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 Celebrating Independence Day with Gratitude
by MN Gordon
Economic Prism
Uncompromising independence and limitless personal freedom were once essential to the American character. According to popular American folklore, they still are. We have some reservations.
No doubt, America was at one time the land of the free. Of course, that was long before 46.4 million citizens began using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to purchase their daily bread. Similarly, that was back when you could milk your cow and sell the milk to thirsty buyers without being visited at 5 a.m. by U.S. marshals.
These days the ideas that roused America’s War of Independence are, alas, just ideas. Limited government and individual liberty were long ago squandered for big government and collectivism. Gone are the days when you could earn a (Read More....) [...]
 The markets these days seem to be taking direction from the most fickle and capricious aspects of fear management. News ? What's considered news these days for binary options traders and other investors? The facts haven't changed over the last 2-3 months, yet looking at the behavior of the markets it would be difficult for the best analysts to come up with a means of explaining why on earth the markets can't decide whether to head higher or lower. Of course, consolidation periods exist in every market. And these periods are even considered the most important momentum builders as compared to any other period. However, when news hits the markets, markets are expected to react. When no news is present, well that's a different matter. It could be that we have simply reached some sort of meta-equilibrium point whereby the balance of bad news and fear and being counter weighted by optimism and hope. Surely, this is far from a rational explanation of what's happening. Or is it?
Europe is simply old news regurgitated nearly each day in a different spin. One day's it Ireland, next it's Greece, then next it's Spain ad nauseum. Where does this leave traders though? it's all the (Read More....) [...]
 Money Games
by MN Gordon
Economic Prism
After much anticipation and hoopla, Fed Chairman Bernanke made his post FOMC meeting utterances on Wednesday. In short: No QE3, for now. More Operation Twist.
Markets didn’t know what to make of it. Initially they rose on the announcement. The Dow jumped over 100 points. After that, however, it slid down 100 points before climbing back up…ending the day about 13 points off where it started.
Then, yesterday, at opening bell, the DOW barfed all over itself…and never recovered. By the time the closing bell rang, the DOW had dumped 250 points.
Jim Cramer said it was the fault of commodities. “Today was a day when lots of investors freaked out that there might not be enough end demand for everything that’s fashioned from commodities, not just the commodities themselves,” said Cramer.
Perhaps Cramer is right…and maybe he is wrong. Here at the Economic Prism we don’t (Read More....) [...]
 Spain Controlling The Future by David Fielder (www.whyoptions.com)
With the Greek elections over now, investors focused their gaze on Spain which recently received a massive 100 billion EUR bailout package. Europe took the news that Greece was likely to stay in the Eurozone fairly well. Of course, many unknowns are still hovering over the issue, but the fact that the right wing parties took control of Greece, should have been a good momentum builder for the stock indices in the US. However, despite the DAX rising by 0.3% and the FTSE climbing 0.22%, US stock indices were mixed. The Dow actually fell by 0.2% to 12741 as the S&P headed slightly higher by 0.14% to 1344. The Nasdaq actually did very well and finished 0.78% higher to 2895.
The real issue for binary options traders now is what the market will do today? Japan’s Nikkei index is falling by approximately 0.66% at the time of writing this and is now trading near 8663.5. Although there are times that the Nikkei provides signals to markets that open later in the day, this hasn’t been the case in recent days. So despite the drop (Read More....) [...]
 Faux Capitalism and the Great Middle Class Debt Anchor
by MN Gordon
Economic Prism
Economies, like ocean tides, rise and fall. So, too, they fall and rise. Sometimes a rising tide floats up all boats…even those captained by freeloaders. Other times a falling tide pulls down vessels crewed by even the most industrious deckhands.
There are times when just showing up to work each day is rewarded with abundance. Conversely, there are times when showing up and working like a mule earns you a kick in the teeth. No doubt, most anecdotes of recent years have been of an economy yielding few rewards and plenty of hard knocks. On Monday the Fed confirmed such anecdotes...and it’s worse than we thought…
According to the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances, U.S. wealth fell nearly 40 percent between 2007 and 2010…erasing 18 years of (Read More....) [...]
 There is no doubt that insecurity is rising in all parts of the world and in all areas of our lives. This has prompted security experts to develop online security courses that are designed to equip individuals at all levels with the necessary skills to detect and deter security threats around them. The benefits experienced by those who have taken these courses have had significant impacts on their personal and professional lives. The benefits can be enjoyed by all who decide to enroll for an online security course that matches their level of expertise in security matters as well as their security needs.
Picture Credit Secure Ninja
Since security is primarily about awareness, training and instruction on security matters can effectively be conducted through the Internet. Online security courses are therefore as effective as those delivered through any other channel. They are also widely recognized as sufficient qualification for jobs and positions that require training in security. You can thus advance your career or improve your prospects of finding a job by taking up a security course (Read More....) [...]
Japan Will Take the World’s Breath Away, Part II
by MN Gordon
Economic Prism
The National Bureau of Economic Research marks June 2009 as the end of the Great Recession. That means the United States economy has been in recovery for nearly three years. Semantically this is accurate…all the stimulus and monetary easing has successfully pushed GDP into positive over this time. But just what type of recovery is this?
According to the latest CNBC All-American Survey, 36 percent of the American public believes the economy will improve over the next year. Apparently, this is a 9 percent increase over the survey results from November 2011. Yet, despite the marked improvement, (Read More....) [...]
Japan Will Take the World’s Breath Away
by MN Gordon
Economic Prism
Last Sunday, in Long Beach, California, the impossible happened…it rained for the second consecutive weekend. Just ask anyone who lives here. That never happens.
We’re not complaining. Without the wet weather we would have never discovered the hole in the bottom of our shoe. Nevertheless, we bring this up to make the point that the seemingly impossible happens all the time.
Last August, for instance, something absolutely ridiculous occurred…during the summer twilight the world was preparing for mass inflation and mass deflation in tandem. This manifested for everyone to see when, in broad daylight, $1,820 per ounce gold and 1.98 percent 10 Year Treasury yields came into existence simultaneously. If we hadn’t witnessed this extreme and illogical price disparity with our own two eyes we’d say it was impossible. Yet it happened all the same.
By all accounts, what the (Read More....) [...]
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