by Tony Sagami on February 9, 2012
There is no investment angle to this news, but I thought it was very interesting.
Steve Jobs was considered for a position in the Bush administration in 1991. As usual, all candidates for jobs at that level had to go through a FBI background check. The FBI released that report and it mentioned things like marijuana use and his famous hot temper, but I thought the most interesting thing in the report was Jobs’ ability to”twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals.”
Sounds like would have fit perfectly into Washington D.C.
by Tony Sagami on February 9, 2012
The United Nations is forecasting that Asia’s population of 60-plus year olds will hit 1.25 billion by 2050 and comprise 24% of Asia’s population.
That demographic bulge has all kinds of social and investment implications.
by Tony Sagami on February 9, 2012
China’s CPI increased by 4.5% in January, significantly higher than the 4.1% that everybody was expecting.
Rising inflation will make it difficult for China to lower interest rates to keep its economy humming.
by Tony Sagami on February 9, 2012
This is an interesting article about one real estate experts contrarian view on Asian and U.S. real estate. A very good read.
Here is one except that I think makes a lot of sense.
Back home in Asia, the only market he likes is Malaysia, where average prices in its big cities are about one-tenth of those in Hong Kong, while its commodity-backed economy should outperform its export-dependent regional rivals.
by Tony Sagami on February 8, 2012
by Tony Sagami on February 8, 2012
by Tony Sagami on February 6, 2012
Deloitte Touche came out with their annual list of the world’s most powerful retailers and I really think this list has some useful investment information tucked inside of it.
You need to look at the list but its is dominated by American and European retailers. The lesson there is that western brand names are popular all over the world, including Asia.
by Tony Sagami on February 6, 2012
Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) reported a 15% in Q4 profits and attributed most of that growth to booming sales China, which were up by 44%.
To put that into perspective, sales in North America only increased by 9%.
by Sean Brodrick on February 5, 2012
Via Business Insider, we learn that the amount of gold needed to buy a Manhattan apartment has taken a great round-trip.
In 2011, gold had more purchasing power relative to Manhattan real estate than at anytime during the past 22 years (the limit of our publicly released data).
It would take 908 ounces of gold to purchase the average Manhattan apartment versus the 1996 low point of 1,030 ounces.
Can you think of any other asset class that has held its value so well over the past 22 years?
Read the rest of the story at Business Insider: http://read.bi/y2ntLv
by Sean Brodrick on February 5, 2012
The S&P 500 had a great week last week, and on Friday, it closed near its high for the day. So why are so many market timers and analysts so bearish? Let’s look at a weekly chart …
You can see that the S&P 500 is coming up against two levels of overhead resistance. One is the downtrend from 2007 — the S&P 500 pushed through that on Friday. The other is price action from this summer, which was stubborn overhead resistance then and is stubborn overhead resistance now.
Looking at that, plus the great run the S&P 500 has enjoyed for months, it’s tempting to say “nothing goes up in a straight line,” and yes, this is a great place for a pullback.
And maybe we’ll see a pullback this week. But if it happens, will you be a buyer or a seller?
Some bulls will point out the “golden cross” of the 50-day moving average rising through the 200-day MA (on a weekly chart, represented by the 10- and 40- period moving averages). I’d also point out that momentum is strongly bullish.
That can change with the next round of news out of Greece. It’s funny (not ha-ha funny) that the fortunes of a crumbling country run by kleptomaniacs now has so much weight in the market, but we have to go with reality as it is, not as we wish it.
