Peter Dag & Friends

8/1/11

Gold seasonality

This chart shows gold seasonality (click on the chart to enlarge it).

It looks like August is a bad month for gold. But then...up, up, and away! Will the historical seasonal pattern repeat?

Stay tuned by reading The Peter Dag Portfolio.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

Disclaimer.The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument. Actions you undertake as a consequence of any analysis, opinion or advertisement on this site are your sole responsibility.

What the world needs to understand

Among foreign leaders and in global markets, the political histrionics have eroded America’s already diminishing aura as the world’s economic haven and the sole country with the power to lead the rest of the world out of financial crisis and recession.

It has chipped away at the global authority of President Obama, who was celebrated abroad when he came to office as a man who would end an era of American unilateralism. Now the topic of discussion in other capitals is whether the Age of Obama is giving way to an Age of Austerity, one that will inevitably reduce America’s influence internationally. (Source: Bloomberg)

The world needs to understand that the US is in the midst of redefining the purpose of the government. This is the only country that can do it because of its practical common sense and decision making.

The challenge we are facing is that we may have a President who may not have the experience in managing the momentous changes in front of us.

The markets eventually will win and will force the change. The issue for investors is to recognize the main trends and not be caught by the rhetoric of our leaders.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

7/31/11

It just seems too obvious

Markets expected to rise on word of debt deal Ending a perilous stalemate, President Barack Obama announced an agreement on a compromise to avoid the nation's first-ever financial default. Jittery financial markets are rising on the news. (July 31)(Source: USA Today)

The global markets are soaring because of the debt deal. Did things change that much?

What about the European credit problems? What about the stalled US economy? The depressed state of the US consumers and 9.2% unemployment rate?

Oh well...let's enjoy the rally as long as it lasts!

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

Interesting

Germany has secured a piece of the Pacific Ocean floor with the intention of harvesting natural resources from it. As of 2021, it can start collecting copper, nickel and cobalt, which must otherwise be imported.(Source: DW)

No limits to human ingenuity.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

Thought of the day

OK, Congress is going to reach a deal. Then what? Did the problems of the world disappear?

The markets will be strong on Monday. Euphoria. But Europe is still there. Our economic imbalances have not be resolved. The inventory cycle is still a dominant force. Can profits improve if the economy slows down even further?

What to do? Read the next issue of The Peter Dag Portfolio and the latest Market Update..

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

7/30/11

Thought of the day

The Chinese accumulation of US Treasury bonds was the automatic consequence of Chinese policies that the US opposed.

The Chinese criticize our policies. The reason we buy a lot from them is because their products are inexpensive due to their cheap RMB policy.

If they let the RMB appreciate we would not buy so many goods from them and they would not have so many dollars in their hands.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

The tentacles of bureaucracy endanger job creation and economic growth

Case 1. List of jobs requiring licensing (click on the chart to enlarge it).By imposing onerous and usually pointless requirements on those wishing to enter a trade or line of work, state legislatures erect needless barriers.

Case 2. INDIANAPOLIS -- "Drivers attending the Indiana State Fair or a major sporting event downtown may sometimes opt to grab a parking spot in someone's yard rather than pay higher prices in a parking lot, but some city officials think people who provide parking spots should get a permit first. City leaders are proposing that residents pay a $75 fee (per event) if they want to turn their yards into parking lots."

Case 3. Atlanta handed over all public-property vending to a single company' This company wants to throw two street vendors out of the spots they have worked for over a decade to build kiosks that rent for almost $20,000 a year.
(Source: the always excellent Carpe Diem).

The way bureaucracy exercises power -- and job security -- is by convincing us of imaginary risks so that we need to keep updated on obscure regulations and licensing requirements. By doing so, however, the economy is gradually becomes strangled. Furthermore, increasing regulations justify an army of auditors to make sure business people follow the law.

Unfortunately slow economic growth encourages the bureaucracy to increase regulations protecting ourselves against ourselves.

I have seen this movie already. In Italy. And it is like standing in quicksand. Slowly and steadily you feel suffocated by unrealistic constraints.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

7/29/11

An interesting idea I heard on the radio

What is happening in Washington is a momentous event.

We are trying to redefine and rethink the purpose and size of government. There is no doubt we cannot continue doing business as usual.

An increasing number of people (left, right, and center) are beginning to realize this concept.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

Fiddling away

Gross domestic product climbed at a 1.3 percent annual rate following a 0.4 percent gain in the prior quarter that was less than earlier estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 1.8 percent increase. Household purchases, about 70 percent of the economy, rose 0.1 percent. (Source: Bloomberg).

Congress is fiddling as Rome and the country are burning.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

European opinion

When Barack Obama took the White House by storm in 2008, he made it clear from the beginning that a political program in America's interests could only be successful if it were not characterized by political entrenchment, but rather by coming together above party lines.

He called for an end to the disruption and the grueling conflicts between Democrats and Republicans, which had paralyzed the country and led to voter dissatisfaction.

But Obama's well-intended resolutions experienced a serious setback in the implementation of his first major project, the health care reform. Obama's ambitious vision - to make health care accessible to all - was picked apart in endless debates and votes. In the end, only a watered-down version was left.

A similar scenario is emerging in the current debate on raising the US debt ceiling and the impending threat that Washington will run out of money to pay its bills. (Source: DW, Rob Mudge heads the English service's background international team)

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.