Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Post Memorial Day Trading Day Edition of Volume Off the High
If the negativity in this mornings futures persists, I would expect and expansion in new high volume volume sell offs tomorrow. That said, the list contracted in the latest edition.
Post Memorial Day Trading Day Edition of High Volume High
With the market experiencing a decent bid following the holiday, there was an expansion in the names making new highs on volume. I would expect this list to contract today, if the negativity in futures holds.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Get Inside a Tornado
Sean Casey and Brandon Ivey, of the Discovery Channels Storm Chasers fame, were able to maneuver their intercept vehicle into yet another tornado. The tornado touched down in Smith Center Kansas and had wind speeds between 150 mph and 175 mph. The amazing footage is below.
Mises on Quantitative Easing and Central Banking
As Mises states.....
Credit expansion is the government’s foremost tool in their struggle against the market economy. In their hands it is the magic wand designed to conjure away the scarcity of capital goods, to lower the rate of interest or to abolish it altogether, to finance lavish government spending, to expropriate the capitalists, to contrive everlasting booms, and to make everybody prosperous"—with the consequence that such an artificial boom inexorably will lead to the bust.
Credit expansion is the government’s foremost tool in their struggle against the market economy. In their hands it is the magic wand designed to conjure away the scarcity of capital goods, to lower the rate of interest or to abolish it altogether, to finance lavish government spending, to expropriate the capitalists, to contrive everlasting booms, and to make everybody prosperous"—with the consequence that such an artificial boom inexorably will lead to the bust.
The Skyscraper Index- A Precursor to Recession
Business Insider posted a review of the Skyscraper Index, a 1999 thesis by Andrew Lawrence which stated the completion of the high rise towers correlates with the onset of recessions. The list of examples include....
This index- if you want to call it that- has always struck me as voodoo analysis, much in the same regards as the Super Bowl Winner index or the hem line index. However, an Austrian-based economist did put some more concrete analysis around this supposed phenomenon, namely that the the height of skyscrapers (and recessionary conditions) is the effect of an increase in economy-wide debt levels, the cause.
Maybe I should not have been so quick to pass off this index. Regardless of the opinions, we should soon see the index in a real-time environment shortly, as One World Trade Center in New York and Sky City Tower in China are set to be completed and opened in 2014.
This index- if you want to call it that- has always struck me as voodoo analysis, much in the same regards as the Super Bowl Winner index or the hem line index. However, an Austrian-based economist did put some more concrete analysis around this supposed phenomenon, namely that the the height of skyscrapers (and recessionary conditions) is the effect of an increase in economy-wide debt levels, the cause.
Maybe I should not have been so quick to pass off this index. Regardless of the opinions, we should soon see the index in a real-time environment shortly, as One World Trade Center in New York and Sky City Tower in China are set to be completed and opened in 2014.
The Aging Infrastructure Threat and Opportunity
Infrastructure problems in the US (and most of the developed world for that matter) have come to forefront once again following the bridge collapse in Washington State. Unfortunately this is nothing new, as the below video from Bloomberg highlights.
This interview seems to imply that our infrastructure problems are just focused on the roads, and primarily bridges. However this is an over simplification of the problem. The problem of an aging infrastructure goes far beyond roads and bridges. It is all encompassing and includes the the aging electric grid, corroding pipes, inadequate telephone/internet infrastructure, railroads, etc. It also does not take long to see these the resultant affects of the the infrastructure problem first hand, that is if you are observant and take a look at the forest for the trees. Power outages that last days and weeks after storms, steam pipes explosions, long and continual delays at airports, increasing frequency and severity of traffic jams, brown outs during the peak summer electricity use months and more are all examples of where the infrastructure is ripping apart at the seems.
To fix infrastructure frailties, will take investment. Actually, a lot of investment. The American Society of Civil Engineers, the lobbying group for those involved in infrastructure projects, so some grain of salt has to be taken, detail in the below report not only the state of the infrastructure decay but the cost to repair it to what they consider a passing level. The group pegs the price tag at $3.6 trillion, more than $1 trillion greater than their estimate in the 2009 report card. That is a pretty penny, especially considering the cost represents more than 25% of US gross domestic product.
In my opinion, the Obama administration and Congress missed the opportunity to fix the aging infrastructure in the US back in 2009, with the stimulus programs that mainly went to special interest groups. The problems of funding, economic uncertainty, cost/benefit analyses, and special interest groups have all held back what is needed investment. That said, a missed opportunity to correct the problem then essentially creates an investment opportunity for investors now.... depending on your time frame. It is my opinion that the required investments will be made at some points. This suggests that construction equipment companies, infrastructure contractors, mining concerns, and other related companies will all benefit from this mega-trend. The mega-trend is still in its infancy and depending on the time frame great investment are likely to be found in companies addressing this need.
This interview seems to imply that our infrastructure problems are just focused on the roads, and primarily bridges. However this is an over simplification of the problem. The problem of an aging infrastructure goes far beyond roads and bridges. It is all encompassing and includes the the aging electric grid, corroding pipes, inadequate telephone/internet infrastructure, railroads, etc. It also does not take long to see these the resultant affects of the the infrastructure problem first hand, that is if you are observant and take a look at the forest for the trees. Power outages that last days and weeks after storms, steam pipes explosions, long and continual delays at airports, increasing frequency and severity of traffic jams, brown outs during the peak summer electricity use months and more are all examples of where the infrastructure is ripping apart at the seems.
To fix infrastructure frailties, will take investment. Actually, a lot of investment. The American Society of Civil Engineers, the lobbying group for those involved in infrastructure projects, so some grain of salt has to be taken, detail in the below report not only the state of the infrastructure decay but the cost to repair it to what they consider a passing level. The group pegs the price tag at $3.6 trillion, more than $1 trillion greater than their estimate in the 2009 report card. That is a pretty penny, especially considering the cost represents more than 25% of US gross domestic product.
In my opinion, the Obama administration and Congress missed the opportunity to fix the aging infrastructure in the US back in 2009, with the stimulus programs that mainly went to special interest groups. The problems of funding, economic uncertainty, cost/benefit analyses, and special interest groups have all held back what is needed investment. That said, a missed opportunity to correct the problem then essentially creates an investment opportunity for investors now.... depending on your time frame. It is my opinion that the required investments will be made at some points. This suggests that construction equipment companies, infrastructure contractors, mining concerns, and other related companies will all benefit from this mega-trend. The mega-trend is still in its infancy and depending on the time frame great investment are likely to be found in companies addressing this need.
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