrupt is ‘discharged’ from their unsecured debts. Read more…

Tags: Bankruptcy in Scotland

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 Financial News No Comments

Disturbing economic trends continue into 2012

2012 has gotten off to a relatively uneventful start on all fronts.  Stock and Bond markets continue on autopilot appear to be underwritten by central banks, and commodity prices seem to be following the inflationary path that the central banks support of the stock and bond markets has set them on.    Meanwhile, productivity, real output, appears stable and poised to climb, which should further fuel inflation as the money supply begins to overwhelm the supply of real goods and labor.   Another disturbing trend is that widespread corruption seems to continue unabated.  Officials at MF Global and the CME are still on the loose after robbing $1.2 billion of client funds in a desperate attempt to stave off the margin call which brought down the firm as the CME washed its hands of the situation, leaving traders everywhere wondering if their funds and positions were safe.   No Read more…

Tags: 2012

Friday, January 6th, 2012 Financial News No Comments

Will the market recover in 2012?

Is the housing market is slowly recovering?  NAR’s Chief economist, Lawrence Yun, recently predicted a 4% increase in sales in the next year. As well, Celia Chen of Moody’s Analytics estimated home sales to increase perhaps over 20% next year.  

The only major concern yet that might dampen a good recovery, is weakened consumer confidence. Buyer attitudes have seen slightly modest improvements, better than the middle of the year that seemed less certain.  Going into 2012, any changes in buyer confidence will likely affect any continued real estate recovery.

Although prices have been predicted to soften in the first two quarters of 2012, moderate levels of appreciation by year’s end might be seen. But if p

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Tags: Recover, Recover 2012

Thursday, December 29th, 2011 Financial News No Comments

Euro, S&P 500 Remain in Sync

Market analysts have noted the correlation between the S&P 500 and euro since the 90s, when a simulated euro was used to predict market movement. That relationship has remained intact since then, but now it appears the correlation is beginning to weaken. Some speculate the breakdown of the 30-day rolling correlation may be because more American investors are keeping their money at home, but whatever the reason it may trigger a response from investors as they try to anticipate market changes in the wake of growing global financial turbulence. For more on this continue reading the following article from TheStreet.

One of the characteristics of the investment climate that we have tracked over the course of the year is the tight relationship between the euro and the S&P 500.

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Tags: 500 Remain, Remain

Friday, December 16th, 2011 Financial News No Comments