Most Hated Stock Market Bull can’t be stopped by weak economy

Most Hated Stock Market Bull can't be stopped by weak economy

The data below serves as further proof that the economic recovery is nothing but an illusion.  It has only benefited those who don’t really need it. The rich have become even richer, the middle class has vanished and the poor are becoming even poorer.

 

  1. Real incomes have been flat to down slightly for the average household in the bottom 60% since 1980 (while they have been up for the top 40%).
  2. Those in the top 40% now have on average 10 times as much wealth as those in the bottom 60%. That is up from six times as much in 1980.
  3. Only about a third of the bottom 60% saves any of its income (in cash or financial assets).
  4. Only about a third of families in the bottom 60% have retirement savings accounts—e.g., pensions, 401(k)s—which average less than $20,000.
  5. For those in the bottom 60%, premature deaths are up by about 20% since 2000. The biggest contributors to that change are an increase in deaths by drugs/poisoning (up two times since 2000) and an increase in suicides (up over 50% since 2000).
  6. The top 40% spend four times more on education than the bottom 60%.
  7. The average household income for main income earners without a college degree is half that of the average college graduate.
  8. Since 1980, divorce rates have more than doubled among middle-aged whites without college degrees, from 11% to 23%.
  9. The number of prime-age white men without college degrees not in the labor force has increased from 7% to 15% since 1980.  Full Story

What should you do?

Sentiment indicates the masses are not bullish so this market is not ready to crash. Instead of panicking make a list of stocks you would like to own and when the market’s pullback, buy these quality stocks at a huge discount.

Market Sentiment Supports Higher Stock market prices

 

Rate of Inflation not an issue according to Bond Market

Rate of Inflation not an issue according to Bond Market

The Bond market is Indicating that The Rate of  Inflation is not an issue in 2017 

Bonds should have continued to plunge, but notice that bonds bottomed in April and have started to trend higher. After the July rate hike, bonds should have taken out their April lows, but they did not.  Instead, they went on to put in a series of higher lows; higher lows are usually indicative of higher prices. Furthermore, the stock market hardly reacted to the last rate hike; after a very mild reaction, it has continued to trend higher.

rate of inflation

We tend to focus more on the technical and psychological outlook, and both are indicating that inflation is still not an issue.    The Gold market is also indicating that inflation is not an issue. Last July Gold traded past $1400; at that time rates were lower and the US dollar was trading at higher levels.  But today rates are higher today, and the dollar is trading lower than it was in 2016, but Gold instead trading at or above $1400 can’t even trade above $1300 for a sustained period.

Mass Psychology seems to support the theory that US inflation is not a big problem

The psychological factor does not support higher prices; the economy is not doing well as the consumer is not spending wildly. Consumer confidence is increasing, but consumer spending is not marching in tandem with consumer confidence.  Income growth is weak; the rise in incomes and net worth has primarily benefited high income and high net worth households. These are the same individuals that have the most money invested in the stock market which has tripled since its March 2009 lows.

We have listed a plethora of factors that illustrate that inflation is not an issue; at least not yet.

Even James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve of St Louis went seems to be in agreement

“Low inflation has been the major surprise of the era,”

He also went on to state that he was still waiting for inflation to return to the 2% ranges and would not support any increases in the Fed’s benchmark rate until 2018 to allow inflationary forces to recover. He might have to wait a lot longer than that. AI and technology, in general, are going to continue to fuel lower prices. The retail sector is in freefall; the remaining players battle it out, and price wars will continue for the foreseeable future. Food prices are going to plunge due to the price war that new entrants like Lidl and Amazon have triggered.

The bond market is not supporting the higher inflationary outlook, in fact by all measures the bond market appears to be building momentum to trend higher.

US Jobs Report misses the mark

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% and wages barely grew. Only 156,000 jobs were added as opposed to the 180,000 consensus number.

The retail sector continued to get hammered; retailers shed 9,00 jobs, while the public sector shed another 9000 jobs.

“In months where there are anomalies like this, we look at the three-month average, which is 185,000,” said Michael Gapen, chief United States economist at Barclays. “The labor market is healthy, but we still have the conundrum that solid employment gains haven’t translated into faster wage growth.”

One wild card in the second half of 2017 will be gasoline prices. The surge following Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas will leave less money for consumers to spend on other goods and services.

“For the economy, it’s steady as she goes, but for the markets, it’s Goldilocks,” said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, referring to the not-too-hot, not-too-cold August payroll increase.  NY Times

The markets are holding up well and trending higher as we stated they would all along in 2016 and now in 2017.  Until the sentiment turns bullish the markets are expected to trend higher.

Banking system: Why is the Fed pumping money?

Banking system: Why is the Fed pumping money?

The US central bank has pumped more than $200bn (£160bn) into the banking system  this week – the first time there’s been such an intervention since 2008.

The Federal Reserve’s aim was to stabilise what is usually a calm part of the market.

Interest rates in the so-called “repo market” had shot up to 10% in some cases – although the cost of borrowing in that market more typically hovers around the benchmark rate set by the Fed – around 2%.

So what happened, and should we worry?

First things first: what’s the repo market?

Banks, hedge funds and other players borrow money regularly on a short-term basis to ensure their books are in order, no matter what their daily activities.

The borrowers typically offer government bonds or other high-quality assets as collateral, which they repurchase, plus interest, when they repay the loan – often the next day.

Those repurchase agreements give the repo market its name.

What happened this week?
This is a huge market, with some $3tn changing hands each day, according to the US Office of Financial Research.

Under normal conditions, interest rates in the repo market are low, since the loans are considered safe and there’s plenty of cash on hand.

But this week the cost of borrowing shot up – toward 10% in some cases. And the rate at which banks lend to each other – the Fed’s benchmark – exceeded 2.25%, the top of its desired range. Full Story

 

Climate strike: What US children are sacrificing for the cause

Young people poured onto the streets of cities across the world on Friday to try to force political leaders to act over climate change.

But they aren’t just leaving it to the politicians – in New York City, activists explained what they were doing in their own lives to help. Full Story

 

Walmart ceases e-cigarette sales

Walmart has said it will no longer sell e-cigarettes in the US, amid mounting calls to ban the products entirely.

The retailer said its decision was due to “uncertainty” about the rules governing e-cigarettes, which US health authorities have linked to more than 500 cases of lung injury.

US President Donald Trump last week said the US would prohibit sales of all flavoured e-cigarettes. Full Story

 

Justin Trudeau: Canada PM seeks to put blackface scandal behind him

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sought to put the blackface scandal behind him with an announcement on gun control as he seeks re-election.

Flanked by cabinet ministers, he said his party would ban military-style assault rifles if they win next month.

His campaign went into damage control on Wednesday night following the publication of a photo of Mr Trudeau wearing brownface at a costume gala. Full Story

 

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Withdraw pension early

Withdraw pension early

Withdraw pension early: Tell Me Sweet Little Lies 

And that is how the Pension lie was conceived; continue reading to find out the details:

The world is going to end, the US dollar is going to crash, Gold will soar to the Moon, and Pigs will fly over it. Well, we added the last bit to throw in some humour. Are you not sick of the stories talking about how things are only set to worsen? If you add all the proclamations made by these so-called wise men for the past 100 years, the world as we know should have ended several times over.

The fact that it has not points out that all those wise pundits were wise only when compared to the reliable donkey.  Life is very short, and most people spend a vast amount of their time focussing on what was, what should be and what could be. How about trying a new approach; enjoy the moment, for that, is all you have.  If you have a decent roof over your head, money in the bank and food, you are infinitely better off than over 50% of the world. Let that sink in for a moment. Anything more than that pushes you, even further up the rung of well-being.

Early Pension Pitfalls: Seeking Wealth Is not Bad, But…..

At least seek it with a smile and not a frown. Enjoy the day as a child would. Have you seen how children can have so much fun with so little and how when they grow up they can’t even have half the fun despite having 10 times more?  We seek things that we are not even sure we need; the seeds were incepted starting from your first trip to the brainwashing centre (otherwise known as school), and if allowed to grow, these fears turn into gigantic monsters.

For example, each year, the experts keep stating a person needs more and more money to retire; here is the sad fact, by the time the average person retires, he/she will be a living zombie. Free thought will be a thing of the past; worse yet, you work until you are 65, but the average life expectancy in the USA is 78.6 years.

So let’s get this straight, give up the best years of your life, worry throughout that time if you will have enough to retire, and you only have 13 years to enjoy it. Well, it sounds perfectly sane, doesn’t it? Waste the best years of your life, worrying about the worst years of your life. What could possibly go wrong with such a scenario? Keep in mind that the average life expectancy has been dropping in the USA for the third year in a row. 

Early retirement Lie; One needs significantly less than the experts claim

The sad fact is you don’t even need half of the ridiculous figures experts are pushing because even at ¼ of the stated figures which are surpassing one million, most of the world’s population stands no chance of achieving the stated goal. The stated goal like everything mass media and the experts push is to get the masses to buy into the lie they are selling and sow the seeds of doubt. Doubt then gives way to fear and paranoia and the rest, as they say, is history.

How do people get their info? Don’t they see the world through a prism? What is this prism for most individuals; TV, and Mass Media?  What if the intention were to provide the masses with the wrong image or ideas, therefore no matter how hard they tried to solve the problem, they would fail, as they would be analysing the wrong data. Think of Pluto’s allegory of the caves.

Courtesy of Tactical Investor

Random views on Withdraw pension early

Early pension release, or pension unlocking, means withdrawing money from your pension before the minimum age of 55. Unless you meet specific conditions, you’ll be charged a substantial amount of tax and could risk losing all of your savings to scammers.

 

Can I release money from my pension?

Following pension reforms in 2015, you can now withdraw as much of your pension as you want from the age of 55. There are some exceptions that entitle you to access your pension earlier, but you may have to pay high fees. Whatever age you decide to withdraw your pension, there are a few things you’ll need to consider.
Once you’ve had your 55th birthday you’ll be allowed to release money from your personal or workplace pension. You can withdraw up to 25% of your pot tax-free, either as a lump sum or in smaller instalments adding up to 25%. It doesn’t matter how big or small your pension pot is, everyone is entitled to take a quarter of their savings without paying income tax.

When deciding what to do with the remainder of your pension, there are four main options to consider. You can cash out your pension and withdraw your entire pot in one go, or in a series of lump sums. If you choose this method it’s important to consider the tax implications, as large withdrawals can push you into a higher tax band, especially if you’re still employed and earning a salary. Full Story

Changes to pension rules introduced in 2015 mean you’ve greater access to your pension. But you still need to be wary of pension liberation scams, which claim you can get access to your pension early.

Pension liberation scammers claim they can get your money from pensions before you’re 55, but the huge fees and taxes you’ll pay can leave you with nowt for retirement and now scammers are targetting the over 55s as well.
Changes to pensions that came into effect in April 2015 mean that from age 55 onwards you can get access to as much of your pension money as you like, when you want it.

Despite these changes, the cruical fact still remains that you can only get access to your pension pot when you turn 55. This means that ‘pension liberators’, who claim you can gain access to your pension money sooner, are trying to get you to break the law.

 

Pension liberation

Pension liberation’s a scam that claims to release cash from people’s pension pots before they reach age 55. Promises of early cash are false and are likely to result in you paying big bills, in some cases leaving people with no savings for retirement. Do NOT confuse this with Pensions Liberation Day, which some people call the day (6 April) when pension freedom came into effect.

Victims are usually contacted by email, phone or text by fraudsters trying to trick them into transferring their pension funds to bogus arrangements for a commission fee. Full Story

Use this guide to find out if you are eligible to take money out of your pension from the age of 55. It contains some of the key facts and information you need to consider and ends with answers to some of the most common questions we are asked.

 

The headline facts at a glance

As long as you are aged 55 or over and have the right kind of pension then you can take money from it. The amount you withdraw is completely up to you and the first 25% is tax free. As you might have guessed, the rest is taxed as income. It is worth mentioning that taking money from your pension in this way is often referred to as pension access or pension release.

Are you eligible for pension release?
Why are so many people taking money from their pension early?
Thousands of people across the UK are taking money from their pension pot early to tackle a current pressing need or opportunity. In our experience some of the most common reasons include:

Tackling a long-standing financial commitment such as a mortgage, loan or credit card.
Supporting a family member with a big life event such as a wedding or deposit.
Making important upgrades to the house.
These are just a few examples and you might have a completely different reason for wanting to take money early from your pension. Full Story

 

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