Is the hoped-for economic rebound merely a mirage? And if it is, how should you play it? For the past few months, optimistic analysts and investors have been scouring the global economy for so-called “green shoots” – a new financial buzzword that refers to any early indicators of a financial recovery.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has an “inflation calculator” on their website. It allows you to enter an amount of money and a previous year and then tells you how much money you would need to have today to match the same buying power.
At 53 years of age, John A. Paulson manages about $30 billion in his hedge funds. Over 2007 and 2008, he pocketed $10 billion in profits after he correctly bet that the subprime-mortgage market would crash. His Credit Opportunities Fund earned nearly 500% gains in that year.
In the rocky hills of northern Canada, companies are scathing the landscape in search of the next gold fortune. One minerals exploration company has found a strip of land that is showing anywhere from .2 ounces to 9.8 ounces per ton of the yellow metal. And make no mistake, 9.8 ounces of gold is simply HUGE.
While gold had a big run-up in price during the three-month stretch that ended in late February, the yellow metal has subsequently dropped back a bit, as have the prices of the leading mining shares. If anything, however, the reasons for gold bullishness have intensified.
I was captivated by the Wall Street Journal headline “Bearish Big Investors Catch Gold Bug” by Gregory Zuckerman, because I don’t ever expect to see anything favorable about gold in the WSJ…
Like a vanquished enemy, inflation has been out of sight and out of mind. But old enemies can resurrect themselves. And that’s just what’s going to happen with inflation, two fixed-income experts say.
Hugo Salinas Price, at plata.com, really had me going when he wrote, “Several years ago – I don’t remember the date – I read an interesting comment”…
Inflation threats are right around the corner. Eric Fry of the Rude Awakening examines 6 ETFs and how to prepare for the “near-certain arrival of inflation.” He says now is the time to be wary of price increases and these ETFs act as an “insurance policy” to hedge against them.
If you know how to play the volatile nature of the commodity sector, this article is not for you. Lee Lowell of the Smart Profits Report gives three reasons why commodity investing has changed for the better, and how to profit from them.
