The base metals were all strongly positive on Tuesday. Copper rose from the pre-dawn hours straight through the New York day, just edging below its intraday highs to finish at $1.5308/lb., up more than 10½ cents. Nickel peaked as New York opened, but only slipped a little during the day, closing at $5.8665/lb., up more than 23¾ cents.

Zinc had a decent day, ending at its intraday high of $0.581/lb., up better than a penny and a half. Aluminum pushed higher all day, ultimately adding 3¼ cents, to $0.719/lb., while lead shot straight up to its intraday high of $0.5398/lb., up 4 cents.

Copper led the industrial metals higher, soaring to a one-month high past the $1.50 mark as the new year buying momentum gathered some steam as economic stimulus optimism prevailed alongside the annual portfolio rebalancing by index funds.

“Metals could do somewhat better over the course of the week,” wrote Edward

...

O.K., so the headline isn’t exactly accurate, but it did catch your eye. And if one David Cay Johnston has his perverse way, it would be a statement of fact. Indeed, Johnston seriously calls for a U.S. declaration of war not only on the Cayman Islands, but also Bermuda and other offshore tax havens. His lengthy radical views are set out in an article (”Fiscal Therapy”) in the Jan-Feb 2009 issue of the left-leaning magazine Mother Jones, known for investigative reporting with a decidedly radical slant.

Ordinarily a nutty proposal such as Johnston’s could be laughed off as evidence of a sick sense of humor or an advanced mental problem, but Johnston is not your run of the mill left-wing nut.

Prize Winning Radical

In 2001 Johnston won a Pulitzer Prize “for his penetrating and enterprising reporting that exposed loopholes and inequities in the U.S. tax code.”

...

Wednesday January 7, 2009 Navivest

Considering the current economic climate and the forecast calling for an even rougher keel ahead, its amazing that stocks have held their own and have seemingly found a floor, or as the technicians might say, a support level.

On September 30th, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,850.66 to close out the third quarter, after hitting an intra-day low of 10,371.58. That was after hitting an intra-day high of 11,139.62, the day prior.

Since then, we hit a five year low of 7,392.27 on November 21st, but have since rallied back to yesterday’s closing price of 9,015.10.

The bounce back and holding at current levels has had the pundits calling a bottom for the stock market.

That begs the question; if stock market levels are a function of the prices of the underlying stocks that make up an index, and if the prices of the

...

In the currency market, the dollar rallied strongly against the euro in its opening shot across the bow for 2009. Late Monday, the euro was trading at $1.3588 vs. $1.3869 on Friday.

“[The] dollar was boosted in part by ongoing talk of a big fiscal package from the incoming Obama administration, and we think gains will be sustained in 2009,” wrote currency strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman.

That government handout is looking as if it might be huge. According to MarketWatch.com, “Obama plans to spend about $775 billion over two years, putting people to work on infrastructure projects and giving aid to states. In all, the tax cuts or breaks would account for about 40% of the value of the stimulus.”

Though the buck put a smackdown on the euro, it lost ground, nearly 1%, vs. the British pound.

“Although the [Bank of England] is expected to cut rates this week,

...

As President-elect Obama toots his green-energy horn, the smart money in Silicon Valley is reversing its position on the moneymaking potential of wind, solar and geothermal power sources.

The pullback by Silicon Valley’s venture-capital elite is part of a complete overhaul of its investment criteria. The big surprise is that green investments are on the hit list along with other high-tech innovations — a reversal of the save-the-planet culture that has emerged in this Mecca of libertarian funding.

An article in today’s New York Times revealed that Silicon Valley VCs are now turning to shorter term opportunities versus the long-term returns that exemplify a healthy investment climate.

Alternative energy will get more critical assessment along with the Web 2.0 hype (think social networking), cell-phone advertising, massive enterprise software development and other long-term, big-ticket products.

Silicon Valley’s turn-around on green infrastructure comes at a time when the incoming Obama administration is pushing alternative energy as

...

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is reportedly putting the finishing touches on an economic recovery plan that could run from $675 billion to $1 trillion, though many experts believe the program will most like range between $700 billion and $800 billion.

Briefings for top congressional Democrats were to start either over the weekend or today (Monday), a senior transition-team official told The Associated Press late last week. President-elect Obama is slated to meet today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a Democratic strategy session that is likely to focus on the economic recovery package.

It’s time to look forward, not back. The 111th Congress meets tomorrow (Tuesday), and a comprehensive economic stimulus package is at the top of its agenda.  Hopefully, the lawmakers can put partisan bickering aside (fat chance) and have a bill in place for President-elect Barack

...

The currency markets reaction to the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cuts has ignited a rally in gold, as investors weigh the benefits of owning the yellow metal versus U.S. Treasuries and the dollar. As a result, gold has started to shine again as a stable source of value at a time when the dollar and other commodities – like oil and copper – have fallen hard. The spot price of gold has climbed above $870 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up about 20% from its October lows. Gold has been on roller coaster ride in 2008, moving from its all time high of $1035 in March, to as low as $681 an ounce. Some of that decline occurred during the recent stock market plunge. Many investors were forced to liquidate profitable gold positions in order to raise money to cover ...

The U.S. unemployment rate, currently at a level of 6.5%, could rise to 8% next year. But it could also find a ceiling sooner than expected, as more companies implement unpaid vacations and four-day workweeks to preserve jobs.

The U.S. recession may just now be entering full swing, but storm clouds have been gathering for more than a year and many companies have already trimmed payrolls. Now, the goal for many companies is to prepare for an economic rebound by finding ways to keep the their skilled productive labor intact.

“More companies are exploring alternatives to layoffs,” John A. Challenger, chief executive of consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told BusinessWeek. “If they can keep people on until the business turns around, the company would be in much better shape to ramp up quickly.”

Dell Inc. (DELL) employees, for instance, recently received a memo

...

As I write this Friday morning, it is a quiet day on the markets. Stocks are mostly unchanged, largely due to a lack of news and a lack of volume.

I expect volume to remain below average until Jan 5. Many portfolio managers have closed the books and there is very little news scheduled for the next 7 days.

January should be interesting. There may be excitement heading into the inauguration. It would not surprise me to see some type of Obama rally.

On the other hand, fourth-quarter earnings are going to be lousy. Current forecasts show 276 S&P 500 companies reporting a year-over-year decline in profits. Earnings for the S&P 500 will still be positive, however, with modest growth of 3.3%. Coal, drug, medical products and refining companies should report the strongest growth. Avoid steel and semiconductor companies.

The economic data won't be positive either. December was another month

...

I.O.U.S.A. & The Coming Entitlement Meltdown

by Alexander Green, Chairman, Investment U Investment Director, The Oxford Club Monday, December 22, 2008: Issue #905

During the current economic crunch, top executives at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and other financial giants received hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation… just before their firms keeled over.

This is galling to many. But the excessive and unwarranted compensation at Bear Stearns and Lehman doesn’t bother me, personally. Why? Because I never owned a share of either one of them.

However, we all have a stake in the future of the U.S. economy. No one can afford to ignore how Uncle Sam spends money. Fiscal policy will play a key role in determining the strength of the economy, the performance of our financial markets and the value of the dollar.

The incoming Obama administration is talking about spending up to a trillion dollars - a temporary shot in the

...