Investors may be seeing the first signs of the stock market bubble beginning to pop. Bloomberg is reporting a 5-month increase in retail investors in the S&P for any “like stretch since 2014”. At the same time, hedge funds, corporations and executives are starting to back out of equities.
Even though Trump and the Republicans haven’t delivered on their promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, it’s clear Trumpcare would have been a slight improvement over the former. However, a truly successful bill would have been repeal and then … nothing. The main goal of any proposed legislation should have been to remove the government from the healthcare market place completely and allow market forces and competition to take back control of cost and quality.
This week, Trump’s taking to social media to transform his Twitter followers into a grassroots movement to get the TrumpCare bill passed. FBI Director James Comey sets his sights on the Trump campaign as well, dropping the bombshell on Monday that the Bureau would be investigating possible Russian collusion.
America’s westward expansion owes much to the search for gold. Strikes in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California set off some 300,000 explorers looking to transform their lives. Although few actually found their fortune directly in gold, other entrepreneurs “struck it rich” by establishing banks, saloons, grocery stories, and more to provide goods and services for prospectors.
American “gold fever” still lives on in our culture with reality television shows like the Discovery Channel’s “Gold Rush” and PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow,” which appeal to many lost treasure seekers. With such a high demand, it’s no surprise that another form of gold rush reality “show” has sprung from the eccentric mind of 85-year-old millionaire Forrest Fenn.
The annual Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) was released recently and shows 1 in 4 workers surveyed have less than $1,000 saved for their retirement. The RCS, published by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, measures statistics taken from 1,000 individuals aged 25 and over about their retirement confidence, planning strategies, and savings amounts. The survey’s results show a disconnect between US worker confidence in their ability to retire comfortably and their actual preparedness.
State Senator from Maine Eric Brakey recently introduced Senate Bill 664, which attempts to provide sales tax exemption for precious metals purchases of “gold and silver coins and bullion.” Passing Brakey’s bill would align Maine with many other states that think taxing precious metals is bad business and discourages consumers from protecting their wealth.
The current attitudes towards taxing precious metals comes from whether they’re perceived as a regular consumer good like Starbucks coffee, or a type of investment or currency.
This week, Trump laid out his big budget adjustments and issued a loud silence about the Fed’s decision to hike rates for the second time since Election Day. In the same week, he’s also changed opinions on unemployment numbers, which he once lambasted and is now using to prove his effectiveness as a leader on economic matters.
Rate Hike Aftermath: Trump Proves His Bite is Weaker than His Bark
- “We’re not going to comment on the Fed’s decisions,” a White House spokesperson said.
- Trump’s silence goes against his campaign rhetoric blasting the Fed for being too “political”.
- Trump may be biding his time until new members are appointed to the Fed.
Many investors are looking for an opinion on the rate hike from the President along with a coherent picture of how he wants to change the financial institution.
Trump seems to have two different opinions of the Fed’s role. In May of 2016, he actually complimented Yellen’s decision to keep rates at historic lows for the long term. However, he’s also explored the notion of returning to the gold standard and true commodity-backed currency.
Prior to the FOMC raising the Federal Funds Rate this week, the Atlanta Fed revised its estimate of Q1 GDP from 3.4% to 0.9%, an enormous downward revision that suggests Chairwoman Janet Yellen and FOMC authorities aren’t as data dependent as they claim. The serious lack of economic growth indicated by the downward revision should give the Fed pause, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, as Peter Schiff pointed out in his latest podcast.
The FOMC raised interest rates on Wednesday, with the decision coming on the heels of the Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday morning by the Bureau of Labor. The report shows an uptick in the price of consumer goods for February, a net gain of 0.1%. Although down from January’s 0.6% increase, a year-over-year look shows consumer prices have risen 2.7%, which is 0.7% above the Fed’s target rate of 2%.
The rising cost of most goods and services is in large part due to the failed monetary policies of the Fed. Money printing and quantitative easing have created runaway inflation, which is driving up prices for consumers.
In his latest podcast, Peter Schiff discusses the February Non-Farm Payroll Report and President Trump’s change in attitude towards the credibility of the data. During his campaign, Trump continually told his supporters the truth about the tanking US economy, characterizing the jobs statistics as phony data.
Ever since his election, however, he now considers these same numbers as credible indicators of the positive impact of his presidency and the general health of the economy. Peter shines a light on Trump’s hypocrisy, showing how current payroll numbers are essentially the same as those under Obama.
